FRASERRAWLINS
Fraser Rawlins burst onto the scene during the England U18s tour to South Africa, scoring a brace of tries in the fightback victory over Georgia. The Saracens versatile back, who is comfortable playing across the backline but predominantly plays outside centre or wing, is a clear standout in Jonathan Pendlebury’s group with his hot stepping and hard running to go alongside his solid defence. Rawlins was player of the match in August’s 27-20 victory which was sandwiched between defeats to Ireland and their hosts South Africa and the Saracen thoroughly enjoyed his time on tour.
He told The Rugby Paper: “Georgia were a physical side which we knew would be the case. It was exciting to play against them. We spoke at half-time about what we were going to do in the second half and performed the way we did to completely turn the game around.
“It was my first time out in South Africa playing rugby and everything was positive; the coaching was good, the food was really nice – it was a great experience. To play for your country is a brilliant feeling. I think playing England U18s before helped me with confidence and made me more relaxed.
“Getting man of the match against Georgia and scoring two tries was the highlight of my career so far. It was the first time I had to do a post-match interview which went well. I was so focused on what I was going to say that I then didn’t know at all what I was saying! But the media manager said it was fine.”
Rawlins, who is a big, powerful runner, says his positional preference is wing over centres due to the freedom he gets on the ball but his flexibility may be crucial in receiving game time at Saracens and as he rises through the England age groups.
“I’ve pretty much played everywhere other than nine,” said Rawlins. “I would love to get into the U20s squad as soon as possible and the same goes for the senior squad as well. Long-term I just want to be a professional rugby player. I do think I’ll go to university but I think I’m going to take a year out to focus on rugby and see how that goes.”
Rawlins began his rugby as early as possible at Hertford RFC before being picked up by Saracens and has enjoyed being taken under the wing of England and Lions star Elliot Daly, working on nailing the basics as he continues his development.
He said: “I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. In terms of my rugby role models, Jonny May is definitely up there but Cheslin Kolbe is one I’ve always found very exciting to watch. Whilst at Saracens, all of the year above that were involved in England have helped me a lot as they’ve been there to answer questions. I’ve only just started training with the senior guys but they all seem like great guys, all very welcoming. One that stood out was Elliot Daly purely because of how skilful he is and he’s a great person to chat with for advice.
“The strongest part of my game is my ball carrying abilities and then the weakest would be that I want to improve on my fundamentals in terms of catch, pass, taking high balls and tackle technique.”
