Tristan Roberts


Tristan Roberts is a rugby union who currently plays for Esher in National League 1, having previously been at US Cognac and Ealing Trailfinders. He has represented both the England Students and the England Counties XV and during his rugby career has progressed from playing in the fourth tier with Cinderford to playing in the Premiership with London Welsh. Tristan has played much of his career at fly-half and has a reputation as a very reliable points kicker who is also excellent at drop kicks.

Playing career

Early career

A late developer when it came to rugby union, Tristan focused on hockey at school playing at county level. He first started seriously playing rugby at 16 and found that this was the sport for him, appearing for the youth team of his local rugby team - Sevenoaks. At 17 he moved to Hartpury College to further his rugby education and was later picked up by Cinderford, then playing in National Division Three South, and was made part of the squad for the 2006-07 season. Tristan made 11 appearances in his first season, scoring 105 points including four drop kicks which earned him call-ups for both Kent and English Counties XV at the end of 2007. A second season for the Gloucestershire side saw Tristan become a regular fixture in the first team, finishing as the fourth top points scorer in the league with 187 points from 19 games, and helping ultimately helping Cinderford to gain promotion to National Division Two. After impressing at Cinderford, Tristan was picked up by Gloucester where he would become part of their academy squad. He played a number of academy games but was unable to instantly break into the first team and was instead loaned to Moseley for experience.

Moseley

Tristan joined the Moseley for the start of the 2008-09 season plying his trade in National Division One. Despite playing at a league two levels higher than that of Cinderford, Tristan managed to play 22 games in all competitions, scoring 169 points, helping the Birmingham-based side to a mid-table position and also contributing 10 points against Leeds Carnegie at Twickenham to claim the 2009 EDF Energy National Trophy 23 - 18. Changes to the English league system saw National Division One be rebranded to the Championship for the 2009-10 season and with only 12 teams it was much more competitive with Moseley finishing 9th at the end of the regular season and being placed in the new format relegation group. Moseley survived the relegation group by finishing 2nd and Tristan had the best season of his career in scoring terms - being the top scorer in the league at the end of the regular season and finishing 3rd overall with 267 points from 26 games.

Doncaster Knights / Bristol

After two seasons at Moseley, Tristan moved north to join Doncaster Knights. He only spent a year at Castle Park but scored 358 points in 30 games across all competitions which attracted the interest of former Premiership team Bristol who signed Tristan for the 2011-12 season. Although he had a good first season for Bristol, the club failed to win promotion despite topping the league table, as they went out of the playoff semi finals due to a shock 53 - 63 aggregate defeat to the Cornish Pirates. The ever increasing pressure at Bristol to gain promotion would lead to Tristan becoming a squad player rather than starter and he was released at the end of 2014, joining London Welsh in the summer.

London Welsh / Ealing Trailfinders

It was somewhat ironic that despite being released by Bristol he managed to achieve something they were desperate for - Premiership rugby - which Welsh had gained at Bristol's expense. Other than that it was neither a good season for Tristan or his club as they struggled to attract fans to their ground at Oxford and were relegated from the Premiership having failed to win a single game. Although Tristan played a number of matches he was unable to become a regular and left the club in 2015 to join Ealing Trailfinders. After the 2015-16 season Tristan left Ealing to start a new adventure in France with US Cognac who play in Fédérale 1.

Season-by-season stats

SeasonClubCompetitionAppearancesTriesDrop GoalsConversionsPenaltiesTotal Points
2006-07CinderfordNational Division 3 South11241617105
2007-08CinderfordNational Division 3 South19424027187
2007-08GloucesterGuinness Premiership000000
2008-09GloucesterGuinness Premiership000000
2008-09GloucesterAnglo-Welsh Cup000000
2008-09MoseleyNational One18603015140
2008-09MoseleyEDF Energy Trophy50011434
2009-10GloucesterGuinness Premiership000000
2009-10GloucesterAnglo-Welsh Cup000000
2009-10MoseleyRFU Championship26412962267
2009-10MoseleyBritish & Irish Cup3106120
2010-11Doncaster KnightsRFU Championship27865845309
2010-11Doncaster KnightsBritish & Irish Cup31071049
2011-12BristolRFU Championship19123243204
2011-12BristolBritish & Irish Cup000000
2012-13BristolRFU Championship1800101565
2012-13BristolBritish & Irish Cup61013752
2013-14BristolRFU Championship84013355
2013-14BristolBritish & Irish Cup400217
2014-15London WelshAviva Premiership800204
2014-15London WelshAnglo-Welsh Cup3101211
2014-15London WelshEuropean Challenge Cup4002313
2015-16Ealing TrailfindersRFU Championship11014423
2015-16Ealing TrailfindersBritish & Irish Cup300102
2016-17US CognacFédérale 1-----

Honours

Moseley
International/Representative