From welding at the family business to only match fee rugby contracts, Ollie Chessum has had an unconventional route into professional rugby. The Leicester Tigers lock opens up on how he avoided a Premiership academy route from his state school, growing up in rural Lincolnshire and taking on the big brother role for his two siblings following his parents’ split.

Chessum also reveals the importance of his friendship groups in camp, the challenge of finding size 15 boots as a teenager and the various nicknames he’s got from different players.

In this podcast you will also hear from Ollie's mum Michelle Chessum, his coach that introduced him to rugby Ben Pickard and teammate Will Stuart.

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There are few players who have had a rise in rugby like Henry Pollock; from starting a season playing in The Champ, to The Prem, reaching a Champions Cup final, scoring twice on your England debut and selection for British & Irish Lions, it has been an unprecedented rise for the Northampton Saints flanker.

The back row opens up on why self-expression, showing your personality and being yourself will always be an important characteristic, his mischievous childhood where he was asked to leave school lessons and why family values and work ethic means so much to him.

In this podcast you will also hear from one of his first coach’s Will Parkin as well as teammates Fin Smith and Fix Baxter.

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Being doubted is something that Fin Baxter has become comfortable with; his youthful looks often meant he felt he was targeted during his playing career, but how he has used that as motivation to get where he is. The Harlequins prop also talks about how he keeps perspective off the field, why he quit his Civil Engineering degree to study Economics and his on-off relationship with social media.

In this pod you will also here from Fin's dad Ian about coaching his son to watching him play for England, Joe Marler on what it was like to mentor him coming through at Quins, as well as teammates Fin Smith and Henry Pollock.

FOLLOW:

▪️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/englandrugby/

▪️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redrosesrugby/

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▪️ X: https://twitter.com/RedRosesRugby/

▪️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@englandrugby

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▪️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialEnglandRugby/

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MORE:

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