Meet England’s new unlikely lads
Daniel Schofield and Ben Coles on a quartet who have received their first call-ups, including a rapper and ‘retired’ back row
Freddie Clarke
Position: Flanker
Club: Gloucester
Age: 29
Clarke had to wait for his chance in professional rugby but has grabbed it with both hands.
He was briefly on the books of Bath’s academy but was only “cannon fodder” in training sessions. Instead, the loose forward kept turning out for the University of Bath in the BUCS league and was picked up by London Scottish in the Championship.
There he was spotted by Neil Mccarthy, who was heading up Gloucester’s academy and was prepared to take a punt on the then 23-year-old. “He’s always said to me, ‘You’re going to be my bargain’,” Clarke said last week. Mccarthy’s instincts proved correct.
Clarke, labelled by captain Lewis Ludlow as a “competition winner”, has gone on to play more than 100 games for Gloucester but has really kicked on this season since an injury crisis forced him to switch from the back to the second row. “I have been winging it ever since,” Clarke said.
Yet it is no coincidence that Gloucester have the Premiership’s strongest maul, an area in which England sorely need to improve. “He ended up in that role by default, but he has been absolutely outstanding,” director of rugby George Skivington said. “I’ve seen a different Freddie Clarke to last year and maybe that’s because he’s got that extra responsibility and leadership role. He can legitimately play four, five, six or eight, and I don’t think he is a million miles away from getting international recognition.”
Biyi Alo
Position: Prop
Club: Wasps
Age: 28
Modern props are certainly versatile but Alo boasts around a million streams on Spotify, releasing hiphop songs under the name “Biyi”, and on the field has kicked on in the second half of the season for Wasps.
In the documentary Everybody’s Game made by Bath and England prop Beno Obano, Alo was arguably the breakout star. Always an imposing presence on the field, he was once the heaviest player in the Premiership but has slimmed down.
Now 28, Alo is enjoying the best form of his career, with Wasps offering him a new contract at the end of February. Lee Blackett, the Wasps head coach, noted how Alo’s onfield play, combined with how much he brought to the side off the field, had made the decision straightforward. “Biyi has put in some phenomenal performances this season to cement his place as a regular at tighthead for us,” Blackett said at the time. “His personality is infectious, I can’t do anything other than smile when I see him, he’s a great character.”
A product of Saracens’ academy, Alo was part of the 2014 England Under-20 side who triumphed in the IRB Junior World Championship, playing in a side captained by Maro Itoje.
Alo spent two seasons with Worcester before dropping into the Championship for a season at Coventry, which led to a contract with Wasps initially as injury cover in 2019.
With Kyle Sinckler out of this summer’s tour to Australia, there is a chance for Alo to end up on the plane.
Patrick Schickerling
Position: Prop
Club: Exeter
Age: 23
Getting the opportunity to learn off Harry Williams and Tomas Francis at Exeter in recent seasons will have certainly helped Schickerling’s development at Sandy Park. Equally as helpful was his loan spell in the first half of the season in the Championship with Cornish Pirates, a well-trodden route between the two clubs for Exeter’s young talent.
Born in Namibia, Schickerling’s father, Adrian, represented South Africa at junior level. Patrick, 23, joined Exeter in 2018 shortly after leaving school in Namibia’s Walvis Bay, initially appearing for the Chiefs in the Premiership Rugby Cup while also spending time on loan at Chinnor in National League One.
Following his recall at the start of the year from Cornish Pirates, Schickerling has made 11 Premiership appearances for Exeter and established himself in the first team, doing enough to grab Eddie Jones’s attention. He was named the Rugby Players Association’s under-23 player of the month for February as a result of his impact.
“Coming back from the Pirates, I knew it would be a step up in standards again, but I’ve really enjoyed playing and taking things I’ve learnt from training and playing down in Cornwall into these games,” Schickerling said at the time. Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter praised Cornish Pirates for helping to accelerate Schickerling’s development. “The breakthrough has come from how well he has been playing for the Cornish Pirates. For that, I have to congratulate Alan Paver and the coaches down there for the part they have played in his development,” Baxter said.
Sam Jeffries
Position: Flanker
Club: Bristol
Age: 29
Jeffries belongs to the select band of players who have been called up to an England training squad despite having retired.
Aged just 26, Jeffries was forced to quit the game in 2019 after developing patellar tendinitis in both knees. A stand-out performer in Bristol’s promotion-winning campaign from the Championship, Jeffries got to experience only 26 minutes of Premiership rugby before yielding to medical advice.
But he never gave up on his dream of playing top-flight rugby. Recognising his value around the team, director of rugby Pat Lam offered him a role as professional development manager to keep him on board.
“He is a quality rugby player but he is also a quality person,” Lam said. “There was no guarantee that he was going to come back to play rugby but I did not want to lose him from the organisation.”
While Jeffries threw himself into his new role, he also managed to start training again and, after being road-tested in a few friendly matches last season, was handed a new contract in the summer.
“I can’t imagine there are too many opportunities in professional sport to take a break and come back in,” Jeffries said. “I would have been so disappointed to have finished my rugby career at that point. I felt like I could have achieved so much more so I always had that target in the back of my head.”
Jeffries is something close to a modern-day Tom Wood as a rangy and versatile back row who prides himself on his work rate.
He finished the season as Bristol’s leading forward for rucks hit and rucks impacted. He can offer an extra line-out option and has a decent turn of pace.