“Dreamed of playing football" - England's brightest wonderkids who completely disappeared in recent years

Wednesday, 17 November 2021 at 11:03

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byRugby Rucker

In a game where the obsession is to see youth stars rise to the top and fulfil their potential at the elite level of the game, the truth is that it's not all that likely for the vast majority.

That leaves us in wonderkid limbo - talents hyped up to unreachable heights who then inevitably fail to meet the mark and fade into obscurity as a result. While there are the select few that thrive on the pressure, the 'wonderkid' tag for many can actually be a bit of a career destroyer.

RUCK looks back at three of the biggest 'wonderkids' to flop and fade away in recent England Rugby history.

#1. George Perkins

The speedy Saracens wing had a 100m time best of 10.86secs and played in every U20 Six Nations after scoring on his debut England debut.

After struggling for game time at Allianz Park, Perkins joined Bristol Bears at the start of the 2017/18 season, where he joined up with new Director of Rugby Pat Lam, who described him as a 'special talent'.

However, during an injury hit spell in the West Country, he did not make a league outing for the Bears before leaving by mutual consent.

Where is he now? He now works as a Technical Talent Consultant while also playing for Westcombe Park in London 1 South.

George Perkins of England goes over for a try during the U20's Six Nations match between England and Italy 13th February 2015 at Brickfields Stadium, Plymouth
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#2. Ollie Smith

Sir Clive Woodward tipped the centre to be a global superstar towards the end of his England reign. Although he was initially ignored by Andy Robinson, Smith came into the reckoning for the 2005 Six Nations and was named as part of an enlarged British and Irish Lions squad in 2005.

However, Smith struggled to nail down a regular spot in England squads and he left Leicester Tigers in 2008 after a loss of form.

He played for Montpellier for two seasons and then came back to England with Harlequins before retiring in 2012 after a knee injury.

Where is he now? Coached Esher after retiring, but stepped down following one season as head coach and has now stepped away from the sport completely

#3. James Chisholm

The Haywards Heath-born Number 8 joined Harlequins from Brighton College and captained England U18s to victory in the FIRA European tournament.

Chisholm represented England Under 20s during the 2014 Six Nations and won the Junior World Championship later that year. In 2015, James helped the U20s to the Six Nations title, before being named as the World Rugby Young Player of the Year. He is one of only two English players to win the award (the other is George Ford).

Despite being a key cog for Harlequins down the years, he's never made a senior appearance for England.

Where is he now? Still playing at Quins, he has a coaching role at Farnham RFC alongside fellow quin Max Crumpton

#4. Ollie Barkley

The wonderkid won 23 caps for England between 2001 and 2008, and such was his early reputation that he featured for England before his club debut with Bath. A graceful left-footer able to play at fly-half or inside-centre, Barkley should have been a mainstay in the England midfield after the retirement of Will Greenwood.

The strange thing about Barkley is that it is hard to say where it all went wrong. Although he was never blessed with great pace, the playmaker kicked well from the tee and out of hand, was a fine distributor and hardly a weak player in defence. He is possibly the biggest mystery of English rugby from the 2000s.

After retiring, he revealed that his heart wasn't always in rugby as he always dreamed of playing football.

#5. Gabriel Ibitoye

The speedster has gone from being involved in an England training camp and tipped by head coach Eddie Jones to be a future superstar to playing in Israel in the space of three seasons. He was also nominated for Junior World Player of the Year in 2018.

Ibitoye made the controversial decision to leave Harlequins in 2020, but would be a free agent just a few months later after securing his release by mutual consent.

The 23-year-old, who scored eight tries for England U20, then joined Montpellier as a medical joker but was released without making an appearance in late 2021.

Where is he now? After failing to find a club, he signed with Tel Aviv Heat, an Israeli team, in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.