Six Nations

Alex Dombrandt relishing Welsh reunions

by
Ben Jaycock
22 February 2022

Alex Dombrandt is looking forward to the challenge of facing former teammates from his time at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Wales U20s in Saturday’s encounter with Wales.

The dynamic back rower played with the likes of Welsh internationals Rhys Carre, James Botham and Shane Lewis-Hughes during his time with their U20 set up.

At Cardiff Met University Dombrandt played alongside flanker Aaron Wainwright and was full of praise heading into their on-field reunion.

He said: “He’s an incredible overall athlete, very quick and has got great footballing skills. If I remember correctly, he had trials at Cardiff City. He’s a good friend of mine and we still speak now and then.

“He left uni to go full-time with the Dragons and accelerated onto the international stage, so it’s great to see boys taking their own journeys and going down the university route to end up at international level.”

Dombrandt was eligible to play for Wales in the 2017 U20 Six Nations due to him being a Cardiff based student but the 6 ft 4, 19 stone powerhouse has no Welsh roots.

LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 26: Alex Dombrandt of Harlequins celebrates after their victory during the Gallagher Premiership Final match between Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins at Twickenham Stadium on June 26, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

The Harlequins star has been battling it out with Sam Simmonds for the England No.8 jersey but the pair look to help each other out as much as possible.

He said: “We have a great relationship, we spend a lot of time off the pitch playing cards and chilling out. On the pitch we’re trying to advance each other’s games and help each other in as many ways as we can.

“There’s not many quicker eights than Sam that pick from the base and do what he can do. His ability to find the try line is great as there’s not many players out there that have scored more tries than him.”

Dombrandt is relishing the challenge of coming up against his former teammates and playing at Twickenham for the first time in front of fans since March 2020.

He added: “It’s our first Six Nations game at Twickenham this season so we’re excited and ready for the challenge.

“I think overall it’ll be a physical game. Wales are obviously a very passionate country, but we want to go after the game, have a go and make a fast start.”

Written by Ben Jaycock