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'When Cockers was here he'd send Greg Bateman or Fraser Balmain running around the posts every day just for being fat'
It’s safe to say that Sam Harrison is taking the new you for the new year challenge rather seriously in 2020. He could easily have stuck with the status quo and kept collecting the Leicester cheque that has been his way of life since making his Tigers first-team debut way back in 2000/09 thanks to injuries to Harry Ellis and Julien Dupuy.
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However, he has committed to an ambitious leap of fate that should make rugby players everywhere sit up and take notice. With his body still in decent nick, there was potentially years left yet in his playing career. Instead, he is packing it all in at the age of 29 and embarking on an alternative adventure on the other side of the world.
“It either says I am stupid or that I am willing to try something new and take a risk,” he pondered when asked by RugbyPass to sum up what people should make of his decision to jack it all in at Leicester and relocate lock, stock and barrel to the Australian Gold Coast to do something completely different.
“I have always had interests outside of rugby that I always wanted to pursue more and more because I have been doing small bits of carpentry at home and started up my own little business a few years ago [Harrison Made] just making homeware and stuff out of timber.
“More and more I have found myself wanting to do that and I am on the right side of 30, so why not do it now? For me, it was just more the right time. Obviously, I have got kids as well who are only just in school so say if I was to wait another few years, it gets harder and harder to do a move like this so just timing-wise it all seems like the right time really.”
(Continue reading below…)
Sam Harrison was one of the senior Leicester players to contribute to The Academy, the six-part RugbyPass documentary series on how the club develops its youth
He won’t miss the media side of being a rugby player. “I’ll be glad it is over. As lovely as all the journalists are you get tired of it, I suppose. You [RugbyPass] are officially my last interview so I’m going to give this one my all,” he breezily declared in midweek at the end of a busy media session where he was in huge demand at Oval Park.
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“I haven’t been given any interesting ones [questions] really if I am honest. They have all been, ‘Why are you leaving?’ I have been explaining myself all day.”
Let’s take a different tack then. What message does quitting so young send out to his sport, especially to youngsters in the highly regarded Tigers academy who are dreaming of having the career Harrison is nonchalantly turning his back on this Saturday when he makes his last Gallagher Premiership appearance off the bench?
Room 101 ??. So lucky to be able to play one last time at welford road tomorow! ?? https://t.co/anTOJHfDAy
— Sam Harrison (@ShazamHarrison) January 3, 2020
“We have got a new changing room now which has been good, all the young players are in there as well so a lot of them have asked me and maybe my decision might open up the eyes of some of the young lads – or even older lads – that you don’t have to play rugby until your body gives up.
“That is something that is sort of cliched. The cliched thing is you keep playing until your body packs it in and I never really wanted to do that. Hopefully, other people will now do that as well. Even if you don’t have passions outside of rugby and rugby is your one and only love, you do have to have something else in the fire and luckily I have managed to sort of leave the game on my terms.
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“Obviously there has been a lot of players who haven’t been able to do it that way. I’m sure there have been players who have retired who have struggled because they haven’t had stuff they have pursued. More and more, academy players are being made aware of that and I definitely know that here, Leicester along with the RPA [Rugby Players’ Association] make them pursue other activities outside of rugby other than playing on PlayStation.
The process. pic.twitter.com/NAlT46p1Vn
— Harrison Made (@harrison_made) January 25, 2017
“For me, it was just getting to that point where I would make my interests my job and make rugby my pastime. I thought Australia is a nice country, I can speak the language and it is nice weather… I have a few mates over there and I have got a mate in the area I want to live. I went over there in the summer, met a few people and sort of blagged a job. My wife has never been but she has taken my word for it that it is nice.
“We’re going to the Gold Coast, just south of it, and I’m doing carpentry. A lot of it I haven’t actually sorted yet. I’m meeting the bloke over there who I met in the summer. We have been in constant communication on email and stuff. It is very much going to be making my own way I suppose and seeing how it goes really. It is a bit of a risk but hopefully it pays off.”
With flowing locks and multiple tattoos, Harrison has cultivated a hard man look during his years as a Leicester scrum-half. Beneath that tough guy exterior, though, there are sure to be teary emotions when the final whistle blows at Welford Road and the local boy who did good takes the farewell salute of the home crowd.
“It will definitely be emotional,” he admitted. “I’ve got about 30 mates coming. I have got all my family coming and stuff, but I am more focused on the game, it’s just a big game for the club really. It couldn’t be a better week to go out on with such a big game.”
Tigers certainly need the points given their precarious position near the foot of the Premiership and while Harrison will no longer be part of the furniture when that battle for safety is resumed post-Bristol at Bath on January 25, he will be heartily roaring them on from afar.
“Obviously I am going to slowly turn into being a fan. I am probably going to give all the lads a load of abuse online and stuff like that. That is going to be an adjustment. Then I will have to watch the games at four AM or something silly. I will cross that bridge when I come to it.”
He isn’t sure which dressing room pals he will be cheering on the most. “I don’t know. I don’t want to say until I am a fan because I want to make my own mind up once I am a fan. I don’t want to jinx myself.” What he will admit, though, is how memories of the banter he experienced over the years will always generate a smile if he is ever feeling homesick while adjusting to life down under.
“When Cockers [Richard Cockerill] was here he’d send either Greg Bateman or Fraser Balmain running around the posts just for being fat pretty much every day,” he quipped when asked for any particular standout memory.
“That will always be something that will make me laugh because it is hilarious. Yeah, a lot of Cockers was… for me as a half-back, he was quite kind to me but when he wasn’t so kind of other players. it was quite amusing to me. But there are hundreds of examples of good memories here that I will remember when the time comes.”
WATCH: RugbyPass travelled to Brecon to see how life after rugby is treating Andy Powell
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’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.
10 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.
9 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…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 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?
5 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 comments