The Heath Robinson passing test that put Harry Randall on course for England cap
Harry Randall has put himself in line for a first England cap thanks to a speed camera from America, a stool, hula hoop and a cricket net at Llandovery College which helped give the scrum-half the confidence to bounce back from a verdict that he was too small and his pass was too slow.
Bristol scrum-half Randall and his family were left fuming by the verdict delivered by the Scarlets who helped push the Llandovery schoolboy away from a possible Welsh cap and into the English system.
Randall, now 5ft 8ins and 72kgs, was able to prove Scarlets were wrong to brand his pass as “slow” thanks to a Heath Robinson invention devised by former Harlequins coach Iestyn Thomas who was head of rugby at Llandovery for 18 years and fought to allow the youngster to play two years “up” against bigger opponents.
Thomas, who also coached London Welsh, never doubted Randall’s ability and believes Welsh coach Wayne Pivac has made a major error by not bringing the Bristol scrum-half into his squad before Eddie Jones handed him a place in England’s Six Nations squad today.
Thomas told RugbyPass: “His passing in my view was always good and on the back off what Scarlets said I ordered a speed camera from America because I was so annoyed they said his pass was slow. At the College we used a cricket net with the speed camera behind – it’s real Heath Robinson stuff – with a hula hoop as a target and he passed from 10m away we did a scrum-half pass test to show he was fast. Not only did we find out he was accurate we confirmed his pass was quick.
“We put the camera on a stool but when he was accurate the netting smashed it backwards and so we had to put mats down!
“We had his pass accuracy percentage and his slowest and fastest pass. I couldn’t get his scrum-half opponents at Scarlets to come and be tested but I told the Scarlets just how good he was off both hands. What is unique about him is that he is able to create situation others don’t see. At Llandovery, you would see him head down what appeared to be a dark alley in a match and bound to get a thumping and then two side steps later he emerged unscathed and from having my hands on my head it was a case of “how did he do that?”
“Llandovery play in the Welsh Colleges league and they won’t let anyone play who isn’t ready and they do make exceptions and they granted one for Harry and he was leaving people for dead.
“Harry came to us at 15 because his sister was already at Llandovery and he was with us until the fall out with the Scarlets. There was competition around the No9 position and Scarlets decided he was too small and his pass was too slow. His two elder brothers had been at Scarlets and so they moved him to Hartpury College after two and half years with us.
“He was in the fifth year playing against players in the Upper Sixth and that was highly unusual at Llandovery and not only did he cement a place you could see he had something special. I never had any concerns about his size. He has big heart and really brave with a really good tackle technique that you can see to this day when he bring down Premiership players much who are much bigger. It doesn’t matter who is coming at him he stops them.”
Llandovery has a proud rugby past having produced a host of Welsh internationals including captains Alun Wyn Jones, Gwyn Jones and Cliff Jones along with Lions George North, Geoff Evans, Vivian Jenkins and Andy Powell. Now. Randall is on course to win a first cap for England and Thomas believes a small scrum-half like Faf de Klerk who won the World Cup with South Africa proved size isn’t everything. Thomas added: “If you see Harry play for a few minutes you realise that size isn’t a factor and he can handle anything.
“If Harry had stayed in Wales I believe he would be now playing for Wales.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
4 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
7 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
13 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
13 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
4 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to comments