YOUNG GUNS

To say Josh Hodge is a multi-talented sportsman is an understatement.

As a youngster he was a striker on the radar of Preston North End; at 15 he was competing in Great Britain’s U21 (yes, U21!) clay pigeon shooting squad; then, at 17, he finished fifth in the English national U19s championships at, wait for it… the decathlon!

In between, Hodge was a pretty decent cricketer and began playing rugby aged nine, excelling at full-back in the oval ball game at the renowned Sedbergh School in Cumbria, from where he was duly picked up by Newcastle Falcons in 2016. Is there anything he’s not good at?

“Swimming!” replies Hodge with disarming swiftness. “I didn’t actually know I was an allrounder until I went to Sedbergh. I used to play football in the Preston North End academy but I gained a scholarship at Sedbergh and progressed into other sports.

“Rugby took over in many ways, but I did shooting and athletics as well. Unfortunately, the shooting development centre was in Beverley, which was too far to travel, and the decathlon caused problems with my hips because of the overload in training. But my rugby went well and when I was in the lower sixth, Falcons picked me up and got me into their U18s.”

Things moved quickly from there, so much so that Hodge – who doesn’t turn 19 until this May – was called into last year’s England U18s squad a year early and is now part of the U20s set-up currently preparing for the Six Nations and Junior World Cup. He said: “I got five caps for the U18s last year which was a great experience and I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of opportunities. I haven’t played first team for Falcons yet, but I’ve been in the A-League and I’m trying to progress as well as I can. “I am versatile in that I can play on the wing as well, but full-back is my favoured position and I’d say Damian McKenzie is the player I’d like to emulate the most. I really like his elusive running and he takes people on at speed – something I try to do.” Hodge has good role models at Newcastle, too, adding: “Toby Flood’s a guy I really look up to because he can control everyone and that’s how I want to progress my game. “He’s a No.10 and I’m a full-back, but I still like to get in at first receiver a lot and Toby’s providing a big part of my rugby education because he knows the game so well. “From a back-three perspective, though, I probably look more at Simon Hammersley. He’s a good player, consistent every week and he’s doing all the right stuff.” Hodge’s targets for the rest of the campaign? He added: “I want to cement my place in the U20s squad, see how this Six Nations goes and then, hopefully, get to the World Cup. I’d also like to at least make the bench for the Falcons first team.” NEALE HARVEY