Wardy’s faith helped inspire me, Uzokwe
EALING’S Simon Uzokwe is delighted to have repaid the faith shown in him by director of rugby Ben Ward by earning a place in The Rugby Paper’s 2021/22 Championship Dream Team.
Uzokwe received the majority of votes from opposition coaches, with the 27-year-old former Northampton and Newcastle man contributing 16 league tries as Ealing claimed the title.
Once a peripheral figure at Newcastle, Uzokwe is relishing being one of Ealing’s go-to ball carriers.
He told TRP: “Wardy was pretty clear when I sat down with him. He said, ‘in a couple of years’ time I think you’ll be the best back rower in the Championship’.
“Having the coach put that much faith in me, before I’d even signed (two years ago), and telling me how important I was for them in getting them over the gain line, was probably the biggest thing for me.
“It has put me under pressure to perform every week, and I have just embraced that.”
Uzokwe’s form has caught the eye of Premiership clubs but the former Northampton academy player is going nowhere.
“There has been interest about going up into the Premiership but I am contracted at Ealing and I am happy to stay here,” he said.
“I want to get promoted with Ealing, When you look at the calibre of players we’ve recruited, it is quite reassuring that you know the club is committed to getting to the Premiership. It helps everyone reset and go again next season.
“What makes it easier is that we’ve got an unreal group of boys here.”
Ealing confirmed this week that Wales international full-back Jonah Holmes would be coming to the club, along with a host of other quality players such as Australian back rower, Carlo Tizzano, Leicester playmaker Dan Lancaster and Bath scrumhalf Ollie Fox.
And the capture of Uzokwe’s former Newcastle teammate, Rob Farrar, is due to be announced any day now.
One of the most important signings, however, could be that of Cornish Pirates’ lock Danny Cutmore, who has made it into the Championship Dream Team for the second year running. “We’re losing James Cannon, he’s retiring, and I think he’ll (Cutmore) just slot into that role,” said Uzokwe. “He is a really good lineout caller, and I think he was man of the match the two times we played against Pirates and I am looking forward to seeing how he goes.”
With pre-season training just around the corner Uzokwe’s sevenweek post-season break will soon be coming to an end, as will his pharmaceutical studies.
“I’ve got one more (scenario-based) exam to do in June, and then I can practice. If I’ve got a day off and I want to go and do a shift, I can.”
Examples of rugby-playing doctors are quite commonplace but pharmacy is fairly unusual. Former England centre Ayoola Erinle studied the subject at university but dropped out before completing his degree.
But for Uzokwe, the chemistry between the two careers is just right.
“My dad, from what I remember when I was younger, was always busy and that kind of put me off being a doctor as I am a bit more laidback,” he said.
“The beauty of being a pharmacist is that you are self-employed and you can essentially work when you want.
“For my personality, it probably suited me a bit better and I was able to balance my degree with rugby which I probably couldn’t have done with medicine to be fair.”