Brendan Gallagher on the new England speedster who is giving his club top priority

Marland Yarde just missed the world renowned St Lucia Jazz festival this year – he was otherwise engaged making music for England in Argentina – but he did get back to his native island in time for Carnival and there was plenty to celebrate.
Still only 21, Yarde had made a huge impression on his senior England debut against the Pumas and looks set to give West Indies cricket captain Darren Sammy a run for his money as St Lucia’s most famous sporting son.
Yarde is nothing if not a product of the England system and starred in an England U20 Grand Slam and a Junior World Championship final before graduating to the senior ranks but retains much affection for his native Caribbean island where he lived until he was nine when the family moved to London. Among much else it explains his dreadlocks and laidback attitude to the slings and arrows of outrageous sporting fortune.
He was back in St Lucian capital Castries for three weeks this summer visiting family, chilling on Reduit beach and tucking into his favourite green fig and saltfish breakfast – green fig is actually green bananas cooked in nutmeg and rum. Just what the doctor ordered after a tough breakthrough season for Yarde with London Irish as they fought off relegation, followed by his confidence boosting selection for England’s four-match post-season campaign.
After making his senior debut for England at Twickenham against the Barbarians, Yarde played in both Tests in Argentina and hit the after-burners to score two second-half tries in their 51-26 victory in the second Test. In both attack and defence he produced a couple of moments of eye-popping class and athleticism that hint at the brightest of Test futures.

“The end of the season was all a bit surreal to be honest,” says Yarde. “I was in the crowd at Twickenham back in November watching the England matches, yet by May I was pulling on the shirt for a full Test and making the EPS squad for this season. It’s been brilliant and I’m glad I was able to do myself justice and that Stuart Lancaster and the coaches have shown faith in me.
“I didn’t expect to make the EPS squad, I was taking nothing for granted and was fully prepared not be included. There is unbelievable competition for Test starts in the England back three but at least I’ve had the opportunity to show the England coaches what I’m about and now it’s up to me to keep working and keep improving.
“My attention now, though, has to switch to London Irish. Only by playing consistently well for them can I arrive in a position to challenge for an England Test spot in November.
“I was on such a high after the England tour I’d happily have flown straight back to Sunbury there and then and started the pre-season with Irish because I know the lads were already working hard. I felt so sharp and fit it was like I didn’t want the old season to end but you have to take the long view.
“There is a good ten months of rugby stretching ahead now and midway through the winter I’ll be glad I disappeared back to St Lucia and recharged the batteries. I’ve still got loads of family there and love the outdoor lifestyle. Everybody is doing something and being healthy. We play every sport out there, except rugby as it happens.”
Yarde has blazing natural pace and one of these days London Irish coach Brian Smith is going to make good his threat to organise a head to head with Topsy Ojo at the Exiles training ground: “From try-line to try-line, Topsy might just shade it with that long stride but if it was from 22 to 22, well I haven’t seen anybody to touch Marland,” says Smith. “It’s the difference between a 100m man and a 60m indoor specialist I suppose.”
Yarde works hard on fitness and power but pays no special attention to his speed: “I know a lot of the boys work with athletics coaches to improve their speed but I’ve never felt that need. I do all my conditioning and power stuff to make sure I’m in good general shape but after that I rely on my genes. Speed is something you are born with.”
As is a general aptitude for sport in Yarde’s family. Nine-year-old brother Trinh is a superbly talented young golfer possibly destined for big things and Marland spends much of his spare time encouraging the wannabe Tiger Woods while he himself was heading towards a career as a professional footballer with QPR juniors in his mid-teens, while a student at Gunnersbury School.

At that point fate intervened and he won a scholarship to that well-respected rugby nursery Whitgift school in Croydon which sealed his sporting fate. As luck would have it he parachuted into one of the most outstanding year groups seen on the England Schools circuit in recent years and under coach Chris Wilkins, the former Wasps flanker, they marched to consecutive titles in the Daily Mail U18 Cup, England’s premier schools competition.
Consider for a moment pitching up to their splendid playing grounds in South Croydon and being confronted with a back division containing Wasps’ young gun Elliott Daly and Yarde at centre and the 21st Lawrence Okoye outside them on the wing. Okoye, after breaking the British discus record and reaching the 2012 Olympic discus final, has subsequently taken the first steps in forging an NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Yes, that was a pretty handy team, we had quality players in most positions,” recalls Yarde. “Lawrence and Elliott were really quick although I like to think I still edged them. Lawrence is a genetic freak to be fair. I caught up with him when he came home this summer and we’re in touch all the time. He’s already an Olympian and now he’s setting out with a big adventure with the 49ers. He’s starting from scratch but I’m hoping he’ll be involved when the 49ers come over to play the Jaguars at Wembley in October. Hopefully we can all get along to support him. He’s a perfectionist and a worker and once he’s figured out what is required he’ll make success of the switch I’m sure. The big stars are the ones who know exactly what they have to do and execute.”
Yarde is also a ‘worker’ according to Wilkins: “Marland wants to play each and every day and has a great all-round game so I’m not really surprised the England call has come so early. He’s got real pace but is clever with it and more often than not beats defenders with footwork not speed. He can tackle big, is great at the breakdown and can kick really well as you would expect from somebody with his football background. Wing is a very competitive position for England but at that level his all-round game – doing everything well – is a big plus.”
Yarde has been training with England at Loughborough University this week but now it’s back to Irish and the last fortnight of fine tuning before the Premiership: “We know exactly what we need and that is a decent start. We are targeting the Premiership at the expense of all other competitions. We have the ability to be a top six team and now we need to execute.
“We need to get the ball rolling and once that happens it’s funny how things can start falling your way.
“The sun has been out and we have been working like dogs.
We are incredibly fit because we realise we have to be an 80-minute team. We need to show the same strong mentality week-in week-out, we play a good game to watch but we must tighten up our defence.
“We’ll always score points but need to limit the points we give away and then we’ll give ourselves every chance of winning most games. The signs are good but everybody says that at the start of the season. We need to cash in on all our hard work and start ticking over with a few wins.”