YOUNG GUNS
BATH PROP
Having enjoyed a close-quarters view of Beno Obano’s rise to the top with Bath and England, tight-head prop Sam Nixon has declared himself ready to step up to the next level.
Educated at Millfield School, where he came under the tutelage of former Bath front row favourite John Mallett, Yeovil-bred Nixon, 21, took the brave decision to continue his rugby learning at London Scottish’s academy before having a stint with National League Plymouth.
Nixon’s has been a roundabout route, one not without its pitfalls, but as a young man who knows his own mind and follows his instincts, he insists he would not change a thing.
“It’s been a bit of a journey,” admits Nixon, who made his Champions Cup debut against Benetton last weekend. “After Millfield I just took the opportunity to see how far I could push my rugby and London Scottish seemed to have a good academy, so I just applied there.
“Corne du Rand was my coach there and at first team level I worked with James Buckland, Peter Richards and Tim Payne, so that gave me a really good insight into a professional set-up. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the first team rugby I’d hoped for in 2015-16 and
felt I needed to move on to progress, so I went to Plymouth and it was one of my best moves ever.
“Plymouth had just come out of their dodgy financial situation and with it being closer to home, it meant I could go down there and enjoy myself. I played a lot last season and we had a really strong set-piece, so that attracted Bath to sign me and the rest is history. Getting my Champions League debut last weekend was a nice surprise and now I feel ready to really push on.”
Nixon can operate on both sides of the scrum but reveals how a decision was made last August to specialise at No.3. “I mainly played loosehead at Plymouth but when Shaun Knight was injured for Bath in pre-season I got pushed into the tight-head role for our three warm-up games. Our scrum coach, Toby Booth, didn’t think I looked too far off so that’s where I’ve stayed.
“It’s panned out well and going to Rotherham on loan before Christmas helped, so now I’m trying to push Henry Thomas and Max Lahiff for their places.
“It’s really good competition and I’m getting to the stage now where I’m not just getting information off the senior guys but trying to go toe-to-toe with them for starting places. I’m really hoping this will be my big breakthrough.”
Nixon counts Andrew Sheridan, Julian White and Colin Quigley amongst his role models, adding: “Quigley’s been around the Championship a long time and is still going strong at Doncaster.
“He’s a super prop, a real set-piece specialist, and when I was younger I’d look at guys like Sheridan and White and try to learn from their techniques.
“I believe in hard work and when you look at what Beno’s done from having the right attitude, why shouldn’t I follow suit?”