Worcester are rightly proud of their academy and, after being called into the England U20s Six Nations squad at just 18, Seb Atkinson is one of its shining lights.
A ball-playing insidecentre who cites England's Owen Farrell and South African World Cup winner Damian de Allende among players he looks up to, Atkinson played his junior rugby for Luctonians RFC before coming on to Warriors' radar at 13 following county trials.
“I grew up in Wimbledon but my parents moved back to Shropshire when I was one and I started playing at Luctonians when I was five,” says Atkinson.
“The atmosphere there is brilliant and the community spirit pulls everyone into the game, so I came through the age group teams there before getting into the Herefordshire county set-up, from where Worcester got me into their developing player programme.
“Later, I went to Bromsgrove School where Tony Windo opened my eyes to the professional element of the game, which enabled me to move to the next level.
“I'd head down to Sixways on Thursday nights and being able to train at the stadium as a youngster was really motivating.
There's still a really good community feel to the place and I had very good coaching in the U18s from guys like Gordon Ross and Mike Hill.
“It's been really good to know that Alan Solomons has that mentality of promoting academy players and that makes you want to keep pushing yourself.” With England's Ollie Lawrence proving players don't need to leave Worcester to progress, Atkinson adds: “It's been good for the club to see Ollie getting recognition – Ted Hill too – and we've had a good number of players in recent England U18s and 20s squads.
“It was frustrating for me getting called into the U18s last year and then Covid wiping things out, but I played in three of the U20s North v South matches before Christmas and getting called into the U20s Six Nations squad means things are heading the right way.
“We just had a short camp the other week but I enjoyed it and we got a lot done in terms of getting closer as a team and learning our roles.
We achieved some clarity and togetherness and we'll be ready to crack on now when the Six Nations begins at some stage.” As for role models, Atkinson says: “I'd like to think I've got some ball-playing skills and a bit of gamemanagement, with Owen Farrell at the top of the tree as a 12.
“I like bringing that physical edge as well and defensively I take a lot from someone like Oli Morris, who's a very physical player breaking into the first team at Worcester.
“I'm trying to develop a wellrounded game and I like the way someone like Damian de Allende plays with that physical blend to his game. I actually like watching NRL and Super League as well, looking at the shape and physicality of what is a very exciting game.”
