YOUNG GUNS
Josh Ibuanokpe will never forget his Harlequins debut. Introduced as a replacement with Quins 26-5 down and looking dead and buried in last month’s Anglo-Welsh Cup tie at Saracens, the Lambeth-born prop’s last-gasp winning try will go down in folklore.
It secured a 30-29 win and capped a remarkable rise for the imposing 19st 9lbs (127kgs) tight-head, who just 18 months earlier had been looking down the barrel of retirement after dislocating neck vertebrae while playing on loan at National Two side Clifton.
Lambeth-born Ibuanokpe, an exEngland U18s prodigy who emerged from the same prop production line at Dulwich College that spawned Andrew Sheridan and David Flatman and is viewed by Quins as a viable rival to Kyle Sinckler, believed his time was up.
He told The Rugby Paper: “It was the last game of the 2015-16 season and under pressure at a scrum I suffered ligament damage and a neck dislocation. My top vertebrae had gone and I was pretty much immobile, so I was concerned that it was over.
“The only thing that kept me going was dreaming of wearing that Harlequins shirt one day, so to come off the bench and score that try against Saracens was so special. I’m so grateful for it because it’s a day I thought might never happen back then.”
Ibuanokpe, 21, currently divides his time between Harlequins and Hartpury College, with whom he is now dual-registered, while hoovering up the wisdom available to him as he looks to make up for lost time by turning up the heat on close pal Sinckler.
He explained: “I take a lot of inspiration from what Kyle’s done. We’ve spent a lot of time together and he’s always been hungry for success. He can never do enough extras and is someone who needs to achieve things, so I admire him a lot for that.
“We come from similar south London backgrounds and I’ve got that same aggressive streak. I’m not as abrasive as he is off the pitch but he encourages me a lot and I’m lucky to have so many good influences around me at this stage of my career.
“There’s Sinckler, Will Collier, Adam Jones, Joe Marler and Mark Lambert at Harlequins, while Mark Cornwell looks after me at Hartpury. They all really try to help me and being in an environment like this can only be conducive to improvement.”
Ibuanokpe, whose parents moved to England from Nigeria, played in the same England U18s team as Sam Underhill, Harry Mallinder, Joe Marchant and Jack Maunder – “a lot of boys who have gone on to do really well now,” he rightly acknowledges.
Having tasted first team rugby at Quins, Ibuanokpe’s big target now is a full professional contract.
He added: “I’m still only parttime in the academy but that’s certainly something I’m striving for and I’ll be looking to get more games now. I’m playing catch-up after my injury but I’m ambitious to progress and feel I’m in exactly the right place.”
NEALE HARVEY