‘They said I ran away from rucks’: Emmanuel Iyogun on going from reluctant prop to England debut

Northampton star on his tenacious rise to the international ranks – and eating ‘massive cakes’ with Springbok colossus Ox Nché Some people are destined from day one to play international rugby for England. Others owe their selection to an injury crisis or simply get lucky. And th

Northampton star on his tenacious rise to the international ranks – and eating ‘massive cakes’ with Springbok colossus Ox Nché Some people are destined from day one to play international rugby for England. Others owe their selection to an injury crisis or simply get lucky. And then, in a totally different category, there is Steve Borthwick’s latest new cap, a player whose unlikely journey to the top has required inspirational levels of resilience and fortitude.

To describe the persevering Emmanuel Iyogun’s debut off the bench in Argentina in July as hard earned is to put it mildly. At times the Spain-born son of Nigerian immigrants has had to show immense levels of determination, just as his parents had predicted. “There was always a sense growing up of, ‘You’ll have to work harder than everyone else.

You might not get the privileges that some people get initially. So when you get told no or something doesn’t go your way, you just have to keep working. There isn’t any argument about it.’” Continue reading...