The Cornish Pirates have made 18-year-old Guernsey back row George Collenette their latest summer signing.
He becomes the second player from the island to move to the Mennaye Field after full-back Luke Jones did so last summer.
After being introduced to rugby at a very young age by his uncle, Lawrence Bird, a former coach with the Bermuda national team, George turned out for La Mare de Carteret Secondary School.
He progressed to captain the school team before playing at the Guernsey Rugby Academy where his passion grew further. Indeed, he also captained the island sides through his age groups from year 7, and in 2009 he was Guernsey Rugby Academy player of the year.
When George arrived at year 11, sponsorship from various Guernsey companies and charities enabled him to study and develop his skills at Llandovery College, where he played for the 1st XV in the Welsh Schools & Colleges League.
Arriving at the Cornish Pirates this week, he is supported by the Guernsey Sports Commission and will be looking to progress further as a promising young player.
To date he has been grateful to numerous individuals, including the sports coaches at the Guernsey Rugby Academy, teachers at La Mare de Carteret and also the head of PE Llandovery College.
He said "While part of the Guernsey Rugby Academy my forwards coach Matt Chammings was a great help, as was RDO Steve Melbourne, whose input was with specific training and drills."
A special mention was also made to Charlie McHugh, the Chairman of the Guernsey Academy, who was supportive of George throughout his years with the Academy.
Away from rugby George has undertaken voluntary work to work with special needs children, and he has also enjoyed playing numerous sports. He has competed in the Wales Indoor Rowing Championships and was also a member of the Guernsey Gaels Gaelic Football team who were Pan-European champions in 2012.
