My Life in Rugby: Seb Jewell – former London Welsh full-back

I fell into professional rugby and then fell in and out of love with it several times along the way.
Originally, I was going to become a teacher for a year and then go on and study psychology at university, but halfway through the final year of my A-levels my dad passed a DVD of me in action to Harlequins academy manager Collin Osborne. Collin came and watched me play for Richmond U19s and offered me a trial. In two weeks, my life took a different turn.
In 2006, I joined the club I’d supported as a boy and it was kind of surreal to suddenly be surrounded by my idols on the pitch. I also played England U20s that year.
Collin signed me on raw talent alone as I’d not played age-group rugby at that point. I did go on to play for England U20s, however, which was a great experience.
Most of my time at Quins was spent playing A-League or on loan at Esher, where I spent three seasons and experienced the despair of relegation and the joy of promotion in consecutive years. The National One title-winning season was probably the most enjoyable of my career. The rugby was a lot more physical and had more riding on it than A-League and that helped me get a lot fitter.
In one game, I kicked 10 from 11 and played very well. Tony Hanks picked a good game to watch and I signed for Wasps on the back of that performance. I was signed as a 10, again on a dual contract, but spent most of my time on the bench.
Finally, I got my first team chance towards the end of the 2010/11 season, scoring a try against Quins in a European Challenge Cup game. I thought I’d played well but, frustratingly, they decided to start with Elliot Daly, a schoolboy at the time, ahead of me for the next game against Leeds. I made my Premiership debut off the bench and appeared again in a bit of dead-rubber at Exeter but I’d already agreed a move to London Welsh by then.
At Welsh, I learned so much under Lyn Jones, he made me look at the game in a different way. Being part of the side that went up and then competed so well in the Premiership, was awesome. Had the results of a few games gone our way – particularly against Sale, when we butchered a two-on-one right to win it – I think the club would have been in a very different position right now.
With Sonny Parker, Gavin Henson and Hudson Tonga’uiha ahead of me, I didn’t expect to start, but ended up forcing my way in and making the 12 shirt my own.
Justin Burnell brought in a much more structured and detailed way of playing when he took over from Lyn. It was very different from the time we won the Championship before, because this time we were expected to win.
I don’t think Bristol respected us as much as they probably should’ve, done and it was a crazy experience when we beat them in the final at their last-ever game at the Memorial Stadium. I felt I stood up and the team stood up that day, and it was great to be part of it.
We only had three weeks off and were straight back into it. That second season in the Premiership is probably best forgotten. I started very well at full-back, getting good ratings and stuff like that, but then I tore an abdomenal muscle and was plagued by the injury for the rest of the season after a mis-diagnosis.
When we went down, I don’t think the club ever recovered. As players, we were given a lot of empty promises and half-truths. It says a lot about what a great set of lads we had in the squad that we never turned on each other and continued to give our all right to the bitter end.