FORMER Wales rugby scrum-half Richie Rees has been appointed director of Haberdashers’ Monmouth School’s new sports academy.

The Cardiff Rugby assistant coach has been given the role when the boys, girls’ and prep schools amalgamate at the end of the current academic year, with the role overseeing the new Eddie Butler Centre, named after the famed former pupil.

Richie, capped nine times for Wales, will join the school in July, from his current role as assistant coach at Cardiff Rugby, having previously coached the Tongan National team, managed the Cardiff and Dragons Rugby academy pathways and coached various Wales age group teams including its 7s side on the World Sevens Series.

He joins the school at an exciting and pivotal time in its 400-year history as it will become fully co-educational from September.

And he says: “I am delighted to be appointed the first director of HMS’ new Sports Academy and look forward to using my experience to enhance the development of all the sporting students, from the most hesitant to the highest performing.

“Sport has always been a key pillar of a Haberdashers’ Monmouth education and is an important part of health and wellbeing.

“Nurturing the next generation of sporting talent in the world-class facilities at Monmouth is a wonderful opportunity.”

As Director of the HMS Sports Academy, as well as overseeing the Eddie Butler Centre, he will develop and lead its strategy and the new sports scholarship scheme, whilst managing the sports performance pathways and strength and conditioning programmes.

“The pupil and coach mentoring programme and scholarship scheme is something that really excites me and will assist the vision of becoming one of the leading sports schools not only in Wales, but within the UK,” he adds.

Richie will also undertake a mentoring role across all the school’s sport programmes and assist the boys’ rugby coaching at all age groups, whilst also launching a new girls’ rugby 7s provision.

As a further commitment to and expansion of HMS’ sports provision, the school will be opening the new sports and athletic performance facility in April 2025.

It is being named in honour of celebrated Welsh rugby player and sports commentator Eddie Butler, who attended Monmouth school in the 1970s.

Other new facilities being developed as part of the investment into the school, include a new studio for the school’s very popular dance academy, as well as an ‘outstanding’ new Sixth Form centre.

Chair of Governors, Lord Colin Moynihan, is delighted with the timing of Richie’s appointment.

“Richie joins us at a time of huge investment in Haberdashers’ Monmouth School, taking it into a new era of excellence, for girls and boys,” he says.

“With Richie’s guidance and experience, this will enable us to develop a sports performance programme to rival any other school in the country.

“As former Chairman of the British Olympic Association and Minister for Sport, it brings me huge pleasure to think that this will bring outstanding sporting opportunities to girls and boys from all over the UK, creating performance pathways for those most talented of our young men and women in a wide range of sports.”

School sport will continue to be run under the direction of Andy Jones as Director of Sport who will be working closely with Richie.

Richie Rees has worked within professional rugby and high-performance sport for over 20 years in a playing, coaching and leadership capacity.

He is a qualified teacher, previously an athlete mentor at the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust and a qualified mentor on the nationally recognised Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).