Where are they now: England’s rugby future
By TJS
January 28 2008
Ahead of Friday’s England Saxons game in Leicester I decided to have a look back at the last time that Welford Road hosted an International match: 24th April 2004. Now of course Welford Road has played host to International teams since 2004 including England U21s for the Matt Hampson game & most recently Argentina’s visit last season...
...but the last time Welford Road hosted two International sides playing against each other was in 2004 for the Centenary celebrations of the England Schools Rugby Union when England played Wales at both U16 & U18 levels.
I decided to dig out the programme from those matches and look to see if any of those young lads had managed to progress in the sport from schoolboy to professional level and I was pleasantly surprised with what I found!
Here are the England teams from that day less than 4 years ago:
England U16
15 Rory Hamilton-Jones – Chose cricket over rugby & now plays for Sussex CC. Represented England U19 at cricket.
14 Mark Odejobi – Currently part of the Wasps Academy
13 Dominic Waldouck – 8 appearances for Wasps this season
12 Jordan Turner-Hall – 9 appearances for Harlequins this season
11 Nick Canty – Part of the London Irish Academy
10 Dan Cipriani (capt) – Rising star at Wasps and part of the England squad for the 2008 Six Nations
9 Danny Pointon – Part of the Northampton Saints Academy
1 Gareth Tedstone – Ding the rounds of clubs in Cornwall. Last year at Cornish Pirates & this year at Launceston in ND1
2 Joe Williams – Bristol Rugby Academy member
3 Jack Steadman – Another academy lad at Bristol
4 Nicholas Treadwell – Living in Basildon but no longer playing rugby
5 Benjamin Thomas – Saracens Academy
6 Chris Mundy – Tigers Academy, he has appeared in the A League for us this year.
7 William Jones – No idea.
8 James Phillips – At Bristol Rugby Academy, he’s made 4 appearances for the 1st XV this season.
16 Chris Mobbs – Not sure.
17 Ben Stevenson – London Irish Academy
18 Max Brunner – Was playing for Newbury but now studying at Bristol University
19 Charles Gardiner – Formerly London Irish Academy but not sure where he is now.
20 Andrew Goodwin - ????
21 Thomas Bewick – Another ????
22 Adam Janowski – Switched codes & now in the reserve squad at Harlequins RL
England U18
15 Ryan Davis – Now at Bath, Ryan has made 6 appearances for their first team this season
14 Joe Ansbro – Now at Northampton. Joe’s time at Saints has been hit by injury but prior to that he won two Blues for Cambridge University in the Varsity matches.
13 Oliver Mansbridge – Formerly in Worcester Academy but now playing for Bridgwater & Albion in National Division 3S
12 Tom Youngs – Son of Nick, Tom is currently trying to break in to the Tigers first team & made his debut this season
11 Nick Abendanon – Playing at Bath, Nick has won 2 full caps for England and was a late call up to the 2007 England World Cup squad
10 Shane Geraghty – Another England International with 2 caps, Shane is currently at London Irish
9 James Honeyben – James is currently fighting for the scrum half berth at Wasps and has made 2 appearances for them this season.
1 Kevin Davis – In his first year at Oxford University, Kevin was on the bench in the 2007 Varsity match
2 Alan Keylock – Another former Worcester Academy lad, he’s currently turning out for Stourbridge in National Division 2
3 Daniel Howick – Back at Bristol Academy but recently spent a few months in Auckland on a player exchange development programme.
4 Jordan Crane (capt) – Surely we all know where Jordan is! England Saxons are his highest honours to date but a full England cap can’t be too far away.
5 George Robson – Currently part of the Harlequins Academy
6 Gary Holmes – At Nuneaton RFC in National Division 2
7 Marc Howgate – Formerly part of the Tigers Academy and then Nuneaton, he’s now playing for Leicester Lions in ND3
8 Donald Barrell – On loan at Esher earlier this season but now back at Saracens. He’s made 2 appearances for the Premiership side this season.
16 Matt Mullan – Now Pertemps Bees but yet another Warriors Academy player now playing elsewhere.
17 Mark Rylance – Not a clue where he is now. I think he was playing club rugby in NSW last season but I can’t be certain.
18 Toby Connor – Another player that I’ve not been able to pin down.
19 Tom Croft – Deservedly called up to the full England squad fo the 2008 6 Nations and hopefully about to win his first cap.
20 Joshua Nowak – See Toby Connor & Mark Rylance…
21 Dan Storey – Playing for Doncaster Knights in National Division 1
22 Charlie Amesbury – Now at Quins, he was part of the England 7s squad in 2006/07.
In summary, as the information above shows, I suppose you’d expect that many schoolboy rugby players will have given up the sport or not made it as professionals and some more of them (especially from the U16 side) will still be waiting for their chance in one of the Premiership Academies.
However, what did surprise me a bit was how many of the players have not only stepped up from schoolboy level to the Premiership in under 4 seasons but how many of them have either won or are about to win full England honours in that time!
2 Intenationals, 2 more due to make their England debuts in the next few weeks and others having already represented their country at A and 7s levels.
All in all that day back in 2004 was quite a good opportunity to see the England stars of the future before they were famous, and all for a fiver as well!
So here’s to the future, to seeing International rugby back in Leicester and to the next generation of International players running out on to the hallowed turf of Welford Road!
Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: TheLeicesterTigers.co.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 28/01/2008 14:52
Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: SirHenry (IP Logged)
Date: 28/01/2008 16:13
Would also suggest that Wasps and Tiggers are more successful at bringing players through from the academy to 1st team rugby than say Brsitol and Wuss. Maybe that is a factor that it is easier for managers to introduce youngsters into a winning team than into a losing one....
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: KevinR (IP Logged)
Date: 28/01/2008 21:23
I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise that, on the whole, the backs have come through quicker and to a higher level. It does emphasise what exceptional talents Jordan and Tom are.
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: Stopsy (IP Logged)
Date: 28/01/2008 21:30
Interesting piece, thanks Tim and I agree with KevinR that Backs Flair is more apparent at a younger age than the necessary grunt of the Forwards.
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: Tom Paine (IP Logged)
Date: 28/01/2008 21:42
Thomas Bewick - good at drawing birds!
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: Petros (IP Logged)
Date: 29/01/2008 10:30
Interesting to read
Also its notable that two of those who have made most progress were in the U16s, Cipriani and Waldocuk both picked up an HEC winners medal.
BTW James Honeyben hasn't been afit for a while but didn't look out of place when thrown into the GP at 18 which is where I suspect those 2 games mentioned date back to.
Also its notable that two of those who have made most progress were in the U16s, Cipriani and Waldocuk both picked up an HEC winners medal.
BTW James Honeyben hasn't been afit for a while but didn't look out of place when thrown into the GP at 18 which is where I suspect those 2 games mentioned date back to.
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: cheerycherry (IP Logged)
Date: 29/01/2008 10:56
Glawster lad Danny Pointon, his Father is Head of Rugby at St Peters Catholic School in the city, is no longer at Saints if I remember correctly. Those teamsheets highlight how tough it is for those young lads to make the grade though.
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: tjs10 (IP Logged)
Date: 29/01/2008 11:13
I admit that my "answers" to where they are now is based partially on accurate information but also partially on Google searches to try and fill in the gaps.
Unfortunately once a player starts to drop away from the top flight they tend to drop off the "Googleable" radar quite quikly so some are based on the most up to date info I had available.
The investigation did show that some young lads do make it, and make it big time, that many more are still fighting for their big breaks and that a lot either don't make it at all or decide not to pursue the game to professional levels.
I suppose overall it is no real surprise but it did surprise me a little how far some of them (Such as Cipriani, Abendanon, Geraghty & Croft) have come in such a short space of time.
Unfortunately once a player starts to drop away from the top flight they tend to drop off the "Googleable" radar quite quikly so some are based on the most up to date info I had available.
The investigation did show that some young lads do make it, and make it big time, that many more are still fighting for their big breaks and that a lot either don't make it at all or decide not to pursue the game to professional levels.
I suppose overall it is no real surprise but it did surprise me a little how far some of them (Such as Cipriani, Abendanon, Geraghty & Croft) have come in such a short space of time.
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: Temujin (IP Logged)
Date: 30/01/2008 23:42
There is something of a presumption here they all WANT to play professional rugby ... not unreasonable you may think but not necessarily so ... there's something about keeping the company of yer mates!
Slavery is as slavery does
Slavery is as slavery does
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: tjs10 (IP Logged)
Date: 31/01/2008 09:36
Had you read the full article you would have seen that there was no such assumption at all Lyr!
Surely the phrase in my post above of"or decide not to pursue the game to professional levels" should indicate that!
Likewise the phrase in the original article of "In summary...I suppose you’d expect that many schoolboy rugby players will have given up the sport or not made it as professionals..."
Surely the phrase in my post above of"or decide not to pursue the game to professional levels" should indicate that!
Likewise the phrase in the original article of "In summary...I suppose you’d expect that many schoolboy rugby players will have given up the sport or not made it as professionals..."
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: cheerycherry (IP Logged)
Date: 31/01/2008 10:09
Surely the fact that a minority have come a long way in a relatively short period highlights they must be a little bit special? And the notion of not wanting to be a pro player if you have the ability? You dont want to mention that idea too loudly round my way! 
Re: Where are they now: England’s rugby future
Posted by: Temujin (IP Logged)
Date: 31/01/2008 16:37
tjs10: the presumption is, to my mind, implicit, despite your precision. This is neither criticism nor a reflection upon you personally, more an observation of general perceptions. I read the full article.
cheerycherry: you would, then, be surprised at the large numbers of players who play for their mates and the love of the game [and the craic?], and have no interest in a professional sporting career, with it's many disadvantages as well as advantages, regardless of their ability or potential.
Slavery is as slavery does
cheerycherry: you would, then, be surprised at the large numbers of players who play for their mates and the love of the game [and the craic?], and have no interest in a professional sporting career, with it's many disadvantages as well as advantages, regardless of their ability or potential.
Slavery is as slavery does
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