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Chandler Cunningham-South had a vibrant spring in his step when RugbyPass caught up with him on Thursday evening in Cape Town. Earlier that day he had been selected to start at No8 for England U20s in Saturday’s Junior World Championship opener versus Ireland in Paarl, but that wasn’t the only thing that was making him smile.
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It had also just been announced that the English-born, New Zealand-raised forward would be joining Harlequins for the 2023/24 season in a deal that was signed off 16 days after the RFU had suspended the financially stricken London Irish.
That agreement put an end to the stress and strife that had surrounded him since his appearance off the bench in the final London Irish match of the 2022/23 season, the May 6 win that clinched the Exiles their fifth-place finish.
That anxiety isn’t completely alleviated. As it stands, Cunningham-South currently doesn’t have a place to live in London as he had to vacate the London Irish academy house after the club fell into administration. He is hoping that former housemate Will Joseph, who is also joining Harlequins, will get something sorted out soon.
This story of the fallout at London Irish is something that Cunningham-South spoke about during an exclusive 25-minute chat at the England team hotel in downtown Cape Town, an interview that will be published this Sunday.
In the meantime, here are his answers to the quickfire section of our rendezvous, questions that provoked some intriguing responses such as why he doesn’t wear a gumshield, his sneaky pre-game McDonald’s, and why he would love a veterinary degree:
THE BASICS
Born: March 18, 2003;
Joined England age-grade: February 2022;
Club: Harlequins (signed last Thursday after the collapse of London Irish);
Position: Back row;
Boots: Nike Mercurial or Tiempo;
Gumshield: No. Don’t wear one. U used to. I just like to breathe. I haven’t found a good one yet that I like;
Headgear: No;
School: I went to Hamilton and Westlake Boys in New Zealand.
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RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Pace: I’ll be humble, I’ll say 68;
Passing: That’s not bad. I’d say 74;
Tackling: 82.
THE PAST
My favourite England player of all time is… That’s tough. I didn’t watch much England rugby growing up, that’s the thing. I don’t know the old ones. I’ll go Jason Robinson, he was pretty cool. Anthony Watson, I’ll go with him. The dreads when he was at the World Cup.
Favourite try I have ever scored is… Probably my first try for Irish, the Saracens one at Christmas time. That was cool.
A rugby memory that makes me smile is… Back in high school, sitting in McDonald’s with my dad before I went out to play my game. That’s the one that makes me smile. I was eating McDonald’s before a game in Hamilton. I was about 13, 14 at the time.
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The moment I realised I could make it is… After my Prem Cup debut against Leicester, I felt like I could. I just felt real good in the game and after that, I had a feeling that maybe this could be something potentially I could do.
One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… Believe myself, back myself. Not everything is going to happen when you want it to happen but it will come.
My best subject in school was… PE (laughs). I was alright at social studies actually.
The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… Alesana Tuilagi.
Growing up, my position was… I was No8, prop, centre, anywhere. Anywhere I could play on the field.
The coach who has most impacted my game is… I’d say Jonathan Fisher at London Irish. Just helped me develop because I was so like just raw. I just wanted to hit people and run hard, but he just brought it together a bit and made me have some more skills and have a more composed sort of game.
"My agent was just looking for something for me in a professional environment… I didn’t really have the opportunity to do that in NZ" @heagneyl ??? talks to Chandler Cunningham-South about England, London Irish and finding a new club https://t.co/uoc521tdZS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 25, 2023
THE PRESENT
My favourite rising rugby player is… Similar age? I’ll say Will Joseph. Since I live with him, I have to say that (laughs). He is following me to Quins as well.
My best attributes on the field are… Carrying the ball and hitting people.
One thing I’m doing to improve my education is… Not at the moment.
My favourite current England player is… Anthony Watson again.
My favourite YouTuber is… Beta Squad. It’s like a group. Or Nelk Boys. We’ll go with Nelk Boys.
My hardest working teammate is… At London Irish, it would have been Tom Pearson.
My most skilful teammate is… Paddy Jackson.
My favourite training drill is… Tackle tech.
My favourite music artist is… That’s tough. That is tough. One of the hardest. I’ll need to look at my playlist and see who is on the most. Let’s have a look [he whipped out his phone]. It has to be Burna Boy.
THE FUTURE
A player who could go all the way is… Cass Cleaves (Harlequins and England U20s).
If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… That’s tough. Ardie Savea.
I will be happy with my career if I… That’s another tough question. I’d be happy if I am satisfied and I think I have done everything I can do in the game.
I want to make a difference by… Giving back.
One thing I want to add to my game is… Jumping more in the lineout.
If I could get a degree in anything I would choose… Veterinary. I like animals.
I would be a better player if I… These are tough questions, man. I’ll skip it. We’ll come back to that one.
If I could play in any other country, I would play in… Are we talking money or lifestyle? It would be cool to play in France.
One person I want to meet is… A lot of people. Does it have to be rugby? I’ll think about that one and come back.
One trophy I would love to win is… European Champions Cup.
Comments on RugbyPass
So spiteful that the Springboks won again, they just had to change the laws so that they would stand a chance.
37 Go to commentsWhy would Eben lie? The guy has achieved so much. He saw it as arrogance. Any normal person who plays against the ABs year in and year out would have the same thoughts. Why even talk about the final when you have the biggest game of your lives next week in a stage you have never gotten passed? Rugly is simple in SA. Have fun but the most important thing is respect. I’m not buying any of this misinterpreted nonsense. Eben isn’t English, but no one during that interview was asking what did he say? He's speaking and therefore his understanding is perfectly fine. It was an arrogant thing to say, esp for a team that has never been to a final, never mind a semi. You guys up north can interpret it in a different way if you wish, maybe that s why you don’t win the biggest tournaments.
151 Go to comments> with Sky TV in New Zealand saying it has seen an 11 per cent lift in overall viewership this year. It’s easy for these kiwi “journalists” to throw around meaningless numbers to make it seem that things are improving, but if you look at the stats behind this 11 percent it says that after 10 rounds of rugby there is only a paltry 160k cumulative viewers in total.. That is on average 16k viewers watching a single round of Super Rugby. I very much doubt any of the other numbers that Gregor so proudly “reports” on.
37 Go to commentsGoode is a Prop that played Flyhalf…. Who gives a Sh@#t what he thinks anyway!
151 Go to commentsOne would hope when a player of such caliber is approached for transfer is traversed a lot more carefully. The question I ask, “is the players agent raising red flags in the first instance of contact”. By what I read assumptions are made by nzr based on player welfare provided to them. So what is that? Is it a wholistic approach where family balance is taken into account. Because thay’s what’s in the mix when players go off shore. I realize the money is a huge factor but when negotiations are initiated is nzr involved. As Lendrum says having our best players available is paramount to our success So here’s hoping they are effectively communicating.
4 Go to commentsPSTD, I salute you.
6 Go to commentsWhy don't they just give up on scrums and lineouts, cut the number of players to 13, and call the game ‘rugby league’? These idiots are determined to destroy the game as we know it, and instead of ‘attracting youngsters to the game’ as Beaumont suggests, it’ll deter a lot of the less skilled, maybe overweight kids who it is perfect for. World Rugby is detestable. And as for the 20 minute ‘red’ - why not teach the players to tackle better? (Like the current tackle height trials are supposed to do, but will probably be squashed by the NZRU as usual). I despair for the union game, I really do.
37 Go to commentsHere’s hoping the emphasis on how the tmo interfaces on game infractions is taken into account more seriously than what was adjudicated during the 23 wc. That was a shambles, plus Barnes the abs ref never contested some of the calls, something he’s known for. And then we're left with wr opologizing after the game that smith’s try was legit. I was even more pizzed. And as for the red card if the infringement is clearly intentional foul then the individual is out of the game and after 20mins the bench replacement comes on. So, there’s then the degree of seriousness taken into account within the 20min stand down.
37 Go to commentsNot sure they the article doesn’t hit on TMO this year, that’s were they were putting focus right. The fact the other areas haven’t improved shows just how poor the comp is at focusing on its direction. There should still have been further gains in both those areas this year even it if didn’t have the same focus as others. The whistle to restart time, like touch finders of 26 seconds, surely has to be a key focus area next year. Why should a side be given so much time to kick for touch? Cut that down to 5 or 10 seconds, penalties both become less of key stalling/defensive strategy, and become more ‘live’ with tap kicks becoming much more favourable quick actions. Theres absolutely no reason we have to wait over 10 secs for the preferred kicker to walk up and try and take maximum advantage, especially when half the time its just a delay tactic to give the forwards time to plan, as the kicker hardly even trys to find the corner with his kick, anyone could have kicked it straight out for the lineout.
37 Go to commentsShame. Hope something else can be arranged.
3 Go to commentsTitans of under-20s rugby …. Reporters tired verbiage akin to calling every player a “star” and any Fijian side as ”Flying”. The French English and Irish are the Titans of U20 rugby. Noone in the South is now. This tournament is however, good prep to regain titan status.
1 Go to commentsWill be humbling coming back and playing second fiddle to Dmac.
4 Go to commentsSounds like quite a bit of development has occurred regarding Mo’unga’s situation. Either NZR has stepped up their offer (big time) or RMo has had a reality check on what it will be like to be outside of the high performance environment of AB rugby. Maybe both. It reads like there are only a few remaining details to be sorted out before it is a done deal.
4 Go to commentsCurrently, a prop that has been substituted can go back on field if his original replacement gets injured. Can a red carded prop go back if his replacement gets injured, or will it be uncontested scrums?
13 Go to commentsWhat about a free kick from a scrum? Can you call another scrum? Or are they just giving straight penalties now?
37 Go to commentsLoved that comment by Andrew that the ‘water boys’ rule was changed in 2020 just to stymie the Boks!
37 Go to commentsOne of the best the Boks have ever produced. PSDT has an engine that goes non-stop for the full 80 min.
6 Go to commentsThe real deal.
6 Go to commentsIt’s been said that Nienaber will head back to SA too before next World Cup , hoarding all the amazing IP gained in Irish system … get a grip … Irish system needs to Milk the likes of Barrett . First time a leading all Black in his prime has gone to Ireland for any period of time . Enjoy it .
22 Go to comments20 min RC is the only good solution of a bunch of bad solutions. Ridiculous that it has taken this long and caused so many uneven contests. In general these are all very good changes - one is surprised that NH brokers were able to see sense at long last.
13 Go to comments