The new man at the top of Gloucestershire rugby has a five-year plan to bring back the glory days to county rugby.

Shane Aldridge, who lives in Dursley, took over from Nigel Gillingham as the new head of representative rugby at the start of the season and is a man on a mission.

“We’ve got enough talent to get both the men’s and women’s teams into the finals at Twickenham and that’s the aim within the next five years,” he said. “And I think it’s achievable.”

Gloucestershire were serial winners of the county championship back in the day – a day out at Twickenham at the end of the season was as commonplace as a family trip to the seaside – but the last few years have been barren ones for the proud rugby county.

Aldridge, who is responsible for the girls’ under-15s through to the senior women’s side and the boys’ under-16s through to the men’s county team, wants to see a clear pathway in the county set-up.

“We need a programme that gives players a natural flow from the junior teams into the adult teams,” he said.

“We want to identify players at a younger age, keep them interested and keep them involved, even if they go off to university or move away from the area for work.

“We’re also keen to stress that selection is open to everybody, including players from the Bristol area.

“We don’t have any pre-selections. It doesn’t matter what level you are playing at, if you turn up for training and are good enough you’ll have a chance.

“Last season Dursley’s Jack Robson played and he’s a level nine player, although he could play at a much higher level if he chose to and played in the county championship last season.”

Aldridge believes there are plenty of good reasons to want to play rugby for the county.

“Pride,” he said immediately. “Pride in wearing the shirt. That’s what we’re all about. We’d rather have 15 players who want to play for Gloucestershire than 100 who turn up who are not really that bothered.

“We want to get the message across that playing for the county is an opportunity for the players – it offers something different to club rugby.

“It showcases their talents to a wider audience and of course there’s the chance of going on an England Counties tour at the end of the season.”

This year the England Counties fly out to Spain on Monday 29th May – the day after the county championship final at Twickenham – and return on Sunday 4^th June.

Gloucestershire players in the past who have gone on tour with England Counties include Mike Wilcox, Jack Preece, Leo Fielding and Nev Codlin.

If Gloucestershire are to make it all the way through to the final this year, they will have to navigate their way through a new format.

They are still only playing three pool games – against Devon at Cleve on Saturday (3pm), against Hertfordshire at Hertford on May 13 (3pm) and against Surrey at Lydney on May 20 (3pm) – but the group also includes Cornwall and Kent.

It means Gloucestershire could win all three of their games – bonus points are available for tries scored and defeats by seven points or fewer - but miss out on a Twickenham place on points difference because only the top team goes through.

“It should encourage running rugby because you never know how many points you are going to need,” Aldridge said. “Mobile props are probably a better bet in this format than the more set piece orientated.”

If Gloucestershire do pull through they will have deserved it because Aldridge believes that their hopes are hampered because the area is such a hotbed for rugby with many calls on the players’ time.

“While Hartpury’s promotion to the Championship is great news it means their players aren’t available to us,” he said.

“It’s the same with the women’s team. Gloucester Hartpury will be in the new women’s super league next season along with Bristol Ladies. To a certain degree we are victims of the popularity of rugby in the county especially when you consider there are Forest and Gloucester Combinations’ cup finals this weekend.”

The women’s team lost their opening county championship game against Devon last weekend, going down 32-24 at Cleve.

They travel to Berkshire on Sunday before playing their final pool game against Surrey at Cheltenham Rugby Club on Sunday 14^th May (3pm).

The top team from their pool will go through to the semi-finals with the final at Richmond on the same day as the men’s final.