Young Gun: Ehize Ehizode – Wasps lock

It has been a challenging few weeks for Ehize Ehizode, but the highly-rated lock is settling in at Coventry and is ready to kick on with his senior career at Wasps.
Born and raised in London by Nigerian parents, the 18-year-old had never lived away from London, being educated at St Benedict’s School, Ealing.
But after an impressive season with the Wasps academy, it was no surprise to see him being offered a full-time academy contract and the move to Coventry in the club’s new training facilities ensued.
“It’s a big difference to move from London to Coventry and I’ve started being home sick a bit,” he told The Rugby Paper.
“It’s my first time away from home and it takes some adjusting.
“But the new installations at the club are amazing. Everything is so well looked after and we’re in the best place to train as well as we could.
“The step-up is massive and pre-season in a professional set-up is very different from school, with a lot more running involved.
“I was warned about it by my academy coaches and I was very nervous about competing and training against players with so much more experience.
“But, saying that, it’ll be a great learning tool and it’ll be brilliant to learn things from the likes of James Haskell or Joe Launchbury. I’ll become a better player because of it.”
Such was Ehizode’s impact at U18s level last season that he was called up by the first team to take on Bath and Exeter in the A-League.
It showed him where he needs to be to have any chance of ever playing in the Premiership and he is looking forward to gaining valuable experience on dual-registration with Hinckley in National League Two North this upcoming season.
He added: “Myself and a couple of other academy guys should be going on loan to Hinckley who have just been promoted.
“It’ll be great for me to get a taste of men’s rugby at a lower level. I’m also hoping to get involved in the A-League again.
“It was great to play against experienced players from Bath and Exeter last season even it was very hard and intense. But it showed me the level I need to be at to mix it up against grown men.
“I’m 6ft 5in, and still growing, and weigh 115 kgs (18st) which I’m quite happy with. I like jumping at the lineout but I’m also keen on carrying and showing my physicality.
“It’s very important to have more than one string to your bow at professional level and, hopefully, I can show what I’m made off this season to earn a new contract.”