Latest news with #DanCole
BBC News
20 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
'End of an era' - why the Premiership will change
Back in December 2012 England shocked the rugby world, thrashing a great New Zealand team against the odds in front of an enraptured was a fresh-looking England group assembled by head coach Stuart Lancaster, many at the start of their international careers. A host would go on to be mainstays at the next two – or even three - Rugby World Cole, Mike Brown, Ben Youngs and Alex Goode all started that day. More than 12 years on, they all say goodbye to English rugby in the coming days and weeks. Danny Care, who was on the bench, is also bowing while it is customary for a handful of great servants to retire from the game at the end of any season, seldom have a group of this calibre left the stage men have played for England more than 35-year-old Youngs and Cole, 37, both Test centurions and Leicester one-club man Goode, 37, recently played his 400th game for Saracens, for whom he has won a whopping six Premiership titles and played in nine legend Care, 38, another Test centurion, made his England debut in 2008 and retired from international duty 16 years later in 2024; an unprecedented Brown is still playing at the top level at the age of 39. Only Richard Wigglesworth, Care and Goode have more Premiership appearances than the durable of them have given a huge amount to the English game. It is the end of an era."It seems like loads of us have gone at the same time," Care said, citing also the mid-season retirements of generational players Joe Marler and Anthony Watson."But it's probably a sign of the times a little bit. There are so many academy kids, younger boys replacing older boys now."So the squad dynamic is probably a little bit different. There aren't many of us anymore!"But it does feel like a bit of an end of an era. A lot of lads who have played a lot of rugby for club and country, going at the same time." On this note, Cole admitted in his retirement announcement he didn't want to be "the old guy, sitting around and hanging on," as financially-challenged Premiership clubs put their faith in they have all done remarkably well to get this who will turn 40 in September, has put his longevity down to a love of the game, self-drive, and a desire to make family 2007 Youngs became Leicester's youngest ever player, aged just 17, and is still trucking almost two decades points to improvements in sports science, a lower training load, and a healthy slice of luck, while he believes time away from the international game can also help with recovery."We used to do two double training days a week, and we wouldn't dream of doing that now," Youngs says."There is greater emphasis on recovery and looking after the body. So that has all changed."International rugby also takes its toll but because some of us have stepped away later in our careers, it has allowed us to freshen up for a couple more seasons."What position you play is also a factor - Youngs and Care are scrum-halves and Goode and Brown full-backs - with warhorse prop Cole something of an outlier."I play a different sport to the big lads. I'm not getting the collisions all the time - it is more the stress on the joints," says Care."What position you play definitely has an effect, and allows you to have longevity. But I would say we are all pretty stubborn too!" Youngs adds."That also helps, because you have to be willing to keep doing it for as long as you do."Care agrees: "Love for the game and playing for a really cool team has also made me go for longer."But while Care has already played his last game for his beloved Quins, Goode could still bow out winning a record-equalling seventh title, although Saracens need results to go their way on the final day of the regular season on the Leicester trio of Youngs, Cole, and Brown it could also end in fairytale fashion, with the Tigers guaranteed a place in the top four, likely a home semi-final, and a shot at next month's whoever ends up celebrating on the Twickenham turf on 14 June, the Premiership will feel a very different place next season.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Venture Cafe Launches In London With Invention Agency Backing
Venture Cafe founder and Advanced Research and Invention Agency chief of staff, Dan Cole on stage in ... More London Earlier this month, around 270 people - most of them startup entrepreneurs - gathered at the Jellicoe Building in London's King's Cross area to mix and mingle at the newly launched Venture cafe. The first Venture Cafe was launched in 2009 as a place where entrepreneurs working within the Cambridge Innovation Center in Massachusetts could meet regularly, get to know each other and exchange ideas. Since then, Venture Cafés have opened their doors in 20 locations across the U.S., Europe and Asia. The London location marks the first step into the U.K. by the not-for-profit Venture Cafe Global Institute, so when I spoke to founder Tim Rowe, I was keen to find out what his organisation was bringing to the party in a city in which ecosystem building has been a way of life for more than a decade. As Rowe explains, he has been planning to bring the Venture Cafe concept to London for a number of years. It was an obvious location. 'You know, some people might refer to London as the capital of the world. I think it's more diverse than any other city in the world, and that's really important when you're building a startup and you need to sell your products everywhere. So there was no question about whether London was interesting. It was just a matter of when we could come here.' A first attempt - which got as far as a letter of intent - fell victim to the COVID epidemic. However, the idea was revived when Britain's newly-minted Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) offered to sponsor the weekly events. With the funding in place, the first meeting took place on May 15. As Rowe sees it, the purpose of Venture Cafe is not simply to bring people together but also to create a space where new opportunities can be developed with personal relationships as the catalyst. 'When people within the innovation community don't know each other, they can't help each other and they can't start companies together,' he says. 'They can't do all the things that need to happen in an entrepreneurial community.' Equally, businesses may well struggle if they don't know how to find VCs or engineers. So, Venture Cafe provides a space where they can meet. And that, at least in part, is the rationale behind the funding from the Advanced Research and Invention Agency. Set up by the U.K. government's Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the agency is tasked with supporting transformative technology projects. As ARIA's Chief Product Officer Pipply James said in a canned quote, the agency's mission aligns with the Venture Cafe concept. 'Breakthroughs happen when different people, ideas, and disciplines collide. That's why we're partnering with Venture Café: to create open, energising spaces where founders, researchers, investors and innovators can meet, collaborate, and spark the next wave of world-changing ideas,' she said. But here's the thing, London - and the U.K. in general - now boasts a pretty mature innovation ecosystem. In practice, that means there are many forums and organisations that exist to support entrepreneurs and introduce them to their peers. At a local level, there are networking groups. Nationally, organisations such as Tech Nation and Barclays Eagle Labs offer opportunities to connect. The same is true of innovation centres, such as Plexal in East London and there is no shortager of numero accelerators. Nevertheless, Rowe sees space for new forums. 'I haven't heard anyone say there isn't a space for this, " he says. 'I have heard a lot of excitement about what we're doing.' One important element of Venture Cafe, he says, is the fact you are never far away from a meeting. 'There is something unique about what we do, and that's the regularity and intensity of what we do. We do it weekly,' says Rowe. 'And I think there's something fundamental about that. For instance, there is no major world religion, as far as I know, that doesn't meet weekly.' To some degree, the concpt sits in a complementarty space to others working within the ecosystem. For instance, one attendee was startup accelerator operator, Growth Studio. 'Our accelerator programmes, and the success of our cohort founders, are heavily influenced by our ability to meet in person and get first-hand access to industry leaders and understand their markets and priorities. Events like this break down the barriers,' said co-founder Paul Finch. Will it catch on with time-poor London entrepreneurs and VCs? Well, the first event attracted 273 people. Evidence from elsewhere suggests that the figure will grow as word spreads. The last meeting in Tokyo attracted 1,000 people, while in Boston and Berlin, attendance was put, respectively at 500 and 440. With sponsorship from ARIA, the events - which include themed nights around specific sectors - are free. Rowe hopes and expects attendance to be on a par with other centers.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Dan Cole retires a titan who will be remembered for resilience over highlights
When looking back on the rugby life and times of Dan Cole, what is most striking is that, after almost two decades at the front-row coal face, after the triumphs, trophies and truculence, it was something entirely intangible which stands tall above all else. It is the 38-year-old's resilience; or, to borrow a sporting cliché, his bouncebackability. The veteran Leicester and England tighthead will retire at the end of the season, but, when recalling his career, it is not necessarily the highs that immediately spring to mind. It is often overlooked, given his Leicester debut came in 2007, that he burst onto the scene as English rugby's most dynamic, rounded prop. It was his mauling of then England loosehead Tim Payne against Wasps which led to a first Test cap in 2010, at the age of 23 – tender for an international tighthead. But it is easy to forget how, at one time or another, he jackalled as effectively as England's back row, too. DRC in numbers. 🐻❄️ — Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 27, 2025 Another 339 appearances – with, probably, a few more to come this season – for the Tigers ensued, as well as four Premiership titles. Cole wore those renowned East Midlands stripes having grown up a dyed-in-the-wool Tiger, playing his junior rugby – mostly in the back row – for the neighbouring grass-roots club, South Leicester. From those muddy pitches, a brilliant career for both England and the Lions followed; Cole made 118 appearances for England and won three Test caps for the British and Irish Lions. And yet, it was arguably the nadir of Cole's playing career which is most vividly remembered by English rugby fans. Cole was known as a destructive scrummager – ask Tom Court and the rest of the Irish front row who featured in the 2012 Six Nations – but in Yokohama, as Cole trotted off the bench early in the 2019 World Cup final, the tighthead was chewed up and spat out by a South African juggernaut hell-bent on global hegemony. Cole did not feature for his country again under then head coach Eddie Jones, believing his international career to be over while attempting to convalesce the deepest of emotional wounds and scars. But it is a measure of Cole's durability and work ethic that he returned to his club and continued to give his all for a boyhood cause. When Steve Borthwick replaced the sacked Jones as England head coach at the end of 2022, Cole sniffed a second chance. It was Cole, after all, who had been the cornerstone of the Leicester pack which, under Borthwick, had lifted the Premiership title a season earlier. With Borthwick from Leicester went Richard Wigglesworth, Kevin Sinfield and Aled Walters, the fitness guru – all of whom knew Cole well. When the inevitable England recall came, it was Walters who convinced Cole to take on the role of Stone Cold in England training, with the veteran re-enacting Steve Austin's famous wrestling entrance (replacing beer with water) to his team-mate's delight and social media acclaim. STONE COLD DAN COLE. Elite content via @JoeMarler on Instagram! #RWC2023 — Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) September 21, 2023 Whether Cole yearned for personal retribution after 2019 is not fully known; he is a unique, droll character who often kept his cards close to his chest, instead opting for wise-cracks. Regardless, there was symbolic retribution four years on. The image of him trotting off in the 56th minute of the 2023 World Cup semi-final alongside Joe Marler, his great mate, having held resolutely in the face of his demons from four years previous, a Springbok scrummaging onslaught, will stay with all those who were in the Stade de France that evening for a long time. England went on to lose, but Cole must surely have slept easy that night, after a standing ovation from the England fans in Paris, knowing he could have given no more to the cause. Cole retires as a tighthead titan and a Leicester legend alongside a cabal of his former England team-mates, in a season that has become a curtain call of sorts for English rugby. Cole, Marler, Ben Youngs – alongside whom Cole has established the successful For the Love of Rugby podcast – Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Danny Care and Alex Goode are all now hanging up their boots. The final chapter 📖 — Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) May 27, 2025 'Overall, I have loved my career but I haven't loved every minute,' Cole said. 'That has allowed me to appreciate the good times even more. However, when I do look back on it properly at the end, I know I won't want to change anything about it.' Those words from the man himself are telling. Tuesday was a poignant day for Cole, as well as those close to him, yet, as ever with this great Midlands yeoman, we can be sure that, whatever the next move, brightness lies ahead. History can reassure us of that.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Veteran England prop Cole to retire
England and British and Irish Lions prop Dan Cole said on Tuesday he will retire at the end of the season aged 38. Cole came through Leicester's academy before becoming his country's second-most capped player on 118 appearances, behind team-mate Ben Youngs. The tight-head won three Six Nations titles and featured at four Rugby World Cups. He also played three Tests on two Lions' series. He made his last England appearance in November. "It has not been an easy decision at all," Cole said in a Leicester statement. "I have been to-ing and fro-ing; however, I think this is the best time for me to finish playing. "I don't want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long," he added. England coach Steve Borthwick labelled Cole "brilliant". "It was a privilege to play alongside Dan at the start of his Test career, and later to coach him," Borthwick said. "He's not only a brilliant team player, but also a rare talent. His loyalty and service to both England and Leicester Tigers have been truly outstanding. "While his retirement marks the end of a remarkable playing career, I've no doubt he'll continue to make a meaningful impact in whatever comes next. We all wish him the very best for the future." Cole will now focus on the end of the season, with Leicester sitting second in the Premiership table with one game of the regular season to play. bur-iwd/lp/pb
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Former England prop Dan Cole announces he will retire at end of season
Former England prop Dan Cole has announced he is to retire at the end of the season. The 38-year-old, who is the country's second-most capped men's player with 118, will hang up his boots at the conclusion of Leicester's campaign. Cole featured in four World Cups with England, reaching the final in 2019, and has won four Premiership titles with the Tigers. He also toured twice with the British and Irish Lions. The veteran said his decision was partly influenced by that of Ben Youngs, his long-time team-mate for club and country, who is also retiring. Cole told Leicester's website: 'It has not been an easy decision at all. I have been to-ing and fro-ing – however, I think this is the best time for me to finish playing. 'I believe with Ben Youngs, Julian Montoya and others that are in and around my age ending their time at the club at the end of the season, plus the new chapter next season with Geoff Parling coming in as head coach, it's time for the club to kick on and the right time for me to go. 'As you get older, physically, it's definitely harder to carry on and, looking around the changing room, I am 10 years older than most of the guys in there with me and that's challenging as well. 'I don't want to be the old guy, just sat around and hanging on to something for too long.' Cole, a graduate of the Tigers' academy, has made 340 senior appearances for the club since his debut in October 2007. He had loan spells at Bedford Blues and Nottingham early in his career before establishing himself as a regular in the Leicester side in the 2008-09 campaign. His first England cap came in 2010 and he went on to win three Six Nations titles, in 2011, 2016 and 2017. England head coach Steve Borthwick paid tribute to his former team-mate. Borthwick said: 'It was a privilege to play alongside Dan at the start of his Test career and later to coach him. 'He's not only a brilliant team player, but also a rare talent. His loyalty and service to both England and Leicester Tigers have been truly outstanding. 'While his retirement marks the end of a remarkable playing career, I've no doubt he'll continue to make a meaningful impact in whatever comes next. We all wish him the very best for the future.' Cole played all three Lions Tests against Australia in 2013 and also toured New Zealand four years later. And he has a chance to bow out with another title with Leicester currently second in the Gallagher Premiership ahead of the final round of regular-season fixtures. He said: 'It's clear it is not over yet. This is about finishing my career at the end of our season. There is still hopefully a few more games left for me to play.'
