With Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Will Skelton, Nick Isiekwe and twin brother Joel ahead of him in the Saracens second row pecking order, Jon Kpoku might be forgiven for feeling a tad daunted at his prospects of breaking past such star-studded competition.
However, far from being overawed, the determined 20-year-old is soaking up every drop of
experience he can get from being on loan at Championship side Ampthill while
learning at the shoulder of some of the best locks in the business.
A powerful, athletic second row who initially played Rugby
League for the London Skolars before switching to Union after a trial at
Saracens Amateurs, Kpoku is appreciative of being exposed to so many top-class mentors at this stage of his
career.
Kpoku explained: “This is my second season at Ampthill and
last year was really good with winning promotion to the Championship. At the
same time, I was involved in the Premiership Shield win with Saracens and
it’s a great place to learn my trade.
“Obviously Maro and George are away with England at the
moment but to train week-in, week-out with those boys during the season is
fantastic. We’ll go through clips together and the stuff they teach me is
amazing, so to see them play like they did against New Zealand last week,
personally it gives you so much confidence and trust in what they say.
“For them to be passing information down to me is massively
helpful and I’ve got great guys to learn from at Ampthill as well. Soane
Tonga’uiha, Dave Ward and Aleki Lutui are our three front rowers and two of
them have played at World Cups while Dave had over 150 caps for Harlequins, so
it’s a major boost having their experience to lean on.”
With former Saracens and England lock Mouritz Botha also now
on Ampthill’s coaching staff, Kpoku added: “Having Mo here after what he did at
Saracens is massive as well. He’s played for England, coached internationally
with Germany and he’s got a wealth of experience, plus the language he uses is
familiar and I can learn a lot from him.”
Kpoku’s progress saw him capped twice by England U20s last
season, although he was disappointed not to join his brother in the Junior
World Cup squad.
“I like to think I was close and it was gutting to miss out
on going to Argentina, but it was still a good experience and I gave it my
all,” Kpoku said. “Joel and I are very competitive and he’s been to places I
haven’t yet, but with him having been involved in England camps and worked with
Steve Borthwick, he’s still been able to feed a lot of things back.”
As for short-term goals, Kpoku adds: “Hopefully, I can get a
Premiership debut at some stage but the only way is by playing well regularly
for Ampthill and Saracens Storm. It’ll take something special to get a first
team shirt but I’m willing to do what it takes.”
NEALE HARVEY
