TOO MUCH TOO SOON
HE WAS earmarked as special, early. As one respected youth mentor tells us, “He was described by top coaches as the next England tighthead.” But things didn’t quite pan out like that for Jack Stanley.
Brought into Exeter for his second of two years with Truro College, he played A league and LV= Cup in 2015 and trained with the first team. But soon he decided he did not want that life. As the Cornish native tells Rugby World: “There was a small element of being exposed to it all too soon. I must have been 18 when I had this feeling come down that I didn’t want to be at Chiefs.”
The prop was not coerced to sign up and is full of praise for the academy and coaches in Exeter. But after struggling with a broken wrist, enjoyment sapping away in the rehab room as frustrations he could not verbalise grew, there were months of “feeling s**t; I felt pretty depressed”. He abruptly walked away from the club, not even consulting his parents before making the decision.
In two years out, he moved on to “12-hour days stacking shelves in a supermarket” and his weight climbed to 155kg before he realised what rugby could be for him if he started over.
Now 23, Stanley (right) grabbed a prospect opened up by friends and is on a dual contract with Edinburgh and Super6 side Watsonians. He says he’s loving his second year in the Scottish capital, grinding within Richard Cockerill’s structure there, happily working back from a time when he felt he had to run away from the sport.
He also harbours no ill feelings and adds of his departure: “To be fair, Rob Baxter (Chiefs boss) was great about it all. He was always very understanding and apologetic – he said pretty much that they probably put too much on me as a youngster.”
On current practice, Chiefs academy head Rob Gibson tells us: “We have to make sure players are emotionally ready, they are physically ready. We are looking to put players in the Premiership at the right time, sometimes 21, 22, but it changes. It’s getting tougher due to the strength of our squad.
“Education is paramount – that’s the (focus) we push. But not every player wants to go that way, so we’ve got to try to find what’s best. You don’t always get it right, the individual doesn’t always get it right. You have to adapt to support (players).”
