Young Gun: Cameron Neild – Sale hooker

Cameron Neild is rising through the ranks at Sale Sharks and is part of this year’s England U20s setup, but he is already planning for life after rugby – with a dentistry qualification.
The hooker is in his final year at Manchester Grammar School and managing to balance his education with rugby commitments.
On the rugby side he has had to learn his fair share in the last year, converting from a back rower to a hooker under the watchful eye of the Sharks’ coaching team.
And he has no plans to take his foot off the gas in the classroom, where he is working towards A-Levels and a place at university to study dentistry.
Neild’s parents, Colin and Tracy, encouraged him to make contingency plans for a high-risk career in professional sport and the 19-year-old has heeded their advice.
Nield told The Rugby Paper: “My mum and dad have always pushed for me to get a good career as well as the rugby and I have always been interested in dentistry.
“I thought the idea of working a business on my own would be good and I enjoyed it when I did some work experience.
“I am training with Sale two days a week and at school three days a week – it’s good because they are both very flexible. Sale are quite reasonable about it so that really helps.
“I train with the first team daily – we all train together and I have a lot of input from the hookers, Tommy Taylor and Marc Jones, and a lot of people are often giving out advice, like the new captain Dan Braid and Jonathan Mills.
“It is great to be selected for the U20s – there are so many good players around me. Hopefully I will be more full-time next year than I am now and we will see about the dentistry.”
Neild found rugby when his mum sent him down to Altrincham Kersal RFC to get an energetic nine-year-old out the house for a few hours.
The youngster fell in love with the sport but it wasn’t until a spell playing water polo upped his physicality and opened his eyes to a rugby career.
“My mum thought it would be a good idea – I was quite crazy around the house, which was quite hectic for her, so she sent me down to the local rugby club,” he said.
“I played there until U14s but I stopped due to other commitments – I started playing with Sale a bit more and I used to play water polo as well.
“My school was quite big on water polo and I ended up playing for the North West – we won the national championships. I used to be unfit back in the day so that got me very fit.
“I progressed through the system from the U14s to where I am now. I’m glad it has all worked out because I never really fancied a career in water polo – the money’s not there.”
Neild’s progression was smooth until he was faced with the switch to hooker last year – but the transition is complete and he is ready to keep moving up.
“My body shape became a bit more like a hooker than a back row and the game I play is more like a hooker,” he added. “It’s more of a carrying role and an aggressive, physical role.
“It was very tricky at first and very demoralising – with your throwing and your scrummaging you are always a step behind everyone else.
“Throwing takes a long, long time. It takes many hours and many sessions to go through. But I have worked hard to get myself to where I am now.”