Ice-cool Malins poised to help Under-20s become history boys
Fly-half tells Kate Rowan how playing for Saracens helped prepare him for world title campaign
Max Malins describes himself as a “chilledout character” and his personality has been key to how the Saracens youngster has helped pull the strings at fly-half during this quest for a fourth under-20s world title in five years for England. They take on New Zealand in the final in Tbilisi today.
Malins’s demeanour comes through when he speaks about his placekicking. He slotted over the winner in a tight quarter-final against Australia. It is all about the ‘process’, evidently.
“I obviously kick back at Saracens, I kick with Charlie Hodgson, who has helped me, with Owen Farrell, with Ian Vass, of course.
“It has all been very process-driven, especially with that kick against Australia, I was thinking about the process, about how I would get a good strike that would end up with a good result. You don’t really want to think about external factors, about things like the crowd or anything. It is very much in the zone to think about the process and hopefully the kick comes off good.”
The 20-year-old Essex player’s composure comes across, too, when he speaks of training with the Saracens first team as part of his preparation with their academy. He is phased not a jot by training with a bevvy of British and Irish Lions.
“Obviously, training with the first team in Saracens has been huge for my development. Also, it has been huge for my game management – you get to train in and around these world-class stars, people like Owen Farrell. We have six Lions.
“So, when you are in that environment you are forever learning and having to adapt to different situations, which obviously helps you going into your own game where you feel more comfortable and adapt to different situations and develop as a rugby player.”
Life in the England Under-20s camp is something Malins relishes. Vass, England’s head coach, who Malins describes as one of the biggest influences on this developmental stage of his career, has worked with him closely at club level since he was 16.
Vass explains: “We are pretty relaxed with each other. I know what his strengths are so hopefully I can help him work on those areas that are going to get him to where he wants to go. It helps that we are here together because I can be as honest as I want with him and he doesn’t harbour any ill feelings. I’m not sure if that is good or bad, but I think it helps a lot.”
The young fly-half is a veteran of last year’s World Championshipwinning side, and the home tournament in Manchester last year was very different compared with the current campaign in Georgia.
Malins says: “That is why there was such high importance on us being such a tight group this year with us coming away to Georgia because we don’t have that support from our families and the homely comfort.
It was great having that support around us, so there is a big emphasis on the group being tight. I think us being away has had a massive effect on how we bond. There are quite a few characters. Obviously you have the jokers of the group, people like Alex Mitchell and Josh Caulfield. There is always a laugh when you are around them. Then we have a big complainer in Ollie Dawe. He always seems to be moaning about things but it is funny.”
The bond shows in how they have battled in tight fixtures, including last Tuesday’s semi-final against South Africa.
“We have had three pretty tight games and obviously when we were playing against South Africa and we were down five points with 10 or so minutes to go, that’s when the relationships really show,” he says.
So can England Under-20s become 2017 history boys along with their World Cup-winning England footballing peers? Watch this space.