Charlie Sharples

Six years after his last England cap, the Gloucester wing is still leaving vapour trails

NE OF the ironies of sport is that a Test player can be overlooked by his country when producing the best form of his life. Charlie Sharples won four England caps in 2011-12 and now can’t get within a sniff of Eddie Jones’s squad, despite the eight tries that put him top of the Premiership charts as the autumn Tests rolled around.

Last season aside, when Sharples seemed to pick up all his career injuries in one batch, the Gloucester wing has been consistently excellent for more than a decade. His pace and finishing are in the highest bracket, and should see him chase down James Simpson-Daniel’s club record of 63 Premiership tries within the next 12 or so months.

But Sharples has also shown that he can adapt. Defences were relatively passive when he started out as a young pup in 2007. As ‘line-speed D’ has escalated, bringing new positional challenges for outside backs, so Sharples has had to learn anew. He has seldom been found wanting.

At 29, he’s still as quick as a desert wind and believes his performance level will only improve due to experience.

“Physically, I’m in better condition than when I started,” he says. ““My form will decide whether I’ve peaked as a player, but internally I don’t feel like I’m past my best.”

You suspect there is a stab

Oof regret at his England adventure six years ago. Capped by Martin Johnson in a RWC 2011 warm-up, he failed to make the World Cup squad. Stuart Lancaster gave him three starts in 2012 but then handed the jersey to Mike Brown.

“It was there for me to put my marker down and I probably didn’t do enough,” admits Sharples. “In the time since, the way that Gloucester have been hit and miss probably hasn’t favoured many of our international players. But I’m not bitter, it was a fantastic experience.

“I’d never shut the door on England but I’m not being touted for that position. The only way to prove you should play at the next level is by doing well for your club. Some people put country first to the detriment of their club. I’ve always tried to do what’s best for Gloucester.

“I came through the academy and always wanted to play for Gloucester and be my best for Gloucester. Being picked for England off the back of that is a bonus.”

Sharples actually grew up in Surrey, playing as a lad at Sutton & Epsom, but his cherry-and-white dream took shape after moving to Gloucestershire at ten. He attended Wycliffe School and later played a season at the Dursley club.

One of his best mates is Henry Trinder. “We met playing district rugby at U14, U15,” says Sharples. “I grew up in Stroud, he grew up in Cirencester. I was in the county A team at outside-centre and he was in the B team, so I was getting picked ahead of him at centre! They bumped me out to the wing as I got older.”

In one of his early Gloucester games, he took a pass from Simpson-Daniel, stepped inside a defender, fended off another and dotted down against fierce rivals Bath. It remains his favourite try, and the approval of the Kingsholm faithful soon turned to adoration.

Last season saw Sharples awarded a testimonial, which raised money for a local children’s charity, Pied Piper, for which he is a vice-patron. Married to Rosie, with young children Eloise and Isaac, he hopes to become a financial adviser when the music stops. He’s done a leadership and management degree through the RPA, and is busy with a diploma in financial planning.

“As a young player, I saw first-hand the struggles that some senior players had with retirement and the work they had to put into making that transition. It gave me a kick up the backside really.”

A hurry-up for one of the great speed demons of English rugby.