From sevens snub to Stade sensation

Glover thriving after lockdown low

DURING the height of lockdown, in July 2020, the rug was pulled from beneath Harry Glover’s feet. Along with his team-mates in the England sevens set-up, Glover’s contract was cancelled due to RFU cutbacks and he was left staring down the barrel of unemployment.

Many of his colleagues took up jobs in schools to pay the bills. Others took up jobs in business. Glover, however, did not take the beaten path and has ended up on the glittering books of Stade Francais.

‘The hammer came down in July 2020,’ says Glover. ‘I had two years on my contract and the RFU said, “Unfortunately we can’t keep going with this”. Covid had put a hold on the whole sevens series, which meant that the England sevens programme got disbanded.

‘We were left in the lurch a bit. There were some guys with young families whose livelihoods had just been taken from them.

‘I knew there was an Olympics coming up, so I thought about training by myself but my agent told me there was an opportunity to get a contract as injury cover in the

French second division for three months. A week later, I moved out there to play for Carcassonne.

‘I’d never heard of their rugby team and was out of my comfort zone but I loved it,’ says Glover.

‘The great thing about Pro D2 rugby is it’s all shown on TV. All the Top 14 coaches watch the games, so it’s a good shopping window. It’s an easier place to show your talents than the English Championship Playing for Carcassonne is ultimately how I got spotted by Stade Francais.’

Between his time with Carcassonne and Stade Francais, Glover returned to the UK to spend six months with Team GB sevens, after the National Lottery intervened with Olympic funding. His team finished fourth in Tokyo, before most of the group disbanded due to lack of future opportunities.

‘What the guys had been through was a bit of a driving force for us, but unfortunately we missed out on a medal. That GB team was pulled apart after the Olympics.

‘Most of the guys I played with have moved to XVs because there was no trajectory above a baseline salary. There were no real aspirations to get better.

‘Sevens is growing around the world but the RFU don’t seem to see it as a full-blown avenue to pump money into. I hope England sevens gets to a stage where it’s fully professional. It’s hard to compete when you get a fraction of the funding of other teams. The gap will get bigger and bigger.’

Glover has left sevens in the past. Two weeks after the Olympic Games, he moved to Paris. There was also interest from Toulouse, who have links to Carcassonne, but the 25-year-old opted for a two-year deal in the French capital.

Despite not playing regular XVs rugby since he was a teenager, Glover has started seven out of 10 games in the Top 14 this season.

‘Other than a few games for Newcastle University, the last time I played XVs regularly was in the Wasps academy,’ he says.

‘It’s very different to sevens and I’m still finding out my best position. I’ve been playing on the wing and I’d like a few run-outs at centre.

‘It’s been awesome. There are big stars in the team — like Ngani Laumape and Waisea Nayacalevu — it’s a great standard. All the guys live around the 16th arrondissement of Paris and it’s a cool place to be.’