Hard work’s paid off for Saint Iyogun
EMMANUEL Iyogun has gone from being a ‘chubby footballer’ to a Premiership loosehead prop after a remarkable journey to the top.
Northampton prop Iyogun, 21, was thrown in at the deep end when injuries fast-tracked his Saints debut against Leicester in 2020 at the age of 19 – and he performed admirably opposite England international Dan Cole.
Now he is establishing himself as first-team regular having only made the switch from the back row to the front row in 2018.
Described by his scrum coach Matt Ferguson as having a “heart of a lion and the bum of a buffalo”, Iyogun transitioned from No.8 – a change that required Iyogun to go from 105kg (16st 5lbs) to 115 (18st 1lb) in just six weeks.
He said: “It was changing my nutrition to have to eat loads more. I was waking up during the night just to get calories in. That on top of doing my first year of professional rugby, which is a hell of a lot more running than you do at academy, so getting heavier and having to run more was difficult but the club were really supportive.
“I’m at a pretty comfortable weight now. My strength and conditioning coach would probably say they want me a little bit heavier but I’m enjoying my rugby and physically I feel really good.”
Iyogun, who has made 18 appearances for Saints,
started playing rugby at the age of 14 after being told by his PE coach at Woodlands School in Southend that he’s too big to play football.
“I think in terms of my rugby development, I was lucky that I didn’t start off as a prop,” he said. “I started as a chubby footballer who moved to the centres and then to the back row. That helped me a lot in terms of my skill development which I think is why I’m not behind, now I’ve come into a professional environment.”
Iyogun is thankful to his prop teammates at Saints for mentoring him and helping him develop as a player – and to Cole for the big lessons he learned on his Premiership debut.
“I was going up against the most capped English and he can only teach you, so it was all to gain,” he said. “The learnings I got from that game were just immense and it carries you in good stead.
“Alex Waller has mentored me, he could have easily shunned me but he’s been great for me. And Nick Auterac has also helped me develop to become the sort of player I am today.”