SKINNER

EXETER FLY-HALF

Rather than wallowing in the pain of rejection by Bath, budding Taunton-born playmaker Harvey Skinner elected to get on his bike and seek fame and fortune at Exeter instead. He still has a fair way to go but having impressed on loan at National One side Plymouth this season, the versatile 21year-old is ready to take the next step by applying heat to Sandy Park legend Gareth Steenson.

Skinner explained: “When I was four I started at North Petherton RFC, not far from Taunton, and always played up an age group purely because my dad was the coach of that year. I did that until I was 16 when I moved to Taunton RFC, but after a year there I had a big decision to make because Bath, who I’d been trialling for, decided they weren’t going to accept me into their academy.

“Rugby was what I really wanted to push for, so having Bath tell me that was a massive knock, but I made a decision to go to Bicton College in Devon and have another go. Rob Gibson, Exeter’s academy coach, was there and after a few sessions he asked me to come down to Exeter to train with their academy, and in my second year at Bicton I began training with Exeter’s first team. After that I was awarded an academy contract and now I have a better chance of making it.”

Skinner enjoys the best of both worlds: at Exeter he trains alongside experienced stars such as Steenson and Henry Slade, while at Plymouth he comes under the tutelage of former Cornish Pirates ace playmaker Kieran Hallett, who is head coach at the Brickfields and an important cog in the burgeoning relationship between Albion and Chiefs that pays dividends for both clubs.

“Kieran’s been awesome and I’ve really enjoyed it down at Plymouth,” says Skinner. “There’s seven of us Chiefs’ guys down there and he just lets us go out and play. He knows how Chiefs want things to run and when we go down to Plymouth we’re trying to impress our parent club as well. Plymouth are going well in National One so it’s a win-win situation for the players and both clubs.”

Skinner faces another massive career decision now though: does he stick at fly-half where he faces huge competition at Chiefs with young Joe Simmonds making his mark, or does he consider a switch to insidecentre where Exeter appear to view his longer-term prospects more positively?

Skinner explained: “I’m a fly-half and I prefer it there, but the club see me more as an inside-centre now – a second distributor who’s quite physical defensively. The way the game’s going now most teams have two playmakers to be able to spot extra space and make things happen, but I guess I can always drop back into that No.10 role, so being experienced in two positions should help.

“Owen Farrell’s a standout player in both, so that’s not a bad role model to have.” Star man