Josh joined Rovers as a 6 year old after his dad brought him along to give rugby a try. He started, like all minis, playing tag and then progressed to the full contact version of the sport. Josh played all age groups from under 7s all the way up to under 17s. Josh was a key player in his under 17 team as they went on that amazing national cup run only to lose out in the northern area final.

At the age of 16 Josh decided that he wanted to become a professional rugby player. “It started with Carl Robinson and Tony Church as they backed me and helped me whenever I needed help, either with my game or even personal issue both are very great guys” smiled Josh

In January 2013 all of Josh’s friends were planning their typical “lads” holiday, but not Josh. Instead Josh had read about the Sharks overseas camp. The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition and are based in Durban.

“As much as I wanted to go on a typical lads holiday I knew that if I wanted to achieve my dream of becoming a pro rugby player I would have to make sacrifices. One of the sacrifices was to miss the lads holiday and head off to a 2 week Sharks Overseas Camp”
The camp runs for two weeks and it involved practicing each morning, gym sessions, and then absorbing the cultures from South Africa and in fact all over the world. “We went for meals out, visiting game parks, seeing the real South Africa” he commented. “I would strongly recommend the camp to anyone aged 15 to 18”

Along with enjoying his two weeks at the camp Josh impressed the coaches and was asked to return to the Sharks Academy which runs from February to November. During his time in the academy he was asked to trial for the Sharks u19s and u21s squad which is a significant step up from the academy. If he was successful at the trial he would become part of the Shark’s squad. Josh once again impressed and was selected to become part of the Sharks u19s squad.

“So far I have done some pretty amazing things which wouldn’t have happened without all of the coaching I received at Rovers. I’ve had gym sessions with Pat Lambie (South African International) and I have received coaching sessions from Jake White (South African World Cup winning coach), and speed sessions with Keegan Daniel (South African International). The even know my name” he joked.

But Josh has to put the hard work in and trains two to three times a day which include gym sessions, strength and conditioning, and games. He has played in the Shark Tank (home of The Sharks) and represented the Sharks u19s in every game of the Currie Cup.

Josh is a very modest and humbled young man and reflects on how much Rovers have helped him get to where he is today “I’m very grateful and humbled I have been asked to take part in this interview. I hope I can inspire some of the younger guys at Rovers and show them it is possible! I am really grateful for everything Rovers Youth Section did for me and the amount of time and effort the coaches gave to me. Not only did they help with developing my playing skills they also helped me develop my life skills.”

We wish Josh the best of luck for the future and hope he achieves his ambition of playing for the Sharks 1st team in Super Rugby. We hope to see Josh back at Rovers in the future passing on some of his skills and knowledge to our next generation of young rugby players.