Conlon targets big year ahead

By Mark Stevens

Whilst England's footballers failed to deliver in Brazil this summer, there was no such problem for the country's young rugby stars who were crowned world champions in New Zealand.

A year after lifting the trophy in France, England Under-20s repeated the feat by this time seeing off a powerful South African line-up to land the IRB Junior World Championship crown.

Among those who got to lift the prize for a second consecutive year was highly-rated Exeter Chiefs forward Joel Conlon, whose try in the final helped to secure a 21-20 success at Eden Park.

For the 20-year-old it was the stellar moment of his career to date, but the Taunton-born ace is not content to sit and rest on his laurels, instead he is already focusing on what he hopes will be a big year ahead.

With the new campaign looming large on the horizon for everyone at Sandy Park - including the upcoming
Premiership Rugby 7s tournament at Gloucester's Kingsholm Stadium - Conlon says the annual event offers a great opportunity for young players to not only get some early game time under their belts, but at the same time showcase their talents to a wider audience.

"I played the Sevens in my first year at the club and it was a great experience," said Conlon. "It's a great tournament to start the year and it offers some decent game time this early in the season. Each year you can see the event is getting bigger and bigger - and for young players like myself it's a chance to see where you stand against other Premiership clubs earlier in the season."

As one of a plethora of rising stars to come through the highly successful Chiefs' Academy system, Conlon hopes to use his success of the summer, as well as time spent playing in the Championship with the Cornish Pirates to propel himself further into the Exeter first team ranks.

"Playing down at the Pirates last season has helped me a lot," added Conlon. "It's second division rugby, it's a physical league and there are some top class players that you come up against. Every game you know you're going to be tested, so for me to have that regular game time is really helping me in terms of my development.

"Of course there are things I know I need to work on, it's the same for any player at my age, but training with the Chiefs and also with the Pirates certainly helps me in that area."

Conlon is hoping to follow in the stud marks of fellow Chiefs Dave Ewers, Sam Hill, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Henry Slade and Jack Nowell, all of whom have come through the club's academy ranks to reach senior international recognition.

"It's good to have those lads who are young and have gone on to make it into the England teams," continued Conlon. "I've known the likes of Dave and Sam for a few years now, so it's great to see how they've come through like they have.

"At the same time, we've also got guys at the club like Dean Mumm, TJ [Tom Johnson] and Thomas Waldrom who have played at the very top. It's good to tap into their experience and expertise as well and then use what they've told you and what the coaches have told you to go out there and produce big performances."

Certainly Conlon has demonstrated over the past 12 months particularly that he has the hunger to succeed and hopes his efforts with England's Under-20s this summer will be the springboard for him advancing forward.

"The last two years with England have been a great experience," he said. "Obviously going over to New Zealand we knew it was going to be tough to defend our title. However, the group was really tight throughout and things went well, ending up with us winning the trophy again.

"For me personally, I'd probably say the second win was even better. Last year I was part of the squad and I played my part, but this year I was certainly more involved and I felt I really contributed. The experience of the previous year definitely helped me and I think the other lads who were involved from before as well.

"It meant for a few of us we weren't going into the unknown, especially in the latter stages, and I think it kept us relatively calm at key times in the competition. As I said, getting the win was very special and something I will always remember."