Young Gun: Rory Bartle – London Scottish forward

Rory Bartle is only 19 but he already has a mature head on his shoulders and that is why he decided to switch from Gloucester to London Scottish this summer.
The youngster was still at school last season, Hartpury College, but such was his potential that he only played in National League One rather than in the U18s AASE League.
He was expected to join the Cherry and Whites academy on a full-time basis but realised the opportunities to play would be scarce in the Premiership so he decided to pull the plug and further his apprenticeship in London with the Exiles – a decision he does not regret.
“There was an option for me to keep playing for Hartpury and link up with Gloucester but I just felt it was time to move on because I really wanted to play in the Championship,” he said. “Gloucester have a lot of young players already in their squad so I had to be honest with myself and realise I might not get the game time I wanted.
“Coming to Scottish was a huge opportunity for me. To be 19 and be independent in London is very important to me. It was fantastic to play in the National League One last season especially in terms of physicality but this season is another step up and I’ve learnt a lot since moving to Scottish.
“I was expecting to play against bigger and faster player but the thing that surprised me the most was how quickly you have tomake decisions on the field. Everything happens quicker so your speed of thought has to be spot on. Players like Adam Kwasnicki, Mark Bright and Chevvy Pennycook are always talking to me and that helps a lot.
“I’ve been used in the second row a lot so far this season but I prefer the freedom playing at blindside gives you. You can get to things a bit quicker and I really like that one-on-one battle with the opposition No.8 from a scrum.”
Hailing from Wales, Bartle came through the Cardiff Blues system before moving to Hartpury three years ago where he won the AASE League in his first two seasons and became a Welsh international last February turning out against Scotland in the U20s Six Nations.
This season has been a roller-coaster so far but he is confident the Exiles can live up to their semi-finalist status.
He added: “It’s been a season of ups and downs. We started with a defeat at home to Moseley but then went on to win a few games on the bounce including against Yorkshire Carnegie away and in the derby against London Welsh.
“But it went sour after that and lost our next five league games. We had a few injuries and although we brought in some very good players to cover it took us a while to gel.
“The moral hasn’t drop though and we still firmly believe we can finish in a respectable position.”