YOUNG GUNS
EXETER FULL-BACK
Fortunately not being able to drive didn't put the brakes on Dan John racing back to Exeter from Wales last month to get his first taste of Premiership rugby.
An SOS from the injury-hit Chiefs left the 19-year-old needing to hurry back to Sandy Park in double time from across the bridge where he was preparing to meet up with Gareth Williams' Wales U20 camp ahead of June's Six Nations start.
John called round his friends and was finally able to secure a ride so he could make his debut off the bench against Leicester.
“It was all pretty manic on the Tuesday when I got the call. I didn't know I was going to get game time against Leicester, I had travelled back to Wales to meet up with the U20s camp,” Millfield old boy John told TRP. “I can't drive, so I was on the phone to some of my mates to see if they were free and one was, luckily.”
“I hadn't met up with the Wales camp yet because that was all scheduled for later in the afternoon by which point I had been called by Exeter. I was brought back quickly so I didn't have to join another Covid bubble and was put on the bench – and was lucky enough to come off it for my debut.
“I was marking that time as maybe a chance to get myself on the bench before the internationals came back but I wasn't expecting to play against Gloucester for the full 80 minutes in the next match. I was chuffed the coaches gave me a chance.”
Not only did Rob Baxter give John a chance, he threw him in at the deep end by selecting him at centre rather than his preferred full-back position.
John, whose passion for rugby was triggered while in Hong Kong where his father Paul is head coach of the men's national team, added: “In the game against Gloucester I was played at 13 and I haven't played there for four years. So a lot of trust was put in me by the coaches and it put me in a position where I had to push myself.”
John sees his future at full-back but is happy to learn the intricacies of other positions to help take his game understanding to the next level.
He says: “In open play it is all just rugby but defending off first phase or defending set piece is where 13 is one of the toughest positions to play on the field. So it was a lot of reading the game differently to what I am used to as a natural 15, where I can scan the field and be the cover defender.
“As a 13, you are a bit more exposed and have to make the right decisions when it comes to defence.
“This experience will help me as a 15 in the backfield because I can read the game from what the 13 sees.”
