Obi Ene has been welcomed into the England U20s camp for the first time and after getting a taste this summer, he’s determined to make next year’s U20s Six Nations and World Cup squads.
Ene, 19, is a student at Newcastle University and after a rocky start to life in the BUCS leagues he’s aiming to help them win promotion to Super BUCS.
He said: “I joined Newcastle last year and going into pre-season I thought uni rugby wouldn’t be very serious and I thought I’d be one of the best there. Straightaway I noticed this is high level and it was a massive wake up call. I started in the second team, so for the first three months I was playing for them and I thought I needed to start pushing on and get into the firsts and start taking it more seriously.
“I started going to the gym more and working on my speed, agility and other areas of my game and managed to get to the first team. I even managed to play in the play-offs against Nottingham which was a great experience but we unfortunately lost. However, we’re hoping to go one step further this season and win promotion.”
The Yorkshire Academy player was welcomed into Alan Dickens’ training camp earlier this summer after a brief spell playing rugby league for Leeds Rhynos, and Ene says the England call up came as a surprise.
“It was surreal, when I received the call up I was totally shocked and didn’t expect it. I can’t thank all my coaches enough as they’ve all helped me so much in the last six months. I always thought that I could be apart of it if I really tried, so I’m really happy I’ve got this opportunity and it’s great being around great players because I’ll only get better.
“My goals for the next 12 months are to be one of the best players in my uni team and I want to be part of the Six Nations U20 squad and the U20s World Cup. That’s my aim for the year and if I can do that then I know I’ve really pushed on.”
Ene, who is 6ft 1in and 17st, is a powerful winger and likes to use his size to his advantage but also has an impressive work ethic.
He said: “I think my work rate off the ball can be really good and I think defensively I’m very good because I’ve played centre before so I understand what the centre wants the winger to do. I know when to go up, when to drift and once I’ve got a bit of space I can use my power to make breaks and run through people as that’s my speciality. “Caleb Clarke is a huge role model for me because I base my game off him and I watch every game that he plays in. The way he plays, the way he steps, the way he tries to go through players, I try to base my game off him and if I can do that then I know I can go far. I’m still trying to get to his level in my I’m getting there.”
