Morgan Bunting discusses following in his Dad’s footsteps at Doncaster and previews Ealing (A)

3rd October 2024

Morgan Bunting joined Doncaster Knights this season, but his name is no stranger at Castle Park because his Dad, Simon Bunting has 96 caps for the Knights.

Morgan explained how he has settled into Castle Park: “I’ve really loved it here. It’s quite close to home, so it’s a pretty big deal for me to come into a club like this.

“Obviously, with being a new player, settling in can always be a little bit difficult, but now there’s such a big group that have come together, it’s been pretty easy to integrate into the squad with the lads that were already here.” 

The fly-half said he and his family are “very proud” to have joined his Dad’s former club, “I’ve always looked up to my dad. It’s massive to come to a club he was a part of and successful at.

“It’s a club that I remember a lot from growing up. I remember being four or five years old and spending a lot of time at this club. So it’s a big deal for me to come here.” 

At the weekend, The Knights suffered their first defeat of the season to Bunting’s former club, Nottingham. He reflected on the performance: “I think just the harsh reality is we probably weren’t good enough on the day. There’s a lot of pride and aspiration in the group, and I think we all let ourselves down a little bit.

“But, when you look back at the game, there were some positives to take away from it. I feel we spent a lot of time in the Nottingham half, credit to them, they defended. But if you play that game again, I feel like we know now what to do to come away with points and turn that pressure into points.” 

Bunting said: “It was strange to play against Nottingham, but good to see a lot of the lads, I do have a lot of close friends there so it was good to see them.” 

 

 

The Knights are heading into a very important game this weekend, against current Championship winners, Ealing Trailfinders. 

Bunting said: “We had a tough Monday review, worked out what we need to do and I think we are all focused towards the next challenge, which is going away to reigning champions Ealing. There is no bigger test really at the minute. We’re just taking it week by week.” 

“There’s always some additional little challenges with away games. Obviously the travel can affect you, but I feel at this level you have to go to a lot of different places, so I think it’s more just getting used to having two games at home then being on the road. We will see how we react to that.” 

Doncaster Knights v Ealing Trailfinders kicks off at 3pm onSaturday, you can follow the live feed on our twitter page. 

Alternatively, the Knights are back at Castle Park the following week to face London Scottish. Secure your tickets here.