Representing England U19s is the highlight of Archie Maggs’ early career but the Bath prop is hoping to achieve further international and club honours.
Maggs, 19, came off the bench to make his England age grade debut in a 41-20 victory in April earlier this year in Verona.
The tighthead prop impressed U20s head coach Alan Dickens and was called up to the Summer Series squad but missed the tournament through suffering an injury in the warm-up games. However, Maggs loved the experience and saw it as a reward for all the hard work and sacrifices he’s put in.
He said: “Representing England was the best moment of my career and was incredibly special. It meant that everything that I worked hard for came together and getting to wear the famous white shirt with the rose was incredible.
“Now I’ve got a taste for it I want to be in the England U20s Six Nations and World Cup squads next year as well as make my Bath debut.”
Despite his young age, Maggs is an imposing figure standing at 6 ft 3in, weighing in at 19st 10lbs and says his dad drilled into him from an early age to be the most intimidating player on the park.
He said: “My dad always drilled that into me that, so growing up watching people like Jerry Collins was massive for me because how good he was at the game and how dominant and strong he was.”
Maggs joined Bath’s academy at the age of 15 and signed a senior contract with the club last year. He played for Bath University in Super BUCS last season which he says has really helped develop his game.
He added: “Getting minutes at Bath Uni was really good. Even though last season was tough, we created some really good memories and I learnt a lot. This year with the new coaching staff at Bath coming in it’s been unbelievably different. They’ve completely changed my game and have propelled me on. Even though it’s early days in the season it’s great to be here.”
With the sport in a transitional period, World Rugby have implemented new laws such as the 50:22 and goal line drop out to make the game more entertaining and faster and Maggs believes the sport as a product is in a good place but likes the idea of implementing a scrum referee.
He said: “It’s all about getting people in seats and getting higher viewership on TV. We’ve got to open the sport up to the outside world and I think we’re doing a good job, especially with the work World Rugby‘s doing with the women’s game as that’s really opening people’s eyes up to how good the game is. To make the game more fun I’d implement law changes at the scrum and maybe bring scrum referees in to speed the game up. If you’re a proper rugby nause like myself and my family, a reset is fine and all for a purpose but I think people are sat watching a game wondering why these guys keep falling over. Bringing in a scrum referee means they can give a clean cut answer rather than just resetting.”
