Charlie Matthews making up ground on old pal Joe Launchbury

Harlequins second row Charlie Matthews believes he is finally coming of age after putting his injury hell behind him to start chasing down pal Joe Launchbury.
The pair had much in common as teenagers, regularly smashing into each other whilst competing for their respective schools, before becoming partners in Sussex age-group rugby and progressing through the Harlequins elite player development group.
Their paths diverged in 2009 when Matthews was inducted into Quins academy and Launchbury was released. But they were reunited two years later when, after the latter re-emerged at Wasps, they helped England U20s reach the JWC final in Italy.
Since then Launchbury has scaled the heights to become an England regular while Matthews has had to bide his time, first playing second fiddle to established second rows George Robson and Ollie Kohn before injury delayed his progress further.
Kohn’s retirement last year had opened the door before a nagging shoulder problem intervened, but since November Matthews, 22, has been central to Quins’ efforts as they have stretched every sinew and battled to keep an injury-hit campaign alive.
“It’s been a weird season,” the imposing Matthews, 6ft 8in tall and 18st, told The Rugby Paper. “With Ollie retiring it was my opportunity but I missed the first two months and that was pretty hard to take.
“But I got good opportunities against Racing Metro home and away, then in Big Game Six at Twickenham, so it’s been awesome to be contributing since then.
“Although I’d had quite a few caps in previous seasons, I hadn’t actually started that many games so getting that confidence and learning how to play with the guys has been brilliant.”
Having a Heineken Cup winner like Nick Kennedy around has helped, Matthews added: “I learned a lot off George and Ollie, but with Kendo coming in and his vast experience he’s been unbelievable for me. His attention to detail at the lineout has been awesome and he’s been really helpful.
“He’s not one of those guys who is afraid of telling you something because you might take his place. He’s open and honest and has gone out of his way to offer advice.
“I’ve just tried to sponge up as much as I can from a Heineken Cup winner and if one day I get the opportunity to call the lineout at Quins, I’ll be ready to do the job.”
Matthews’ form after Christmas was rewarded with an England Saxons call-up, although he admits that may have come too soon. “I was delighted with the call but had only just come back from the injury and was still feeling my way,” he said.
“But Saxons coaches Paul Gustard and Simon Hardy were awesome and even in that short space of time I felt I learned quite a bit. It was great to be involved.”
Matthews is reluctant to look too far ahead but admits what Launchbury has achieved is eye-catching, adding: “You can definitely take inspiration from what Launchers has done. He’s a quality player with a great skill-set and really good attitude.”
Next season promises to be huge for Matthews as he continues to make his mark. But he added: “There’s so much quality around the England squad, so all I can do is focus on Quins and whatever happens beyond that is out of my control.”
NEALE HARVEY