BY BEN JAYCOCK
Following in his father's footsteps, Lucas Schmid took up rugby as early as three and after excelling at U18s level he has aspirations to excel in next year's U20s Six Nations for England.
The 19-year-old Harlequins back row was introduced to rugby as early as possible by his father Mike, who played professionally for Rotherham and Canada at No.8 before a spell as director of rugby at Esher.
Due to his dad's influence he grew up idolising All Blacks legend Jonah Lomu but has recently become in awe of Saracens and England star Ben Earl.
He said: “With my dad being an ex-professional himself and being around him as a coach and that environment, it was inevitable that I was going to go down the rugby route.
“It wasn't exactly position based but hearing the stories from my dad, Jonah Lomu was a big inspiration because of his size, strength and pace being so desirable for a young person like myself. Recently I've idolised Ben Earl a bit more, who I can associate more with because I'm not the biggest back row out there but I'll give it my all, carry hard and do all the bits I need to do which I think Ben Earl does pretty well.”
Earlier this year, the 6 ft 3inch, 16st 8lb forward starred for England U18s and scored an impressive try against France.
He added: “I loved every minute of my time in the U18s. I found out I was going to be selected for the France game two days before selection came out and when I got selected the first thing I did was tell my dad which was a moment of joy and relief.
“Scoring a try was unexpected as I was just there to do my job, do the best I can and help the team out. To be able to score was a great feeling. Going down to Wales was pretty tough but I was going down with some good mates and I was happy to contribute to that win.”
Schmid is now ready to step up to the U20s and make his mark at a higher level, with him targeting next summer's World Championship in South Africa.
He said: “I want to make my U20s England debut, hopefully I'll get selected for the Six Nations, have a good campaign there and then follow it up by going to South Africa for the U20 World Cup.”
Schmid is now surrounded by the big names at Harlequins having progressed through the club's academy and says it's been both a tough and enjoyable experience. “I've loved it,” said Schmid.
“It's been a pretty tough transition going from A-levels at school into a senior professional environment, which was a bit of a shock to the system at first. You see some of these players on TV and then all of a sudden you're sharing a changing room with them. It's been very exciting, I've loved it so far and I can't wait for it to continue.”
Schmid is out on loan at National One side Richmond, alongside multiple Harlequins loanees, and aims to help the west London club return to the Championship after they were relegated last season.
“It's a great club, they're all good boys,” said Schmid. “The coaches are good because they are really supportive and it's been a great environment for me to learn more about rugby. We're sitting mid-table at the minute but it's a very close league and if some results go our way then who knows.”
