'Apart from the broken nose, it was a very special day': England A's Ewan Richards

The Somerset village of Street is known for manufacturing Clarks shoes, the regulation footwear worn by most kids through their early school years, and not much else. However, it also the place that can claim one of the rising stars of English rugby as one of its own.

Ewan Richards grew up playing mini rugby just down the road, or street, at Tor RFC, in Glastonbury. Encouraged by his dad Neil, from an early age his world was always about touchlines, not lay lines, despite the area’s spiritual reputation.

Rather than tree hugging, Richards loves nothing more than getting his big arms around opponents and bring them to ground. Known for his lineout expertise; he prides himself on disrupting opposition throws and being an excellent maul defender. For an 111kg, 1.98m unit, he can also shift around the park, too.

And then there’s the leadership qualities, which were on show when he captained the team to their first trophy of any description in 17 years in Exeter in March last year. Richards played with a broken nose for most of the Premiership Rugby Cup final but toughed it out as Bath beat the Chiefs 48-14.

“Apart from the broken nose, it was a very special day. I think it had been 17 years since we’d won a trophy, so to go out and lead the team out at Exeter that day was very, very special. To finally get some silverware, it was a very cool day and one I will never forget,” he recalled when speaking to RugbyPass from England A’s HQ in Spain.

The Glastonbury Tor de Force has had to bide his time for first team action at Bath in the last few years, having played a lot in the Stuart Hooper era that is best forgot. However, his form, when he has been given an opportunity, has caught the eye of the England A selectors.

He was denied a home England A debut last weekend, after being left out of the matchday 23 for the 31-14 defeat to the All Blacks XV at The Rec. But the impressive 23-year-old been named on the bench for Saturday’s clash with Los Leones, which can be watched live and for free on RugbyPass TV.

Having seen peers like Northampton second row Tom Lockett graduate from the England U20 ranks through to the verge of the senior national team, Ewan Richards hopes to take a similar step forward in Valladolid.

“I look at Tom, he played England A last year, and he’s playing well with Northampton and now he’s got an opportunity to train with the senior team. It is all stepping stones to reach that level. I’ve got to take the opportunity on this weekend and enjoy the experience,” the loose forward said.

“It feels a bit different. It was very special playing 18s and 20s but this is my first senior step up, on the international stage, and I am very grateful to be in the squad and be on the bench this weekend,” he said.

“Training last week and this week was very quick, international training is very fast, it’s intense, so for me it’s probably just that work off the ball that allows me then to get in position to do more of my craft, whether that’s carrying the ball in open space, whatever that is, and be more effective in my game.”

Going all the way to the top and winning an England cap is a long-held dream of Richards, who’ll always be thankful to his dad, a former Clarks factory worker, for helping him get to where he is today.

“He was my coach when I was five and probably coached me until U16s. He’s always been there; he has probably been my biggest supporter and the biggest factor in my career. He is always giving me little messages before games and post-game, seeing how I got on,” he said.

Unfortunately, with Valladolid not that accessible, none of Richards’ family will be out in Spain to watch him, so will be tuning in to RugbyPass TV instead.

“It’s definitely going to be a challenge on the weekend,” added Richards. “They’re in the World Cup coming up so it’s an exciting opportunity for the young side we’ve got. We definitely want to bounce back from last week. We had opportunities to score but execution is tough when you’ve only just got together for a week, to build those relationships. But it’s been nice now, we’ve had two weeks where the squad has been roughly the same, so hopefully we can try and get a result on the weekend.”