'A lot of the time a young black kid is told to go on the wing because you're going to be an athlete, not a decision-maker'
New Leicester out-half Zack Henry is hoping to inspire young non-white rugby players by proving colour should be not a factor when coaches are deciding what roles to hand out on the pitch. Henry believes too many coaches dealing with very young players equate the colour of a player’s skin with particular positions and do not include decision-making roles in that thinking.
The recent Tigers signing has highlighted the issue after a taking a very different route to the Gallagher Premiership after being cut by Harlequins from their academy while a teenager.
After building his confidence in university rugby, Henry headed to France to play for Rouen and most recently Nevers in the second and third divisions of the French system, building a reputation as a goal-kicking No10 who is also a running threat.
Leicester have now given Henry the chance in English rugby he thought that had gone and the 25-year-old is eager to make up for lost time while also promoting the talents of BAME players in decision-making roles.
He told RugbyPass: “I hope my success does help change perceptions. It is great to now be at Leicester and I don’t want to be the guy always banging on about this.
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The club is excited to confirm the signing of @ZackHenry10 for the 2020/21 season.
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— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) February 25, 2020
“I’m here to play rugby but at the same time if I can use my experience to motivate people it would be a message from me and something I would look to do going forward. I would like to inspire any BAME or kid of colour that if you are playing rugby at five then you can be a No10, a kicker or a No9 decision-maker.
“I reference the NFL in America because the quarter-back was seen as a white man’s game, intelligently educated. Now, we are starting to see black quarterbacks who are rapid, powerful and can also make those split-second decisions and run a game of American football.
“I’m not at the grassroots level now but what I can speak about are my own experiences. Growing up I played a lot of rugby in England and a lot of the time a young black kid at five, six or seven is told to go on the wing because you’re going to be an athlete, not a decision-maker.
“It seemed to me that certain young black kids in teams I was playing in were not given the chance to be a decision-maker – one of the intelligent positions.”
Geordan Murphy signed Henry because of his “maturity, intelligence and experience” and the Leicester out-half will be backing up England’s George Ford while also vying with young Tom Hardwick for the role. Having survived life in the French leagues after former England captain Richard Hill brought him to Rouen where he is head coach, Henry believes he is equipped to make an impact in the Premiership.
He added: “The route that I have taken away from England has helped and university was also massive because young pro rugby players don’t necessarily get the chance to go to university. “Getting dropped at the time was devastating for any aspiring young athlete but looking back those negatives have been turned into positives. Moving to France helped me both as a player and a person.
“I’m 25 and people might say it’s a late time to be coming back to the Premiership but without all of those things, I don’t think I would be here now. I could write a book about my time in France and I have got some insane stories. At the clubs I played there were so many different nationalities and I learnt so much about the world that you may not have done staying in England.
“The passion of the fans is amazing. We would have 10,000 at a game in the second division, and also learning French is going to stick with me for life. The professionalism can be a bit blurred in France and it comes with the territory. Nutrition the night before a game, people eating what they want and having a few beers tends to be the negative side if you’re trying to be as professional as possible!”
"I mean, yesterday it was knocking up in the main sports category with Tyson Fury and Mike Tyson, so that is awesome."
You may not have heard of @wherebenmercer2 but his rugby autobiography is selling like hot cakes on Amazon – writes @heagneyl 👨💻https://t.co/n029wt0y1q
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 3, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
I don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI 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.
24 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.
9 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.
24 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 🤐
24 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….
24 Go to comments