Young Gun: Rory Brand – London Irish scrum-half

Rory Brand only joined London Irish at the start of the season but he didn't take him long to make an impact and on Monday he helped the club lift the U18s Premiership title.
The Wellington College scrum-half was part of the Sale academy but his school commitments in Berkshire prevented him from training with the Sharks as much as he would have liked so he decided to link up with the Exiles.
Seven starts and seven wins later, Brand lifted the Academy League trophy on Monday, beating Gloucester 35-11 in the final, and the 17-year-old says he owes a lot to academy coach and fellow No.9 Paul Hodgson.
“Because of my school situation it made sense to join Irish but I never expected it to go so well,” he told TRP. “Monday went great for us. We were anticipating a tough game but we managed to impose our game and won comprehensively in the end.
“Being coached by Paul was one of the main reasons I wanted to join Irish. As a former scrum-half and given his experience, he's helped me develop my game a lot. I've done loads of extras with him and my kicking game, especially my box kicking, has gone a long way. We don't kick too much at school so I had to work on it a lot.
“We have Kevin Brennan who's another London Irish scrum-half coaching us at Wellington so that's helped.
“I was lucky enough to have a one on one session with Brendan McKibbin too and that was very good to see what the first team boys do on a daily basis.”
Brand didn't have time to enjoy his Premiership title too much as he linked up with England U18s on Thursday ahead for their upcoming fixtures against France, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
He now hopes to add to the cap he won against France last season as well as helping Wellington College claim back-to-back Rosslyn Park Sevens title.
He added: “Our first term at Wellington didn't go as well as last season where we went unbeaten but we still managed to retain the Daily Mail Trophy.
“Now our focus is on winning the Rosslyn Park Sevens again. We won our first tournament two weeks ago so hopefully we can keep winning all the way to Rosslyn Park. The Surrey 7s is a couple of weeks before so it will give us a good indication of where we stand.
“Personally I hope I can continue my form with London Irish and get involved with England U18s as much as I can.
“I'm finishing school this year too so I hope I can get a full-time contract with Irish and stay at the club next season.”