Rejected by Chelsea, snubbed by Wasps, Lozowski still aims for stars
Alex Lozowski knows what it is to grow at a rapid rate. The Saracens and England back, who has the versatility to play either fly-half or inside-centre, was 5ft 5in until he was 16, when a growth spurt took him to 6ft. It is an apt metaphor for Lozowski’s rise over the last 18 months.
Lozowski has gone from being bracketed as third-choice fly-half at Wasps to joining Saracens in the summer of 2016 and being fasttracked into the England squad in his first year at the club.
Eddie Jones saw a combination of gumption and grit in Lozowski that he liked, with the England coach hailing him as “the find of the season” last autumn. However, the youngster had to learn the ropes over the course of last year’s autumn series and Six Nations training camps until he finally made the big leap to international honours, winning his first two caps in the victories against Argentina on the recent summer tour.
It was the culmination of an intriguing path to the top tier, full of twists and turns. It started with six years of football in the Chelsea Academy from 10 to 16, which also involved Lozowski doubling up by playing Rugby Union at Watford Grammar from 11, with rugby matches on Saturday mornings, and football Sunday mornings.
It continued via Leeds University, and an England Students side led by Josh Beaumont that beat the Portugal national team, to a season with Leeds Carnegie in the Championship. This included tackling tutorials from the Leeds coach and former GB Rugby League hooker, Jimmy Lowes, before he signed for Wasps.
But back to the present: having shown promise against the Pumas, the 24-year-old has remained a regular in the England squad, and during this week’s training camp in the Algarve was pushing his case hard for inclusion in the match 23 for the forthcoming autumn Tests against Argentina, Australia and Samoa.
Lozowski went to Portugal with the wind in his sails having just signed a two-year contract extension with Saracens despite strong rumours that he would join Exeter – with Bath and Wasps also in the hunt for his services.
The reason the transfer posse was on Lozowski’s trail was simple. His path to being a first-team fixture at Saracens is currently blocked by two of the double European champions’ most influential figures, with Owen Farrell at fly-half and captain Brad Barritt at inside-centre. Furthermore, even though Lozowski’s rounded skills and resilience mean he can cover full-back as well, it is a shirt that the consistently excellent Alex Goode rarely vacates.
While Lozowski may have an opportunist attacking streak on the pitch, his off-field persona of a balanced, clear-headed young pro has held him in good stead. It is reflected in the self-confidence to stay at Saracens and back himself despite the Farrell-Barritt axis, just as it was when he gambled on being good enough for England when Italy coach Conor O’Shea came fishing
“Lozowski resisted the temptation of an instant international career with the Azzurri” “I learned that if you are decisive and put in a good aggressive tackle, you won’t get hurt”
after he discovered Lozowski has an Italian grandmother.
Lozowski resisted the temptation of parachuting into an instant international career with the Azzurri on the grounds that despite his Italian links, and a Polish surname, “I feel pretty English”. This is not surprising given that his father, Rob, a hard-tackling Wasps inside-centre, won an England cap against the outstanding 1984 Australia Grand Slam side.
Both decisions have paid dividends, and as Lozowski puts flesh on the bones of how he came to make them you soon get the sense of an old head on young shoulders. His take on “the discovery of the season” accolade illustrates the point.
“It was a nice thing of Eddie to say, but it’s then about how you conduct yourself, and I did the best I could once I got into the England camp. I didn’t play until the summer, and being new to the squad it was a good thing. The first couple of days you’re just happy to be there, but then you leave it at the door. You get used to the way England train, and I feel I’ve got a lot to give.”
He also pays tribute to those who helped his transition at Saracens after leaving Wasps, including attack coaches Kevin Sorrell and Joe Shaw, and fly-half Charlie Hodgson, who spent his first year after retirement as a consultant coach at the club. He also praises Farrell, Barritt and Goode for their generosity, saying: “They are always willing to give advice and help.”
This includes downplaying any rivalry with Farrell. “I don’t see it as a competition. It’s a good relationship, and I get on well with him as a bloke. We talk about ideas, but hopefully at some stage it will not be a case of him or me, but both of us. Obviously, at the moment, Owen is arguably the best fly-half in the world, so he’s got that nailed down.”
He adds: “At inside-centre Brad is our captain, and gives an 8 out of 10 performance every weekend. Eddie has talked to me about being able to play both 10 and 12, but I have got no illusions about the players I’ve got in front of me – although at some stage I hope the balance tips in my favour.”
Ask Lozowski about switching positions and he accentuates the positives at 10-12, but also recognises the hazards at 15: “It’s about total rugby, especially ball movement and playing to where space is. Moving from 10 to 12 is easier than going from 10 or 12 to 15. In the backfield you have to have such a good relationship with your wingers and scrum-half defensively.”
He says: “At Wasps I played almost every game at 10, and with Saracens it has been mostly at 10, but also inside-centre and a couple of games at full-back. The focus for me at the moment is to play well enough at 10 and 12 to play for England.”
a high Given premium on versatility, adaptntal that ones places such level, ability Lozowski has been wellather, and mental durability at Test schooled. His father Rob, believes the rigours of football academy comn petition and an innate stubbornness have held his on in good stead.
“I think he has the right mentality for pro sport, and it’s music to my ears when I hear he’s out there doing extra sessions. He also knows that he is a million miles from being the fint ished article. It started at that Chelsea Academy where they instilled that mentality that ‘the more you put in, the more you get out’. It was brilliant grounding, and we hold them very high esteem.”
Rob continues: “When the
call came to release him at 16 it was due to a couple of things. The first was his size. He was a midfielder, and nippy, but very small. Then as soon as he stopped football he shot upwards. The other was that at 14 the academy coaches wanted them at the Chelsea training ground at Cobham overnight Monday, Tuesday, and return home Wednesday night. He was doing GCSE’s at Watford Grammar and his mum and I said No.”
Lozowski says that he was in love with football, but he was not about to let rejection grind him down -- and he says his parents helped him. “I was quite realistic about my chances, and think it was a case of when it would end, rather than if. My mum and dad didn’t pump up my tyres too much, they just said enjoy it and be realistic.” The stubborn streak also surfaced at Leeds University where Rob says he went to football and rugby trials: “He was put straight into the football first team, but in the rugby he was put in the third team. Alex being Alex, he said he was going to play rugby. He got into the 1st XV after a few months.” The next step was being asked to join Leeds Carnegie and making big defensive gains after Lowes tired of seeing opponents trying to break the sapling at fly-half. Alex recalls: “He said, ‘you’d better get used to this’. It was my first experience of senior rugby, so I was coming up against seasoned pros who were very direct. It was all about tight targets, with big forwards coming round the corner and heading down the 10 channel.”
He says: “Jimmy was a Rugby League hooker so he was used to making 50 tackles a game. He was big on tackle selection – deciding early whether to leg tackle or go higher. I learned that as long as you are decisive and put in a good aggressive tackle, you will not get hurt. I try to make sure that they are not going forward, because what causes defences problems is speed of ball – where if they don’t get you on the first phase, they will get you on the next.”
Lozowski cherishes his learning curve with Leeds in the Championship. “I was lucky to get that under my belt. It is a great league for young players, and in my view the more they can play in it the better.”
His resilience was tested again when he joined Wasps. Lozowksi takes up the story: “In my first season Andy Goode was the firstchoice 10, with Ruaridh Jackson as back-up, and I was the apprentice. But when Ruaridh did his ACL early on I got my chance and had a pretty good season. Then they brought in Jimmy Gopperth when Andy Goode stopped, and it was between me and Ruaridh as back-up. Dai Young told me he would go with Ruaridh, and that I was third best option – and I didn’t like that.
“So, when Saracens said to me, you can do better than that, I didn’t take much persuading. Dad played for Wasps, so I was attached in that sense, but I thought I cannot sit here as a third choice. Sarries saw something in me that Wasps didn’t – and I’m trying to pay them back. It’s a pity what happened with Wasps, but that’s pro sport.”
Lozowksi says that the experience was also instrumental in his decision to stay with Saracens. “It was my genuine happiness with day-today training. I’ve got some really good friends here. I know what it’s like to be at a club when it’s pretty miserable, because in my second year with Wasps I played six games all season. I know what it’s like to go training with not much hope of doing anything other than holding tackle-bags.”
He says that the biggest eyeopener at Saracens is the work-life balance. “It’s how much the squad enjoys coming to work everyday. It’s a club that values relationships and friendships, and believes there is a link about how close you are to how much you will give for each other on the pitch. I believe it helps us to go the extra mile...”
For Lozowski the proof is in the European Cup final winners’ medal he received after coming on towards the end of their successful defence against Clermont, and the part he played in the campaign, notably in the home win over Toulon and away draw at Scarlets.
Lozowski’s progress report is an increasingly impressive document, and when I mentioned calling his dad for his own appraisal he said: “He’d like that. He wants to get his name out there more because he’s getting fed up with hearing, ‘Lozowski? Are you Alex’s dad?’, rather than, ‘Lozowski? Didn’t you play for England?’”
Ask Lozowski if he gave his dad a reminder after his second cap in Argentina that he had overtaken him, his reply said it all: “I didn’t need to – he was well aware and deep down he was very happy.”
He will be happier still if his boy’s tally continues to grow.