Jack Clifford has been selected by new England manager Eddie Jones to make his debut from the bench against Scotland
Picture courtesy of Zimbio.com
Neil McCallum his year group Coach reflects on his time at Cobham
''I note that Eddie Jones says that Jack has been a revelation this season. Well for us at Cobham his rugby skills were self-evident when he turned up to join Cobham in the Under 13s. He has always been big with not only good pace but also great speed off the mark.
It struck me at the time (literally) that Jack, even as an under 13, was capable of hitting rucks very low and therefore able to drive back opponents (and coaches in training!).He was unstoppable from 5 metres out.
Jack joined an excellent squad at Cobham that was unbeaten on English soil from Under 11 to U18 (it lost just two matches when it toured in South Africa). The team were Surrey champions from U11 to U18, won the U17 National Cup and were named as the winners of the Rugby World Team of the Year award in 2011.
Jack was a large part of this success but the squad also included many excellent players. two represented England U16, one played for England U18 Clubs and one for USA U18s. Subsequently the squad’s scrum half captained the USA U20 squad (against England U20 when Jack was captain) and one of our wingers has gone on to captain the USA 7s squad.
Jack Clifford ( right) with Tom Bliss
Some highlights:
U13—Player of the year
U14—Players player of the year
U15—top try scorer with 9 tries (from a total of 45)
U16—Injured
U17—Played in National U17 Cup Final
U18—Part of Cobham U18 squad that was Rugby World Team of the Year
Some quotes from match reports:
U15 match—“Jack Clifford’s dynamic foraging and running have caused danger to the opposition consistently”
U17 Cup semi-final vs Matson—“Jack was able to set up the first try with a slick pass whilst being punched by an opposition player”
U17 Cup Final vs Bedford—“Clifford was simply outstanding, regularly sucking in 3 defenders”
After Jack joined Harlequins I was organising the U12 mini festival at Cobham and asked Jack if he would present the prizes. Not only was he delighted to present the prizes but he brought along his Harlequins colleague Charlie Walker and made a good impression with the lads''.
Jack can certainly be assured of support from a very proud Cobham RFC and we send him our best wishes and good luck on his international debut
