Odogwu can be secret weapon for England
After bursting on to the scene this season with Wasps, the flying wing could have a similar impact for Eddie Jones
When Eddie Jones names his 28-man England squad for the forthcoming Six Nations this afternoon there might be a name that is not immediately known to the casual follower of English rugby; that of 23-year-old Paolo Odogwu, Wasps’ stocky centre-turned-wing.
But that casual follower can be forgiven. For the first two matches of Wasps’ season, Odogwu was the man behind the curtain, forced to settle for a spot on the bench. Since the second of those replacement appearances, however, which featured a two-try cameo in Wasps’ November loss to Gloucester, the curtain has been raised.
Odogwu, who also qualifies for Italy and Nigeria on account of his parents’ heritage, has started every match for his club since, starring in both his primary position and at outside centre. With Jones’s penchant for “hybrids”, Odogwu’s versatility is significant, as is the fact that no one in the Premiership has made more metres or clean breaks this season.
Stats and landmarks such as these will have tickled the curiosity of avid Premiership viewers, but his man-of-the-match performance in Wasps’ victory against Bath at the beginning of the month slapped them around the chops. So much so that Odogwu’s Instagram following increased by 1,000 after that allcourt display at the Rec. In a short period, Odogwu has turned himself from Premiership squad man to stardust.
“If I were still playing, he is the guy I would least like to defend oneon-one,” says Wasps’ breakdown and skills coach, Matt Everard, a former flanker with his current employers as well as Leicester. “He can run around you, run over you, step you in a phone box. He is really powerful, with a great turn of pace, and electric feet. He is one of those guys with a ridiculously low centre of gravity and his balance and ability to fight collisions is so good.
“He is ridiculously good over the ball and, in the last couple of games, he has been unlucky not to get a few more turnovers. Again, with his low centre of gravity and his power, he’s a serious jackal threat.”
Only three backs in the Premiership have won more turnovers than Odogwu this season. Wasps, therefore, find themselves in the most privileged of jackal positions. The side have coiled, breakdown viper Jack Willis to roam and pounce in the central pastures, while Odogwu patrols the fringes. “It makes us pretty hard to attack on the floor,” Everard says. You could say that.
For a squad player such as Odogwu to earn the starting jersey in a Premiership side is not unheard of, but to be in the mix for international recognition within two months of doing so borders on extraordinary. That rise, Everard says, is down to Wasps’ head coach, Lee Blackett.
“A lot of the credit goes to Lee,” Everard says. “Off the bench, we want guys to have moments in the game where they offer a big impact against an opposition that is potenollie
tially fatigued. We highlighted Pabs as one of those guys that can have a big impact on both sides of the ball – in hand or jackalling. And he did that – what he did against Gloucester, those two tries off the bench, was pretty special.
“Lee doesn’t mind changing guys positionally. Lima Sopoaga is a flyhalf
but has been slotting in at fullback for us; Alfie Barbeary is traditionally a hooker, and he’s been playing in the back row. Then Malakai [Fekitoa] got injured, and we wanted Pabs to take on that role of punching in the midfield, at 13, in a similar way to how England use Manu Tuilagi, or how Worcester use Lawrence.” In that regard, Wasps might have found their man. Odogwu has made a habit of bowling through defences, like Tuilagi or Lawrence, ever since he was a teenager, as Troy Thacker, Odogwu’s coach at Leicester Grammar School and one of his Tigers academy coaches, recalls.
“All the way through, Paolo was one of those players who was exceptionally quick, and very, very hard to tackle with his low centre of gravity, so you could virtually play him anywhere,” says Thacker, father to Bristol hooker, Harry, and Nottingham centre, Charlie.
“At school level, he was used to getting the ball and just running the length of the field. He would get the ball and run in any direction in order to score which, from an individual point of view, was fine, but as
a coach of a team it was quite hard. But one-on-one he was exceptional.”
Thacker, himself a former Tigers hooker, highlights Odogwu’s 70-metre try for Leicester against Argentina in a 2015 World Cup warm-up match as evidence of his precocious talent.
“There were some bits in his game that he needed to work on, but he has worked on them, and testament to him,” Thacker said. “Wasps, and the coaching set-up there, have done a great job.” That great job, Everard explains, comes partly from Wasps’ desire to focus on players’ strengths, rather than getting bogged down in the weaknesses.
“We don’t want to go away from focusing on why the guys are actually with us in the first place.”