FROM PASTY SHOP TO UPPER CRUST!
How Luke Northmore is baking up a storm at Quins
IT was 8.45am on a Sunday, after a night out at Cardiff Met University, when Luke Northmore’s rugby journey took off. Having taken a year out to work at the Cornish pasty shop in Tavistock, he was a year older than most others at the student fresher’s trials.
‘I had half a packet of biscuits for breakfast, grabbed my boots and an old pair of shorts and went along to this freshers’ fair,’ he says.
‘Before that, I’d spent the year playing for Tavistock Rugby Club, back home in the Devon and Cornwall League. I’d taken a year out and I was “head baker” in the pasty shop where I’d worked part-time since I was 14. I played for Tavistock at the weekends. It wasn’t a great standard but it was always a great weekend with some of my best mates. Pint and a packet of crisps if you were man of the match!
‘I went to university with no expectation of being a rugby player, to be honest. I just wanted to get a good degree and I thought maybe I’d play in the second or third team.’
A few weeks after the freshers’ trial, Northmore was playing for the first team alongside Alex Dombrandt. They became a dominant force on the university circuit, but few could have predicted what happened next. After his degree, Dombrandt was signed by Harlequins and Northmore followed a year later.
‘Alex was in the year above me but we became good mates. Cardiff Met runs a very good rugby programme. You’d train hard but we were still excited students who wanted to go out and spend all our money. Wednesday night socials, fancy dress… it was the best of both worlds.
‘We’d have strength and conditioning work before lectures in the morning, then we were playing games on a Wednesday and Saturday. Alex never had a driving licence at uni, so I was pretty much his chauffeur. It wasn’t until my agents, Bob Norster and Josh Channing, invited me for a coffee that the penny dropped. They instilled a bit of faith in me and said I could become a professional.
‘One thing leads to another. I remember when Alex told me he’d signed at Quins. We were wandering around Tesco with a trolley and he nonchalantly told me he’s signing for Quins. John Kingston recruited him. We have the same agent. I met Paul Gustard at a similar time the following year. It’s funny how everything worked out.’
Both Dombrandt and Northmore became key figures in Quins’ titlewinning campaign. Dombrandt won his first England cap in the summer and Northmore has since been contacted by the international coaches, as they narrow down options for the Six Nations.
‘I signed at Quins with pretty low expectations, not knowing how much I’d play,’ says Northmore, whose try on Friday helped Quins secure a place in the last 16 of the Champions Cup. ‘I had a couple of offers in the Championship but I thought I’d throw all my eggs at the top end of the rugby world and see what happened.
‘It was pretty terrifying at the start. At uni, I could always pick a line and my game started to revolve around that. To an extent, you always go back to your X-factor. That’s what I tried to showcase in training at the start but I realised it’s about having more than just one great skill.
‘Defensively, when I first started working with Gussy, Marcus Smith was just running rings around me. He made me look silly. Gussy is a really good defence coach and was a massive help to me. Slowly I realised that you just have to throw yourself into all of it.
‘I always like Conrad Smith and the cliche names like Sonny Bill Williams… big, physical presences. As you grow up you realise you’re not going to be those guys. Coming here I saw Joe Marchant, Ben Tapuai, Francis Saili, Michele Campagnaro and James Lang. When I saw close up how they went about their craft, that was when real appreciation came for being an allround player.
‘Going on to win the Premiership last season, it was surreal.
In a strange way, Covid probably did my rugby a few favours because it allowed me to come back fully fit and take my opportunities when they came. Sometimes you have to force yourself to call it work so you remember it’s your job and you have to take it seriously!’
The next step in Northmore’s journey could materialise on Tuesday, when Eddie Jones names his squad, as he has been widely touted for a role.
‘My mum called the other day all excited saying, “They’re saying really nice things about you!” I’m just enjoying it with the lads. It’s a win-win for me if anything comes around. I’d take it with open arms and give it everything, but hopefully there will be more games for me here at Quins regardless.’