1 ALFIE BARBEARY

hen did you first play rugby? I was eight, at Banbury rugby club. My mum’s side of the family are very much into rugby but my dad was more of a footballer, so from a young age I was hoping to be the next Ronaldo! Then my older brother started playing rugby with a family friend and I was a bit jealous, so I went as well. I loved it and it went from there.

Any childhood heroes other than Ronaldo? I looked up to people like Ma’a Nonu and (Mathieu) Bastareaud. So you were a centre… Yes. I started there at U10s and have played there most of my life. When I went to my first Wasps session at U15s, the head of the academy, Matt Davies, asked what position I was and I said, “Back-row/centre.” He said, “You’re a hooker!” So I’d play hooker for Wasps but at school I’d play centre.

I played through the age grades with England and unfortunately they didn’t see me as a centre either!

I’m happy to play anywhere and have played back-row too. I’ve got used to the front row now and I’m starting to enjoy it more and more. It’s how I can make it suit me really. What are your strengths? My ball-carries are my strongest point. Then my kick-pass-run options when I have the ball and my decision-making with that.

W20 (5 Oct 2000)

Banbury, Oxon

Did you expect to have such a big impact last season? It’s been a strange one. I tore my quad and hamstring, which wasn’t the start I wanted to my first professional season. I got back just before Christmas for an A League game but tore my hamstring again, then the week I was due back was lockdown!

Coming back after lockdown, I got told I’d been promoted to the first team and I was lucky enough to make my debut and play more games. It’s been surreal. What are your goals for the coming season? I want to be a more regular first-team player for Wasps and earn my stripes there. I’m happy to play anywhere but my end goal is to be the No 1 hooker. Your biggest influence? Mark Horrocks, my first coach at Banbury, was very influential. Then as I got older, Peter Walton and John Fletcher, who gave me confidence to play how I want to play. How it shouldn’t be unusual for a forward to kick it or offload.

Barbeary marked his first Premiership start with a hat-trick against Leicester – when playing out of position at blindside! His long-term future is at hooker and he has the rounded skill-set we often see from Kiwi front-rowers.