Talent-spotting is not an exact science, particularly in rugby. Some players develop late or fail to tick the obvious physical boxes, others are crowded out, not least in England, by the sheer weight of numbers. How many hidden gems might have worn the red rose had they not been injured at the wrong moment, been given more time to mature or been born in a different postcode?
For whatever reason, the number of good players slipping through England’s fingers seems to be rising. This week, in addition to Christian Wade’s abrupt switch to American Football, Exeter’s Sam Skinner has declared for Scotland having previously represented England U20s. In the summer Sale’s Mike Haley, previously a contender for a full England cap, decamped to Munster. On Saturday he faces Gloucester’s Jake Polledri, perhaps the best current example of what English rugby is missing out on.
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Imagine if Polledri, on the strength of his Italian grandparents, had not already been snapped up by the alert Conor O’Shea. How England, given their back-row injury problems, could presently do with a young, energetic and versatile flanker who breaks tackles almost every time he carries the ball.
As Munster will discover at Thomond Park, what the 22-year-old Polledri lacks in experience he makes up for in bullocking power and heart.
Maybe that is partly where English rugby is going wrong. It has so many sleek gym rats from which to choose that it does not always prioritise ticker, desire and natural-born mongrel. In Polledri’s case the catalyst was being rejected by his home city club Bristol as a teenager. “I was under the impression they were going to sign me but in the end they turned round and said: ‘If we sign you, you’re going to be pretty low down the pecking order.’ As a young kid that’s where you expect to be but, ultimately, they just said: ‘No.’”
Given his father Pete played 466 games for the club it was a substantial body-blow for all concerned. “Knowing how many games my dad played for Bristol there’s always been a drive to play rugby but it was a knock to be told ‘no’ at a young age by Bristol. In hindsight, though, it was probably a good thing. It spurred me on even more.”
And so began a story that should serve as encouragement to everyone to follow their dreams. Polledri, who had been playing locally with Dings Crusaders, was offered a place at Hartpury College while also working for his father who owns a long-established family sandwich bar in Bristol as well as a couple of Subway franchises.
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He duly caught Gloucester’s eye but as recently as last October had still not made his Premiership debut. Only when Ed Slater injured a finger in the warm-up before playing Northampton did he finally get his big chance, at approximately 10 minutes’ notice. “I got the phone call while I was in the media room stealing a bacon roll. They said: ‘You’ve got to be on the bench’ and found me a pair of boots and a gumshield. I got on for 10 minutes at the end and that’s where it all kicked off.”
Barely three months later he found himself being included in Italy’s squad for the Six Nations, having previously represented Italy U20s. He made his debut against Scotland and scored his first international try, a typically barnstorming effort against Japan in Kobe in June, much to the joy of his paternal grandmother Luisa, now in her 90s, who emigrated from Italy as a teenager and met her late husband when both of them worked in the same ice-cream factory in south Wales.
For the entire family the sight of Jake playing Test rugby in a blue jersey outweighed any faint regret that, aside from a run-out for England Counties, he is not representing the land of his birth.
“Dad was just happy I’d taken all the opportunities I’d been given. If I hadn’t taken the decision to play for Italy I probably wouldn’t have played any internationals last year. He flew out to Japan to watch one of the games this summer. That’s how much he wants to see me play.”
The moral of the story? Unexpected success tastes even sweeter than pre-ordained progression. Until two months ago Polledri was still helping his father with his business book-keeping; he also has clear memories of working shifts from 8am to 1am in Subway as emergency staff cover. Could it be that devouring endless filled rolls transformed his rugby? “I’d love to say there was a secret. When I was working in Subway I was certainly eating a lot of them. If people want to see if that works they can try it out. On those long shifts I’d probably eat four or five. They’re not small. Other than that I haven’t really got an answer. It’s just a case of head down and run.”
Those in charge of him at Gloucester, however, insist he is being overly modest. “He’s one of those players I take my hat off to,” confirms Johan Ackermann, the head coach at Gloucester, who defeated Castres last Sunday. “It would have been easy, having achieved what he has done, to take your foot off the pedal and say: ‘I’m probably close to first choice now.’ But he came back from his summer break in even better condition than when I arrived at the club.
“The reality is that people start looking at you, analysing your strengths and working out plans for you. It’s easy to surprise everyone and have a great first season. The challenge for him is to do the same in his second season. If you watch him off the ball he’s working much harder now.”
No one will ever know how Polledri, or indeed the impressive Skinner, might have fared in an England squad context but, come the Six Nations, Eddie Jones may yet be forcibly reminded of what he turned down.
Polledri, one of only two Italian Test players involved in the Champions Cup’s opening round, is rather more preoccupied with measuring himself against Munster’s Lions, Peter O’Mahony and CJ Stander, but is happy to be a standard-bearer for anyone who endures rejection at a tender age.
“There are a lot of people out there who probably don’t get picked up. It’s just about opportunities, being in the right place at the right time and having the drive to do it.” England’s loss is very much Italy’s gain.