Yasmin driving Dombrandt’s bid for the top
NEALE HARVEY talks to Alex Dombrandt, one half of a sporting couple on the rise
Elite sporting couples are rare but Harlequins back rower Alex Dombrandt hopes to celebrate double success this season along with his netball playing partner.
While Dombrandt has been ripping it up for Harlequins in his first full year at the club, girlfriend Yasmin Hodge-England is proving just as big a hit as a goal shooter for the Surrey Storm in netball’s Vitality Super League.
The pair met when Dombrandt was at Cardiff Met University and with the Storm being based at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford, where Harlequins train, all the early signs point to it being a relationship made in heaven. Dombrandt, 21, told The Rugby
Paper: “I guess it’s unusual to have two elite sports people in the same house but it’s exciting times for both of us.
“You go through ups and downs in sport so it’s good to have someone who understands what that’s like to go through and, as in any relationship, you’re always there to offer some advice and encourage each other.
“Yasmin works full-time alongside the netball as a netball coach and PE teacher at Putney High School and trains Tuesday and Thursday, so it’s a pretty busy schedule for both of us and it’s good to have that support.”
After an impressive breakthrough period last November, Dombrandt has become an increasingly influential presence in a Harlequins side that is showing genuine signs of becoming a force under boss Paul Gustard.
Reminiscent of former No.8 Nick Easter, whose dominant ball-carrying and handling skills helped underpin The Stoop outfit’s last period of sustained success, he is being tipped as an England star of the future.
Dombrandt said: “I’ve got a long way to go before I get anywhere near what Nick achieved but in terms of stature and the way I play, with my ball-carrying, trying to get over the gain-line and get offloads away, I guess there are similarities.
“It’s nice to get a run of games and it’s about trying to do the shirt proud by putting in good performances. I feel like I’m making progress and, as the games go on, I’m improving my all-round game.”
Fitness was an area identified by Gustard, who in December described Dombrandt as having a ‘university rig’. “General fitness is definitely one of the areas I’m working on but with something like that, it’s more of a long-term fix,” Dombrandt said.
“You can’t just click your fingers and make it happen, but it will improve and it’s about trying to find the right balance where you can still do what you’re good at but also last the 80 minutes and have the impact you want.”
With Quins and Surrey Storm on the up, he added: “Yasmin, below, is doing alright, although Storm have been a bit inconsistent, winning a few and losing a few – a bit like Quins earlier this season.
“But she was on Sky against Loughborough last week and did well. That was nice to see and I’ll watch whenever I can and vice-versa.
“Netball’s a growing sport, especially after Team GB won gold at the Commonwealth Games last year. Hopefully, she can go a long way. We’re both working hard – we’re a pretty competitive couple in that respect.”