LIST: 5 rugby wonderkids who NEVER reached their potential

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.

Back in 2015, the youngster was playing for Oakham School in England’s Natwest Cup when his barnstorming performance made him an overnight sensation in the sport. To this day, a highlight of his performance on that day is still the most viewed video on England Rugby’s YouTube channel.

However, he left the sport for a second time following an unsuccessful spell with Bristol Bears to return to American Football.

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.

Making his debut against Wales, when the then-18-year-old was repeatedly dumped by Welsh centre Gavin Henson is infamous. That day would set back Tait’s development significantly, but he still played in the Rugby World Cup in 2007. After a quiet tournament, Tait lit up the final against South Africa with a dashing break that led to Mark Cueto’s infamously disallowed try.

But if Tait’s footwork in the final demonstrated his talent, he was never able to demonstrate that consistently on the biggest stage. Shifts from outside centre, to wing and then to full-back stunted his progress and were indicative of a possible star whose versatility worked against him ultimately.

The man who tackled Tait. Despite two Six Nations winner’s medals, Henson falls firmly into the category of those that failed to fulfill their potential.

But despite his love for hobnobbing with C-list celebrities, appearing on reality TV shows and bottled tan, all of which seemed to take precedence over his rugby, Henson actually didn’t have that bad a career.

He's now playign rugby league for running a pub back in Wales.