By Elise Hamersley
Jack Kenningham was 17 when he was plucked off the rugby pitch and into the Harlequins Academy.
Relatively late, some would say, to be brought into a professional rugby pathway. At the time he was a student at Reed’s School in Cobham, Surrey — the alma mater of other sporting success stories such as cricketer Phil Salt.
Since then the flanker, 23, has already notched up an impressive career — he enjoyed a meteoric rise into the Quins senior squad after replacing an injured Will Evans to make his debut in February 2021. Only months later he would win the league with his boyhood club and receive a call-up to the England training camp twice all in the same year.
Now, sitting in the viewing gallery of his former school’s cricket centre, Kenningham reflects on his time at school and his career along with the state of English rugby and its potential future stars.
“Everyone develops at different rates,” Kenningham says of his early years. “I didn’t think I was going to be a professional rugby player— I always dreamt of it but I never thought I actually would be. It only became something I thought might happen right at the very end of Reed’s.”
Below to his left, there is an indoor hall with cricket nets and bowling machines. And to his right — more nets and a vast spread of rugby pitches.
“All the way through school I played sports,” he says. “I played cricket here, hockey and I swam lots. I played anything I could. I think all sports help you in others. My cricket helps me in aspects of my rugby.”
Kenningham has returned to Reed’s as part of a Harlequins Community initiative. He will be in the wind and rain in a few hours — coaching a rugby clinic for boys who are in the position he was less than a decade earlier. Harlequins hope to inspire the next generation of professional athletes, but the aims of such community outreach extend far beyond that.
“Hopefully there will be a pro-rugby player here,” Kenningham says. “But it’s also about having people enjoy and understand it better so that while they’re growing up rugby is something they want to enjoy and follow.
“Rugby as a whole, as we’ve seen, has struggled with everything that has happened in the Premiership this year. I have friends who have been affected by that.”
Both Worcester Warriors and Wasps RFC liquidated earlier this season following financial difficulties. Most recently the RFU rejected their attempts to appeal the automatic relegation from the Premiership. Discussions have persisted over the viability of the league with some pointing to poor game attendance and viewing figures to explain the lack of money in circulation.
Kenningham’s career in the Premiership has not been without its struggles too. Early 2022 threw down a hand of decidedly different cards for the newcomer when he fractured a vertebra in his neck against Exeter Chiefs. Nevertheless, his return has been marked by yet more incredible moments. Last month he started against the Barbarians in their first-ever fixture with Harlequins opposite figures like Damian McKenzie and former club legend Mike Brown.
“It was really special and it put everything into perspective because I may never play the Baabaas again. You never know though — I’d absolutely love to play for them one day.”
Now, the Quins star is looking to continue building his experience and look back towards that England dream.
“I got called into the England squad summer of 2021. It was really exciting, I learnt a lot in that camp. The coaching was brilliant and I definitely came out a better player.
“I spoke to a couple of coaches and they said you’ve played 12 games of professional rugby — you’re going to continue to get better so if you’re this good now you can be even better in the future.
“For me now after my injury it’s about enjoying playing for Harlequins, getting back into the rhythm of things and getting myself into form.”
“Hopefully I can put myself into contention for a spot in England but it’s just been left up to me to keep going with that.”
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