Offiah Jnr ready to make mark at Bath
TYLER OFFIAH is setting himself up for life on and off the field as the England U18s winger prepares to join Bath this summer.
The son of rugby league legend Martin Offiah attracted interest from Sale, Leicester and Gloucester and rugby league giants Wigan Warriors. The 6ft 3in 17-year-old spent a day training at Sale and Wigan but is set to join Bath on a three-year professional deal. He has an offer to study at the University of Bath in September and told The Rugby Paper: “I’m currently doing A-Levels in PE, Mathematics and Economics at Wellington College. “I’ve got an offer from Bath University to do Politics and International Relations, so right now it’s about focusing on my A-Levels to get the grades I need.
“But I’ve always been quite smart and I had an academic scholarship when I was at St Benedict’s School.
“In my GCSEs, I got a 7, five 8s and three 9s; that was decent. My studies are going well and I’ve just got to keep up the revision.”
Offiah is buzzing after impressing for England U18s side in Italy, spending 13 days in camp and playing his part in wins over Wales, Scotland and Georgia. He said: “I set up a try in the first game against Wales and then scored against Scotland and Georgia. It’s been a fantastic experience but it was tough trying to revise in Italy with the heat!
“I’m definitely very ambitious, I’ve got all my goals written down in a journal. They include playing for the senior England side, going on a British and Irish Lions tour, and becoming the highest try-scorer in Premiership history.
“Chris Ashton – who my father got to send me a video message wishing me well in my career – has the Premiership record with over 100 tries but I’d love to beat that. Rory Underwood has the England record with 49 and I want to surpass that too. I’m definitely aiming for the very top. If you’re not, what are you even doing?
“Obviously having a famous rugby-playing dad is a blessing and curse. I get the knowledge from him but there are a lot of people who say ‘you’re only getting this or you’re only doing because of him’.
“Getting through that has definitely helped me and built up a resilience when I was younger.”