Bristol Rugby can confirm today that Academy Manager Geoff Moon will be returning home to New Zealand in the New Year for family reasons. He will be replaced by current Chief Scout, Tony Russ.

Bristol Rugby General Manager Corin Palmer today acknowledged that Geoff Moon has done a fine job and will be missed but that, in Russ, the club has an excellent replacement.

"Geoff joined us for the 2006-7 season and has been a big part of the Bristol family ever since. He has been instrumental in seeing players like the Dave Attwood, Josh Brown, Luke Eves, Iain Grieve, Chevvy Pennycook, Redford Pennycook, James Phillips and Ryan Prosser graduate to the first team squad."

"He has been an incredibly popular member of the club and a fantastically positive person to have around. He and his family have well and truly immersed themselves into their life over here in England and, whilst we are sorry to see him go, understand his desire to take his family back home."

"However, with Tony's appointment, we feel that we have the right man in place to keep us moving forward. His track record in professional rugby, as Director of Rugby at Leicester and Academy Manager at Harlequins, speaks for itself and we are looking forward to seeing the conveyor belt of young rugby talent continue to provide future first team players."

Geoff added:

"The whole Moon family have enjoyed our time in Bristol. It's been a great experience and I've loved doing the job particularly seeing young players start to realise their potential."

"However, the time is right to return home. I'd like to wish everyone at Bristol Rugby all the best for the future and will certainly keep in touch with the good friends I've made."

Russ has been Bristol Rugby's Chief Scout since the beginning of the season when he relocated to the West Country leaving the equivalent role at Harlequins.

Prior to that he was the Academy Manager at Quins from 2002 to 2006 and oversaw the development of Mike Brown, Ugo Monye, Tom Williams, Charlie Amesbury, Tosh Masson, Jordan Turner-Hall, Alex Rogers, Mark Lambert, George Robson, Chris Robshaw, Tom Guest and Adrian Jarvis.

His rugby CV prior to joining Harlequins is equally impressive:

1984-1990 Coach Saracens
1988-1989 Assistant Coach London Division
1988-1990 Asst. Coach England U21, Coach England Students
1990-1996 Director of Rugby, Leicester (1 x League, 1 x Cup)
1996 Director of Rugby/ Coach Ulster
1997-1999 Director of Rugby/ Coach Waterloo

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