NTU Sport are proud to announce that International Rugby Coach David Ellis has joined us as a Lead Coach for our Rugby League Programme for the coming season.
David joins us with a wealth of experience and knowledge of Rugby League, both as a player and a coach. With outstanding experience on both the international and domestic stage, David is sure to bring real quality to the NTU Sport setup.
David will lead our Rugby League Programme with the view to helping the team grow as a club and achieve more success over the coming years.
When asked about what he hopes to achieve in his role, David said: “I am very much looking forward to the challenge of working with the students to make the NTU Rugby League team, and the programme, successful.”
David will use his experience to bring stability to the Rugby League Programme at NTU. He is looking to push the club to its maximum potential, with the first team currently playing in the Premier South Division.
David has made over 700 appearances over the course of his career in English and Australian professional Rugby League, having played for clubs such as Castleford Tigers, Doncaster and Brisbane.
He has a deep understanding of the game, which will be invaluable to the team. David’s first major coaching role was in Australian Rugby League with Northern Queensland and then in South West Queensland.
He then moved to France at U.S Villeneuve X111 in French Rugby League where he continued to see success. Wins in the cup and league during his time at U.S Villeneuve X111 further developed David’s expertise, and during this time he was also drafted in as a coach for Super League Club Paris St Germain in the competition’s first season.
While in French rugby, David was chosen to work with Racing Club in Rugby Union. He then worked with a number of clubs, before turning his attention to the National Team as a defence coach under Bernad Laporte.
With the French National Team he won 6 Six Nations victories, including three grand slams. He was also involved with the French setup that lost 8-7 in the 2011 World Cup Final, to hosts New Zealand.
During that time he worked with a number of English premiership clubs on a consultant basis and also as a coaching consultant with the New Zealand All Blacks in their 3-0 2005 series win against the British and Irish Lions.
Everyone here at NTU Sport are delighted to welcome David to the team and look forward to supporting him in pushing the Rugby League programme on to more success.
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