In George Davis' mind there is no doubt about where his strongest position lies after showing himself to be highly capable at hooker and back row.
Added to the London Irish senior academy last year with fellow members of the St Paul's AASE title-winning team, including Tarek Haffar, Michael Dykes and Alex Harmes, the 19-year-old is focused on proving himself in the front row rather than follow Alfie Barbeary's lead, a hooker for England U20s who has since starred in the back row for Wasps.
“The way I play and the attributes I have make hooker more suited to me,” Davis told TRP. “I see myself as a hooker that can play back row as opposed to a back row who can play hooker.
“It was a massive step to get signed and to step into the professional environment everything gets a little more serious, you realise that rugby is your job now. Now that life is beginning to normalise, it would be good to get more game time next season.
“Training with the seniors usually involves blending both positions. Most of the time I am usually filling in the No.7 role but when we do certain units they will put me at hooker, and so in those moments I am with Gus (Creevy) and Motts (Motu Matu'u) and am able to get tips on the scrum and lineout. They say to me ‘try this', ‘try that' and it is the same when I am with the back row.”
Davis is aiming for more match experience next season with a dual-registration in the Championship as his career moves swiftly from working with academy coach Jonathan Fisher at St Paul's two years ago to the fringes of the Irish first team.
“It was amazing to win the championship and it was the first time I had been involved in a match at a stadium where there was a big crowd,” Davis says of the 31-23 win over Beechen Cliff in the AASE final. “It was surreal feeling of stepping out and hearing the crowd and realising this was what I wanted to do.
“For me, St Paul's was the best place I could have gone to,” adds Davis, regarding their affiliation with the London Irish ACE scheme which has since switched to The Bishop Wand School. “You had so much time with the coaches during the week and ACE was within a mile of Irish's training ground, so it was perfect because I needed that coaching time and training three times a week at Irish.
“It all helped to motivate me because I was around the senior players in the gym and that makes you feel one step closer.
“Rich Pryor was the head coach at St Paul's, Simeon Barnes was forwards coach and Jonathan Fisher from the academy, who now works with the senior team, was there as well. They all helped me a lot.”
