YOUNG GUNS
Bath & England u20 second row
Harvey Cuckson thought long and hard about whether to represent England or Wales in his age-grade rugby but is certain he made the right call in pulling on the Red Rose.
The 20-year-old second row grew up in north Wales but began his academy rugby at Worcester Warriors before joining Bath in 2022.
Cuckson represented England at U18 level in the 2022 U18 Six Nations Festival and was included in Mark Mapletoft’s squad for the World Championship in South Africa last year but missed out on the tournament due to a freak beach injury after having been named in the 2022 NextGen XV’s World U18 XV.
He has returned to action with vengeance and made his first start for the U20s in last week’s 4811 demolition of Fiji.
Cuckson told The Rugby Paper: “I grew up and played my junior rugby in north Wales, so I had a different path to most boys here in the squad. I went to school in Shropshire at 13 and then got picked up at Worcester Warriors at that age. It was a three-hour journey to get to Worcester twice a week which was a big commitment from my parents but I loved my rugby.
“It’s always been a big decision of mine to choose England or Wales but I just feel like England is the place where I’ve developed my rugby more and pushed myself. I’ve been in the England pathway since I was 13, so I’m very committed and loving it here.
“I was out for about nine months which was incredibly tough, so to get back in the fold has been really enjoyable.
I dislocated my shoulder in the sea in South Africa. A wave knocked me over and my shoulder just dislocated out of nowhere. I had to have a pretty serious operation and had a few setbacks along the way. To get back in the fold has been really enjoyable.”
The 6ft 7in, 18st 8lbs forward is loving his time at Bath despite his injury setback and has enjoyed learning off one of his rugby idols, the club’s forwards coach Luke Charteris, as well as England international Charlie Ewels.
He added: “It was great to be involved in the six weeks building up to the Premiership final. I’ve been injured a lot but in terms of the way they’ve supported me has been excellent. Coming from Worcester I’ve really noticed the step up in terms of the detail and intensity. I think I definitely made the right decision.
“Being able to learn off someone like Charlie Ewels day in, day out with the knowledge he has around the game. He’s such a good player and it’s so good being able to pick his brain on things. The second rows I grew up watching were people like Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris who is now my lineout coach at Bath, Eben Etzebeth inspires me a lot in terms of how he performs week on week and the kind of athlete he is.”
Cuckson possesses deft hands for a big man with his handling a unique selling point to his game as he hopes to get some Premiership Cup minutes at the start of next season.
He said: “I would say the strongest part of my game is my ball playing ability, and then my physicality but that comes with the position. When I was younger I played all sports; football, cricket, tennis, and even though I was pretty rubbish at all of those they definitely helped my handling.
“My line out work is always a work on and is a fundamental of my game that I want to push on and progress.”
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