Ollie Thorley
The Gloucester wing on his try record, red card and Louis Rees-Z ammit
NO ONE has scored four tries from the start of a Premiership match quicker than Ollie Thorley, who blew Leicester away in just 30 minutes last year. Gloucester’s youngest debutant in the pro era, at 17 years 56 days, he won his first England cap last year in Rome. He shares some thoughts…
I remember feeling sharp that week of the Leicester game. And on the day everything just clicked.
I saw lots of space and the ball just came to me. For the last try, there were two support runners inside but I felt they were covered. So I ran in slightly, which gives you control of the defender’s
(Zack Henry) shoulders. And then it’s just a matter of taking him on. Gloucester are a work in progress. The way we play since Danny Cipriani left has evolved a little bit. Skivs (George Skivington) doesn’t get swayed much. He’s got a clear vision of what he wants the Gloucester team to be. When relegation was scrapped, it wasn’t mentioned at all. That comes from Skivs. We just carried on focusing on the processes. Lewis Ludlow has taken his game to the next level. He’s matured a lot and he’d be my Gloucester Player of the Season. He brings a huge amount of energy and involvements, one of the big metrics for back-rows. At Bath he had 100 high-speed efforts – the vast majority of guys get 40 to 50. I’d happily play with Jonny May and Louis Rees-Zammit, all three of us on the pitch. That would be pretty terrifying for the opposition. Louis and Jonny are similar players, I’m a bit different. I don’t think we’re directly comparable.
Competition is always good, so I’m in the camp of ‘bring it on’. I back myself. I think I’ve been one of the more consistent players at Gloucester for the past couple of seasons, so it’s another challenge. It’s a chance for me to go to the next level. I’m not in that 28-man England squad but I think I’m in a good place to get back there. Jonny might be the club’s fastest player. Top speed-wise. I’ve got the quickest acceleration. Louis and Jonny are more comparable athletes in terms of style, I’m more about power. We’ll have to have a race. It would be a bloody good race! Louis is playing with a lot of confidence, it’s brilliant to see.
I loved seeing what all the guys do in England camp. I spent a lot of time with Sinks (Kyle Sinckler) talking about recovery stuff. I’ve adopted a lot of his practices.
He’s been amazing, he’s shared a huge amount of knowledge with me. Guys like Jonny, like Kyle, they take it very seriously and that’s what I’m doing now as well. Eddie Jones sent me a Christmas card. It said, Never stop trying to be better. When we left the Autumn Nations Cup camp, I had a few conversations with Eddie. I know the areas I need to work on. It’s intricacies, finesse in the details. Defensively I’ve been trying out new positioning. I’m starting to understand it. I’ve been really impressed by (defence coach) Dom Waldouck’s attention to detail. He’s taught me a lot about body positioning and how to set your width in defence. Chris Harris too. It was a very emotive day to play for my country. And to double up by winning the Six Nations. It was great but it happened and now I want to become a better player so that Eddie and the coaches will pick me again. For my debut song at the hotel, I sang FollowMe by Uncle Kracker. It was angelic.
I called my first rugby coach two hours before kick-off. Wayne Loxton, my Stow-on-the-Wold coach. It was quite emotional. And I spoke to my grandparents. We’re so lucky as rugby players to be able to make people feel like that. Eddie wants to be as adaptable as possible. That’s why I trained with the forwards last autumn. If, for example, you lose someone to a red card, you want a winger who can step in. Being a hybrid player gives the team flexibility. I like tackling, and I like running around, so why not be able to play seven? I’ll make adaptations to how I chase after my red card against Wasps. I’ve accepted the outcome (a four-week ban). As you can see from the TMO’s response that day, there was a debate about it. I accept and respect Matt Carley’s decision, but I’ve not seen people get red for that in the past. Maybe that’s the new interpretation, so you have to evolve your game. There are so many variables in a kick-chase. If the receiver jumps late, you have to be upright so you can see the ball, see where he’s landing. If you dip too early you risk taking him out in the air. I had to work around two or three Wasps players to get into position to make the tackle and I’m running at 9m per second. A small nudge can have a big impact on you.
It’s frustrating not being able to play. You have to see a ban as an opportunity. I had a sit-down with the coaches, S&C staff, and viewed this time as a mini pre-season. Hopefully I’ll come back flying.