CURTIS-HARRIS
LONDON IRISH BACK ROWER
As a member of the London Irish youth side that became Premiership U18s champions in February 2016, much was expected of the energetic Isaac CurtisHarris.
As a back row enforcer who idolised athletic French flanker Yannick Nyanga and was brought up at Basingstoke Rugby Club admiring England flanker Tom Rees, a product of the Hampshire club’s junior section, CurtisHarris had all the right credentials ahead of Irish’s season in the Championship.
Sadly, a badly torn hamstring wrecked last season’s campaign and he is now playing catchup as he seeks his first team breakthrough. However, two sterling Challenge Cup displays against Edinburgh and Stade Francais in October put his career back on track and the former England U17s man is now looking to establish himself in his favoured No.8 position.
Curtis-Harris, 20, told The Rugby Paper: “It was a grade-3 hamstring tear, right off the bone, which couldn’t have come at a worst time, so this is quite an important season for me now to prove that I’ve still made some progress as a player. I’ve played a lot of A-League rugby, been on loan at Esher and getting my first taste of Europe in October was brilliant.
“The coaches said they’d give young players a chance so getting to play in Paris against Stade Francais, who we beat 44-7, was one of the highlights of my career. To beat the cup holders in their own back yard was quite surreal and I’ll now look to get involved in our Challenge Cup games again this month and try to put my hand up for the Premiership.”
At 97kgs (15st 4lb) and just over 6ft tall, Curtis-Harris is not the biggest back rower around. However, as he rightly points out: “Sam Simmonds is under 100kgs and he’s just played for England, so it makes you see what’s possible if you work hard, even if you’re not in the mould of a traditional No.8, which is where I prefer to play and feel most comfortable.
“I’ll never be a Billy Vunipola but there are areas of my game I work on to make up for that lack of size. I’m pretty quick for a back rower, having played in the backs at Basingstoke until I switched to the forwards, and I like to think my physicality is right up there. I can manipulate myself around the field with my skills and send people backwards when I hit them.”
Curtis-Harris has never had to look far for role models, adding: “I was a big fan of Tom Rees when I was younger and met him a few times. His England shirts are all over the clubhouse at Basingstoke so that was pretty inspiring, but then everyone wanted to be Richie McCaw as well. “But the guy I tended to look at more was Nyanga, who was a big idol of mine. Nyanga had the lot – huge physicality, explosive pace, good tackling technique and made it count for his size. If I could achieve a bit of what he did as a player, I’ll be happy.”