Harry Mallinder is pursuing a ‘dream’ to play in the NFL (Getty Images)
Looking out over Leicester Square, Harry Mallinder pauses to consider his past and the future. It’s a bitter Monday morning, the frost nibbling at the windows even with the sun shining bright, and the former rugby player is on the eighth floor of a London office block, ironing out the details of his new sporting pursuit.
In a different world, Mallinder might have been up at Franklin’s Gardens, driving Northampton’s rise into Premiership table-toppers, or waiting for a call from Steve Borthwick with a Six Nations squad naming on the horizon. Perhaps he’d already have a handful of caps, perhaps he’d have rather more – for so long, of course, it seemed that Mallinder was pre-destined for the international stage.
The son of a coach who seemed to have just about everything, he was once English rugby’s golden boy. In 2016, he captained and kicked England to home triumph at the U20 World Championship, recording two tries and 23 points in a final thrashing of Ireland; a year later, he was in Eddie Jones’s senior squad to tour Argentina. Tall, muscular, quick enough, and comfortable at ten, 12 or 15, if you were to build a back ideally suited to the modern game, it would have looked something like Mallinder.
Harry Mallinder led England to victory at the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2016 (Getty Images)
But life in rugby is rarely simple. A serious knee injury in 2018 hampered Mallinder’s progress, and further fitness setbacks followed to disrupt those smooth, quick strides. It was hoped that a decision to pursue a playing opportunity in Japan would re-ignite his career; a two-year stint in the Far East came to an end in the spring without a single appearance for the Ricoh Black Rams.
Now, it is time for something different. With a hopeful smile and declaration of intent, he reveals his new challenge – like Louis Rees-Zammit, who has walked away from Wales and the Six Nations, he’s…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/england-rugby-former-golden-boy-170545419.html
Author : The Independent
Publish date : 2024-01-18 17:05:45
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