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England's new Aussie: 'I've not met many like obsessed Dolly'
Nic Dolly is an Australian youngster in a hurry, the recent acceleration in his fledgling rugby career resulting in the hooker’s inclusion in this week’s 34-strong England squad which assembled in Jersey to prepare for next month’s matches versus Tonga, Australia and South Africa at Twickenham.
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It was just last March when Steve Borthwick snapped Dolly up from second-tier Coventry and the Leicester recruit has rapidly gone from strength to strength, scoring five tries in six appearances this season to help the Tigers lead the way at the top of the Gallagher Premiership.
The 22-year-old Aussie-born front-rower initially honed his skills at youths level in New South Wales before joining Sale in 2017 and quickly getting included in the England U18s. He then went on to play age-grade U20s but his club action was transient, to say the least, Dolly making loan appearances for Sale FC, Rotherham Titans and Jersey Reds before getting released by the Sharks and then arriving into the Coventry squad for the start of the delayed Championship season last March.
Three appearances later – and coupled with the exit of Jake Kerr from Tigers – it resulted in Borthwick making an offer and seven months further down the track, Dolly is now rubbing shoulders with the finest England players in the Channel Islands.
Ellis Genge has labelled his new club and Test squad colleague as weird but added that this isn’t rare in a high-end sport where he reckons you have to be a bit crazy if you want to be the best.
What has helped England to go that extra mile this week in Jersey…#England #AutumnNationsSeries #ENGvTONhttps://t.co/sIsZv7QQwz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 29, 2021
“I have not met many like Dolly – he is obsessed with recovery,” explained Genge. “He is actually recovering as we speak. I just finished eating with him and I said what are you doing and he was doing recovery again. He is really lapping it up here because the recovery facilities are so good.
“As a person, you would have to sit down and have a brew with him. He is just a weird fella. I think rugby players are just weird in general, to be honest, and you have got to sit down and chat to them to encapsulate what I mean. But he is a good kid, works hard and he will go really well.”
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This weirdness is not rare. “In high-end sport, you have got to be a bit tapped to want to be the best in general,” continued Genge. “Everyone has seen the documentaries of Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman and people like that, they are not normal people.
“I’m not comparing us to the likes of those but they are not normal people by any stretch of the imagination. You have got to be a little bit tapped to want to be the best anyway because what you put your body through and sacrifice to be the best are not for normal people and I guess that is why it is elite.”
The Ellis Genge verdict on how his colourful ex-Leicester boss is doing in his first full week in England camp#England #Tigers #ENGvTON #GallagherPremhttps://t.co/yvYtD3UX4O
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 28, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
I bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments