Will Parkin says the RFU have moved towards a ‘Club England' with a clear alignment throughout the pathway systems.
England U18s assistant coach Parkin joined the national team ahead of this month's summer tour of South Africa, filling the role vacated by Mark Mapletoft who was promoted to U20s head coach in May.
The 29-year-old worked at Northampton Saints for over a decade, most recently as academy coach where he led the U18s side to back-to-back Premiership U18 Academy League finals.
Having spent last season with the group part-time, Parkin is impressed by the current group and shares the philosophy, led by head coach Jonathan Pendlebury, of exploring boundaries.
He said: “Our strap line around our game is speed, attachment, space (SAS). So, both sides of the ball there's a huge emphasis on players putting themselves under pressure and putting themselves in uncomfortable positions which leads to them making mistakes. We want them to make mistakes, we want them to put themselves into difficult positions.
“If they go through a session without making a mistake and not putting themselves under pressure then that's not them getting better. They truly do have the licence to do that. The team of coaches and support staff have a great balance of experience in club rugby, international rugby and throughout the pathway.
“The big thing we're really trying to develop moving forward is a Club England and more alignment throughout the pathway. Trying to support these players, not just whilst they're involved in the U18s. They now have a pathway for some who join at 17, right the way through to the first team.
“We want all the backs to be comfortable playing first receiver, we want the forwards to be able to be square at the line making different varieties of pass as well as their key positional traits. I think the pathway is coming to a point where we can continue to produce players that go on and play in the Premiership and play internationally right at the top of the game.”
With comprehensive victories over France and Western Province in their tour of South Africa, followed by a narrow and a battling defeat to the hosts in last weekend's finale, it's clear to see there's an abundance of promising young talent in England.
Exeter lock Junior Kpoku, Harlequins scrum-half Lucas Friday (son of former Wasps No.9 Mike), Sale centre Ollie Davies and Saracens half-back Jack Bracken (son of former England World Cup winner Kyran) were involved in the U18s Six Nations last year despite being a year young and all excelled on tour.
Bath tighthead Billy Sela, Saracens lock Olamide Sodeke and Bristol Bears centre Toby Baker are in the U19s but were included for game time and experience.
Parkin added: “Olamide had a horrible season last year. His last game of rugby was pretty much this tour last year, he missed the whole season with injury so this opened up the opportunity to bring him along.
“Billy had a good opportunity to expose himself to good rugby out here and Toby Baker, a younger player within his year group, had another injury-ridden season last year and is out here to give us good experience as South Africa are a year above our U18s, with how their school year works.”
The group is captained by 18-year-old London Irish Academy hooker Kepueli Tuipulotu, above, who excelled in the three-match International Series and was player of the match in the 41-0 win over France in the opening game.
Parkin said: “Kepu is an exciting player but lives and dies by what we speak about in terms of getting better, better and better. He's certainly someone who maximises our philosophies and is a real ‘follow me' leader in his captaincy.”
Parkin knows more than most how important development age rugby is by going on these tours and explains that numerous players in the current setup will go on and star for England in years to come.
H esaid: “Out of the 33 players that were selected for the senior World Cup squad, 31 have been through the pathway at either U18 or U20. Some of these lads will go on to be future internationals.
“Of course, some players come into the game at later stages but going on tour for two weeks is a useful learning experience because for the majority of them it's the first time they've been away from their parents for that long. They have gone away to have pressure through fatigue, their bodies are sore halfway through the tour and mentally it is challenging.
“Giving them this experience to be able to find ways of switching off from rugby, learn how to recover and do the things off the field are massively important as they hopefully progress onto the U20s tours and U20s World Cup that then turn to four weeks and then senior tours for even longer. So, it's a great development tool to learn just as much on the pitch as off it.”
