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VIDEO: In Rory Brand London Irish have one of England's most electric talents
By RugbyPass
Rory Brand is hoping that the experience of captaining London Irish at the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s will provide him with the springboard for a breakthrough season.
The 19-year-old scrum-half, who was born in Scotland, graduated from Wellington College in Crowthorne last year and subsequently joined the Exiles Academy.
He was selected to lead his side as they took part in Aviva Premiership Rugby’s summer showpiece at Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton at the weekend.
Irish lost their three matches but Brand, who was part of the England Under-20s side that sealed a Six Nations Grand Slam earlier this year, is aiming to push on after savouring the opportunity to strut his stuff in the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s.
“It was an amazing experience, just to play in front of a big crowd and on TV – nothing beats that, especially for a young guy,” said the Exiles youngster, who also featured in the competition in 2015.
“Two years ago, I felt a bit young, a bit inexperienced, and this year, I’ve had an extra year playing adult rugby.
“I came in as captain and that was definitely a confidence boost, for the coaches to show their trust in me to lead the side out, and we’re a bit disappointed with the results but at the end of the day, it’s all about experience.
“I think everyone experienced some nerves before, which is obviously quite natural, mixed with excitement just to get out there and put the shirt on, and do the club proud.
“We lost all our games but I think we did ourselves proud and we can go back to the club with our heads held high.
“For this year, I want to start for England Under-20s, play a few Premiership games if I’m lucky – hopefully I can get my chance to pull on a London Irish jersey in the Premiership.
“There’s the A-League, LV=Cup and European games, so there are definitely a lot of opportunities to test myself this year.”
Brand’s development last year kicked into overdrive as he spent a year on loan at National League One side Rosslyn Park.
The teenager, who has also spent time with Sale Sharks and rugby league outfit Salford Red Devils, is due to keep playing for Park next season after gaining his first taste of men’s rugby with the London-based club.
Brand added: “The big difference was the physicality. As a young boy, you have to not only work on your rugby skills but your social skills as well because you’re going into that environment with men of different ages, which is quite new to me and was a challenge at first.
“Doing a year of that was definitely beneficial to me, not only as a rugby player but as a person.”
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Latest Comments
I’ve seen an improvement in both.
Go to commentsFrance using the 7-1, England using the 6-2, Ireland and Scotland have used it a few times as well and many nations are starting to adopt it. The reality is the game is changing. Administrators have made it faster and that is leading to more significant drop offs in the forwards. You have 2 options. Load your bench with forwards or alter your player conditioning which might mean more intense conditioning for forwards and a drop off in bulk. The game can still be played many ways. Every nation needs to adapt in their own way to suit their strengths. France have followed the Springbok model of tight forwards being preferred because it suits them. They have huge hunks of meat and the bench is as good as the starters so why not go for it? The Springboks have also used hybrids like Kwagga Smith, Schalk Britz, Deon Fourie, Franco Mostert and others. England are following that model instead and by putting 3 loosies there who can do damage in defence and make the breakdown a mess in the final quarter. It worked well against Wales but will be interested to see how it goes going forward against better opposition who can threaten their lineout and scrum. All the talk around bench limitations to stop the 7-1 and 6-2 for me is nonsense. Coaches who refuse to innovate want to keep the game the same and make it uniform and sameness is bad for fans. The bench composition adds jeopardy and is a huge debate point for fans who love it. Bench innovations have not made the game worse, they have made it better and more watchable. They challenge coaches and teams and that’s what fans want. What we need now is more coaches to innovate. There is still space for the 5-3 or even a 4-4 if a coach is willing to take it on and play expansive high tempo possession-based rugby with forwards who are lean and mean and backs who are good over the ball. The laws favour that style more than ever before. Ireland are too old to do it now. Every team needs to innovate to best suit their style and players so I hope coaches and pundits stop moaning about forwards and benches and start to find different ways to win.
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