Welsh rugby's latest young talented fly-half Jacob Symes departs for Australia in February to play for Eastern Suburbs in the highly regarded Shute Shield.
Symes has impressed in the past few years graduating through the Cardiff Rugby academy and has represented Wales U18s in two friendlies against Scotland.
The 18-year-old will now join numerous other young talented stars plying their trade for one season in Australia's premier club competition in New South Wales.
He said: “If you asked me just as I turned 18, my goal was to be in that U18s squad. So, to get the chance to play against Scotland in those friendlies was really good. Those are the levels you want to push too as a young rugby player.
“I played well and adapted to the level, which is important because international rugby is faster and more physical but I'm pleased with how I dealt with it.
“I'm very excited to go to Australia. I hope it'll open some new doors and it'll be a good life experience. It'll be good to go to the other side of the world as not many people can say they've done that when they're 18. I'm hoping I play well and then we'll see what happens when I come back home.
“When I spoke to my agent, he gave me a few options and when he mentioned Australia I jumped at the opportunity. I've been watching it on YouTube and know it's a good standard, so I thought it would open more doors and allow me to meet new people.”
The skilful 10 has learnt a lot in the Cardiff academy but reveals he is hoping to tighten up the weakest area of his game – his defence.
He added: “I joined Cardiff in January time as we were going into lockdown, so there were restrictions and things were quite tight. Training was only three times a week but I got so excited for it each time as I was around good players and felt I could thrive more. I enjoyed the training and got a lot from it.
“My skills are good in terms of my passing, kicking off left and right with my chips and grubber kicks but I'm also good at bossing the game with my game management, moving people around the field and dictating the tempo.
“Defence would be one area I'm looking to improve on, which I'm sure is the weakest part of most young 10s games. It's not just tackling, I want to get better with my reading of the game, scanning attacks and making sure I make the right tackle.”
With World Rugby introducing a countdown timer on scrums and kicks at goal later this month, Symes feels it won't impact on his game and will if anything make the sport more entertaining as a product.
He said: “I think they're just trying to speed the game up. I don't think it'll impact people that much if you just go through your routine. My routine's not really long in comparison to other kickers, so I should be fine. It's good they are introducing it because speeding the game up will be more entertaining for people to watch.”
Like every other young 10, Symes grew up idolising All Blacks legend Dan Carter but despite being a passionate Welshman, he nowadays looks up to England captain Owen Farrell.
He added: “I look at fly-halves who are leaders and Owen Farrell stands out as he can pull others along when they aren't at their best. Farrell's performance against Exeter and in particular his behind the back assist shows the rich vein of form he's in. I'm sure he'll be the starting 10 for England in the Six Nations.”
