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Promising England Under 20 backrow Basham lands Premiership club

By Online Editors
Josh Bashma during the World Rugby U20 Championship match against Argentina. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England U20’s backrow Josh Basham, who who started for England Under-20s in last summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship final, has landed himself a Premiership club.

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A product of the London Irish Academy, the Buckinghamshire-born forward won three Daily Mail Trophies with Wellington College and captained England at Under-18s level, also helping London Irish to the Academy League title.

Now Newcastle Falcons have confirmed his signing on a three-year deal.

The 19-year-old joins the Falcons with immediate effect, but is not expected to play for the club this season while he recovers from an ankle operation.

Director of rugby Dean Richards said: “Josh is an outstanding young talent and we look forward to working with him once he has completed his rehab, but he is with us at the moment in preparation for that.”

He is currently in his first year studying for an economics degree at Durham University.

Standing at 6 foot 3 and weighing 104kg, Basham was a key figure for the England Under-20s team which lost narrowly to France in last summer’s Junior World Championship final, but was forced to miss the Six Nations following an ankle operation in January.

He said: “Newcastle Falcons have got a great reputation for promoting young talent, I like the way they play the game and it’s fantastic to have signed for the club.

“I’m able to combine my rugby programme with my studies at Durham University, which is great, and a number of the Falcons boys have done the same in recent years. I started my degree in September, I’m really enjoying it up here and it’s a major bonus that I am now able to combine that with a professional rugby contract.”

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Outlining his injury situation as he looks forward to being fit for the start of pre-season, Basham said: “I had an operation at the end of January on my ankle, and I’m hopefully just a month or so away from completing my rehab.

“I’ve signed for three years and I’m hoping to really fly into pre-season – I know quite a few of the boys here from Durham Uni and England age-group stuff, and everyone has been very welcoming.”

Asked which position he prefers playing, the back-row man added: “Blind-side flanker is probably where I’m most effective and I’ve played No 8 as well, but I’ll basically play anywhere if the coaches feel it’s for the good of the team.

“I just can’t wait to get into things properly once I’ve completed my rehab, and I’m really happy to have joined up with the Falcons.”

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Jon 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 11 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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