Young Guns: London Irish centre Connor Cross

London Irish Academy and England U18s centre Connor Cross is on loan at Henley this season and the 18-year-old sees it as a great opportunity for him to flourish.

Cross made his international U18s debut at the Six Nations Festival back in April, scoring in the opening game against Wales as Jonathan Pendlebury's side enjoyed a 100 per cent winning record in the tournament.

He said: “It's a massive step up, meeting new boys and gelling with the team. You want to prove yourself and show that you're at that level for a reason. We went out there had three games and won all three, so that was amazing. Not only you're playing for England but you're out there with competing with some of the best young players in the world.”

Cross has been at London Irish for the past five years after graduating through the club's Development Pathway Programme at Hazelwood, and recalls a memorable conversation with the club's academy lead coach Jack Pattinson.

He said: “I was down here on Monday nights on the cold and wet astroturf with a massive group of 100+ boys and I never thought I'll be the one who makes it through. The numbers kept becoming shorter and shorter as you go up the years and I think the thing that stuck with me the most was in the U16s, Jack Pattinsonn pulled me to one side in a training session and told me I'd be in the U18s squad for the next season. I just couldn't keep the smile off my face for the whole session. “I loved the U18s, getting on the pitch and embracing the physicality, I felt I relished in that and I've enjoyed it ever since. I'm living with three other lads at the moment, just down the road and having the freedom away from home and being treated as an adult professional athlete has really helped my development.”

The humble inside centre is constantly wanting to progress and has set a clear goal with his Irish coaches to become a back with ‘all three pillars'.

He added: “In the current game you can be stuck in any scenario and you must have skillsets for every position as the game has moved on massively.

“You can see in the speed of the modern game and the skillset the boys have now, you need to be up to that level. The likes of Rieko Ioane coming off the wing to the centres you see a change of perspective and talking to the coaches that's what we want to do at London Irish. I want to become a centre with all three pillars; catch, pass and skill elements, but also have the decisive edge in the middle of the field.”

Cross is on loan this season at National 2 East side Henley where he is grateful for the opportunity and hopes to continue his progression at inside centre.

He said: “I just want gametime and get myself out there to progress as a player and I want to show I will excel in my position. What an opportunity for me to flourish at National 2 level and play the rugby I've been preparing to play for the past eight weeks in preseason.”