YOUNG GUNS
NORTHAMPTON LOCK
Alex Coles might have been a footballer had things turned out differently. A decent goalkeeper who was equally adept as a striker, he had schoolboy trials with Norwich City and Ipswich Town before, at the behest of his rugby-mad father, he turned to the oval ball.
Cambridge-born Coles, who made his Premiership debut for Northampton against Sale last week, recalls: “I used to be a footballer but, to be honest, I didn’t like goalkeeping and didn’t have the skills to be a good enough striker, so my dad urged me to try rugby.
“He played locally so I went to Newmarket RFC and started playing for my school – The Perse, Cambridge – before also playing for Shelford and Cambridge. It all kicked off from there really, I got the bug for rugby and ended up on Northampton’s radar at 14.
“The first time I really thought I could go further, though, was when I played for England U16s against Wales. Peter Walton and John Fletcher were the coaches and they had a big impact on me; they definitely made me believe I might have a future in the game.
“They’re up there as my best coaches and they just made me look at the game in a different way, challenging my way of thinking and the way I went about playing.”
Those influences have proved invaluable as, allied to Northampton boss Chris Boyd’s willingness to give youth a fling, Coles’ rapid progress has seen him play in the Premiership Cup, Challenge Cup and Premiership this season while winning an England U20s call-up.
Coles, 19, said: “We’ve got a lot of good second rows at the club so opportunities are scarce and I’ve got to keep working hard. But Boydy’s pretty good at giving people chances and, as Alex Moon has proved, if you’re training and playing well, you’ll stay involved.
“To have that sort of environment where young players are given opportunities is really exciting.”
Coles has excellent mentors to learn from, adding: “You aspire to be Courtney Lawes – he’s achieved pretty much everything you can in the game and has been good for me – and James Craig has also been really helpful in terms of lineout calling and set-piece.
“He’s probably the guy who’s mentored me most. He’s a real student of the game and will make a very good coach one day.”
Wider afield, Coles is a huge admirer of one of the best in the business. “It’s got to be Brodie Retallick,” he replies, when asked which others he looks up to. “He defines what a second row can be and that show-and-go try he scored for New Zealand last year, you just shouldn’t be able to do that as a lock; it’s that skill-set and influence I’m aspiring to.”
Coles’ ambitions for the rest of the season? “To play more first team games for Saints and make the England U20s World Cup squad. That would be a huge honour.”
NEALE HARVEY