Born in North Wales, Joe Jones has been around the block in terms of his time at different rugby clubs. As a true welshman, he started his rugby from a young age for home side Mold RFC, until the age of 16. He then had an exciting year, moving school to Myerscough College, changing club to RGC 1404, and breaking into the Sale Sharks academy.

In June 2013, after his education came to an end, Jones signed his first professional rugby contract with Cardiff Blues, going back on loan with, then, Welsh Championship team, RGC 1404. He also spent loan spells with the feeder side, Cardiff RFC, and fellow South Wales club, Pontypridd, while also earning international caps with Wales U18s and U20s squads. 

In 2016, aged 21, Joe waved goodbye to Wales, and travelled abroad to Pro D2 side, USA Perpignan, having 2 successful seasons with the South France side, and helped in the teams league-winning season in 2018 for their promotion to the Top14 league.

Following that successful campaign, Jones rejoined his academy team, Sale Sharks, and had a successful two years with the Greater Manchester team, winning the Premiership Cup in his second season, their first trophy in 14 years. With the COVID-19 pandemic occurring at the start of 2020, the season was obviously cut short, and in the June, he made a move to Doncaster Knights for a season to keep his competitive edge. 

After a short stint at Castle Park, Jones had an even shorter stint at Coventry at the start of the 2021/22 season only staying for 5 months, before heading back to the north-west and rejoining Sale for another two-year stint. All the while, working towards his Level 2 coaching badge, coaching at his boyhood club, Mold RFC. In 2023, Joe said a permanent farewell to the Sharks and wracked up over 50 caps for them. 

Carrying on his coaching, Joe played 4 times for Championship side, Caldy, before heading back to South Wales, pausing his coaching career, and joining URC club, Scarlets. Having the one season with the Llanelli club, he came back up north to Doncaster for the 2024/25 season. We are thrilled to have Joe back in the squad, after an incredible career, and hopefully his experience will boost the squad to push for promotion.

Jasper developed a love for rugby at a very young age, playing rugby union for his school, and also played rugby league for Newsome Panthers and Underbank Rangers. 

In 2017, he was first brought in to the Yorkshire Academy and carried on down the path of rugby union. After two successful seasons in their academy, McGuire moved on to university where he played for Northumbria University in the BUCS Super Rugby league for 4 years and really developed his game. He then moved across the city to Newcastle’s campus and played a year with them as he completed his Masters in Urban Planning.

At the end of his Masters in 2023, Jasper was chosen for the England Students squad, managed by forwards coach Daz Fearn, and also signed his first pro contract for Premiership club, Saracens in April of that year. He then spent a period on loan at Saracen’s feeder team, Ampthill, playing 13 times in the Championship and Prem Cup.

We are delighted to have Jasper with us this season, and hope the coaches and fellow props can aid his progress as he strives for greater heights.

Born on the Manono Island of Samoa, Logovi’i is arguably the most experienced player to ever wear a Doncaster Knights jersey. Beginning his career in his home country, and earning his first international appearance in 2009, he has represented Samoa over 30 times and has played in 2 World Cups.

Mulipola moved to England to join Leicester Tigers in 2011, and had a long and successful career with them, playing over 130 times for them and was also part of the squad that won the the Anglo-Welsh Cup in 2012 and the Premiership in 2013.

Injury seriously affected Mulipola in the latter stages of his Leicester career, but he remained a constant leader in the squad and was a key morale booster for players, and influential on props coming through the team.

In 2018, he joined fellow Premiership side, Newcastle Falcons, for 5 years, making 63 appearances for the club. During his tenure in the North East he spent a loan spell at Gloucester Rugby during an injury crisis.

Logovi’i left the Falcons in 2013, and was signed to Montpellier Hérault as a World Cup Joker– a player who signs for a club during a World Cup campaign as positional cover. He then joined Saracens on a permanent deal until the end of the 2024 season as injury cover.

After an illustrious career, we are delighted to welcome “Logo” to Doncaster, who has already been demonstrating his leadership skills amongst the forwards, and his experience is invaluable to the whole squad.

 

Andrew Turner is one of our loan players for this season, coming from Premiership side Bristol Bears, where he began in the academy aged just 15 before signing his first professional contract with the club in 2020.

Turner’s love for rugby started from a young age when he started playing at Weston-super-Mare RFC at the age of 13, standing out from the crowd as a determined and powerful player from the offset.

Andrew featured in the 2022 U20s Six Nations with England where he made 3 appearances for his country. Putting in some impressive displays, he was called to the other side of the world to join New Zealand club Crusaders on loan in the 2022/23 season after they experienced an injury crisis.

Having such experience at the age of 22 should help the Knights this season, but this loan stint should also improve Turner’s game with the experience of the other props in the squad.

Hooker Ben Chapman is not your conventional, old-school front-rower; mobile and good with his feet, he impressed the Knights coaching staff before joining the club this season, which became his first professional rugby contract.

He started his rugby at just 4-years-old, starting at his home team, Crowborough RFC. He worked his way through the ranks there, and pursued his rugby while at school at Skinner’s School in Tunbridge Wells, becoming 1st XV Captain in his final year. 

Chapman has been fortunate enough to be part of the England set-up on multiple occasions, for the U18s Counties squad in 2019. He was also a leading player in the Cardiff University 1st team, who had their highest BUCS Super Rugby finish with Chapman as vice-captain, and this season display earned him a spot in the England Students squad.

After his university studies, he joined Ampthill as a consistent starter in their 2023/24 campaign, before joining the Knights for the proceeding one. We look forward to watching Ben flourish in our system, and hope his experience and skills lead us to new heights.

Hooker Fred Davies is one of the new kids on the block, but he’s well-versed in playing rugby as shown by his impressive career, starting at Northampton Saints academy at the age of 17 for a two-year period. 

Davies then spent a year at Cambridge RFC in 2017 before moving to Australia for a season with Shute Shield side, Eastern Suburbs District in Sydney to hone in on his skills. 

At the age of 20, Fred decided to turn his focus to his academia at the established rugby university, Durham. Here, he accumulated many accolades with the Palatinates, captaining the side to a BUCS Super Rugby title win in the 2021/22 season, while also picking up the Player of the Year award. He is also the record try scorer for the league, scoring 39 in 53 apps. After the end of his university year, he was chosen to captain the England Students team in their fixtures.

After leaving university, he signed his first professional contract with Bristol Bears, making 15 appearances and scoring 4 tries. He carried on his captaining duties when he was chosen to lead the Bears out in the Premiership Cup against Exeter in September 2023.

His evident leadership and experience at such a young age will hopefully aid the Knights this season as they push for new heights.