LAUNCESTON have bolstered their men’s squads for the upcoming season with four new recruits.

Three of them are centres in former players Eoin Baker and Joe Vanstone as well as Tavistock’s Jack Easton, while lock Leion Cole is also back in the fold under new head coach Steve Perry and forwards coach Will James.

Cole is the most well-known of the quartet having previously made 51 appearances in a Black shirt.

But after taking a break for a year, he is looking forward to being around the players again, saying: “The new coaches was a big point for me to come back and give it another go. They seem really established coaches and I’m really looking forward to playing under them, seeing what I can learn from them and what they will bring to the club. After already chatting to Steve, he seems a great guy and I can’t wait to get going.”

Baker also played for Launceston from the under 11s to the Colts. He captained Royal Holloway University’s first team in London during his final year, before relocating for work gave him the opportunity to play for Chippenham RFC and represent Dorset and Wiltshire’s combined county side where they won the Division Two of the Bill Beaumont County Championship in 2023 against Durham.

Baker then moved back to the capital and has turned out in the South East equivalent Step Five for the last couple of years for Hammersmith and Fulham RFC, although a broken leg meant he only made a handful of appearances last season towards the end.

On his Polson Bridge return, he said: “When I decided to move home it was a no brainer to play for Launceston again. I grew up always wanting to represent the senior team, so I’m very happy that my circumstances have allowed me to do that.

“On the pitch I’m someone who loves to run hard lines, and I want to give the side front foot ball in the wider channels as much as possible.”

Easton makes the short trip over the border from Sandy Park where he started his journey at 13 before getting a first team call-up just three years later.

He said: “I was looking at joining Launceston before I went to Australia in October 2024, but then the move abroad stopped that. Now I’m back, I want to see if I have what it takes to make the step up to Step Five and challenge myself.

“I’ve got several good friends at the club, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in and seeing what we can do.”

Vanstone returns to the club where he started as a mini and junior at the age of seven, and progressed right up through to the Colts.

A club statement said: “Joe returns home after six years away studying at university and beginning his teaching career and playing in Bristol for Whitehall RFC. Now back in the town and back with the club he loves, we’re excited to see Joe back in a black shirt.”

Near the end of the last campaign, Launceston suffered with a shortage of backs, resulting in then head coach Ryan Western having to briefly come out of retirement.

Baker, Easton and Vanstone will provide plenty of options as they look to enjoy a much smoother campaign.