Hello everybody, thank you for such a warm welcome. It feels surreal to be up here talking in front of you all, having sat in the same seats you are sat in now, which felt like only a few years ago but in reality it’s actually twelve years now. They always said time flies when you’re having fun. What’s scarier is not a single one of you guys watched the Olympics in 2012 that was held in London, a memorable Olympics for me personally in which a number of athletes I looked up to came to light and only added to a deep desire to be an athlete one day.
From the age of four or five I knew that I wanted to play sports and be an athlete. At that age which all you guys are or have been, there was no doubt in my mind that I was the best at every sport there was to play. I took a real offence to people saying they were better than me at anything, and I still do if I’m honest. I was super competitive and I absolutely hated losing. That competitiveness crossed over with education which is probably a good thing. I always wanted to be the best in the class, but I never quite could be because I had a classmate called Peter who would almost always get 100% in everything. One time we had a spelling test in which I was sat next to Peter and there was one word I had written down that I wasn’t super sure on so I had a quick glance to check what Peter had got down. I changed my answer and was now very confident that I was to receive the marks back and have 100% just like Peter. Turns out he had spelt it wrong and my crossed-out answer was correct. Unfortunately, you don’t get marks for crossed out answers. That was the first real time feeling that you should always back yourself, in all walks of life.
Thanks to my mum I had experienced a number of sports that many other kids hadn’t tried which was a huge benefit to me then and now. I was the only boy that did ballet when I was in Reception at the school I was at before RHS. I also did ice skating, sailing, karate and fencing. I also played more popular sports such as football, swimming, athletics and participated in triathlons all before I had ever touched a rugby ball. My dream was still always to become a professional athlete and a sports star before I even knew what rugby really was. I touched my first rugby ball at Richmond House when I was eight years old. In my first session I ran over to the try line and because I had watched American football I thought once you got over the line you could just drop it and celebrate. That wasn’t the case clearly and my PE teacher made sure I knew about it. 14 years later I have scored 30-odd professional tries in a number of competitions, and have played with and against some of the best players that have ever played the game. Never let your dreams go to waste. No matter what it is. I have friends that put their mind to being lawyers, boxers, actors, pilots, businessmen even farmers, and we have all succeeded. There doesn’t have to be a timestamp on when you achieve a dream. I started rugby two years later than I could have because I wanted to go to university. It only dawned on me one year into my degree that I really could achieve something great in sport. Although I’ve always said my dream was to become an athlete which I have now I have my eyes set on new heights and challenges. Your dreams don’t have to have a start and end. I was selected for England Under-20s in my first year as a pro but picked up an injury which meant I never earned an official cap. My dream now is to represent my country and play for England. This dream is far from guaranteed and there’s a number of factors that could stop this from happening but when there’s a will there’s a way and I have my mind set on it. I’ll say it again, don’t let your dreams go to waste. We only get one chance at life and it goes quicker than ever so make every day count. Dreaming is a cycle. Decide on the dream, commit to the dream, act on the dream, succeed on the dream and then repeat it all over again. Decide, commit, act, succeed, repeat.
Now, I want to be really honest with you for a moment, because nobody ever told me this when I was your age, and I wish they had. There were days when I didn’t want to train. Days when my body was tired, when I’d had a tough week, when I’d made mistakes on the pitch and felt like maybe I just wasn’t good enough. This season has been my most challenging season of my career to date. I tore my hamstring in January and I have been battling with it to this day. At around the middle of the season I stopped getting selected which I felt like was the wrong decision and the players around me agreed with me. I stopped seeing eye to eye with the manager and I was sent on loan to another team briefly. I won’t lie to you, I was really upset and felt like everything I had worked for might not have been worth it.
For one day. One day and one day only, and that’s all I gave myself before I was back in business and made sure that I would become better than I already was. In those moments, the easiest thing in the world would have been to quietly give up and mope around and feel sorry for myself. But that doesn’t get you to where you want to be. All that does is give you an excuse to fail at what you were destined to achieve.
Here’s what I learned. The difference between the players who make it and the ones who don’t isn’t always talent. It’s what you do on the days you don’t feel like showing up. It’s getting back up after you’ve been knocked down. That’s not just something that applies to sport. That’s life. Every single person in this room will face a moment where something gets hard and your brain tells you to stop. Even your favourite superheroes face challenges. Ask your parents how challenging it was to wake up 50 times every single night when you guys were babies. When that challenging moment comes, I want you to remember this: hard days are not a sign that you’re failing. They’re a sign that you’re actually growing. The real growth comes from how you deal with those challenging days.
And here’s the thing I really want you to hold onto, especially the ones who might be thinking “yeah but sport is not really my thing.” That’s completely fine. It’s actually great. I encourage you all to find and create your own path. Not everyone in this room is going to be a professional rugby player, and the world would be a pretty boring place if you were. Some of you are going to be incredible artists. Some of you are going to build things, discover things, write things, teach things, that the rest of us can’t even imagine yet. The kid who is always asking questions in class—that’s a superpower. The one who makes everyone laugh—that’s a gift. The one who notices when a friend is upset and goes to check on them—that kind of person changes lives. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like your thing isn’t a real thing. Every single one of you has something valuable to offer this world. Your job, starting right now, is to find out what it is, and then go all in on it. I’m not asking you to decide what your future job/career is going to be right this second. That’s not realistic, but I do want you to give yourself a purpose that you can hold onto until you’re as old as your parents. And beyond that.
I started right here. In this school. In the same classrooms. I also sat on the floor listening to your teachers in assemblies. I had no idea where life was going to take me. I didn’t know I’d end up playing professional rugby, travelling the country and the world, representing my team in front of tens of thousands of people. I couldn’t have predicted any of it. I had a feeling though. I backed myself. I worked hard. And when things go wrong, it’s just another opportunity to build yourself to the top. It’s what makes the journey so special. Life wouldn’t be as exciting if everything went right.
So I’ll leave you with this. Your journey starts here. Not when you’re older. Not when things get easier, not that they get much easier, right parents. Right here, right now, in this school, on this day. Back yourself. Work hard. And be brave enough to do it.
Thank you so much — it has been an absolute honour to come back to Richmond House. You should all be incredibly proud to be here. Now go and show the world what you’re made of.
