Young Gun: Josh Peters Northampton lock on tour for England

Published on isbi School News dated Tuesday 15th of October 2013

Having honed his skills in a country renowned for tiki-taka rather than rucks and mauls, Oundle School pupil and Saints lock Josh Peters (17) is making his mark on the international rugby scene. Over the summer he played for England U18s on their tour of South Africa.
Josh's formative years were not spent enduring gruelling English winters; rather he spent his first eight years with Marbella RFC while his family was based on the Costa del Sol.
While with Marbella, where he often played at No.8, he helped them to become champions of Spain no fewer than four times and he travelled to Portugal with Spain Under-17s last year.
Had a return to the UK to attend Oundle School not materialised, Josh may have forged a career with Los Leones, having also represented Spain Under-18s despite his tender years.
But now back on home shores and an integral part of the Premiership runners-ups academy as well, of course, as his School team, Josh believes he can use his overseas development to his advantage and comments, 'It's not really a country that is known for rugby or for producing many players but there is a lot of quality in Spain, if perhaps not the strength in depth,'
'There are a lot of English people living in that part of the country and so rugby is pretty popular there. It's played to a good level and by a lot of the Spanish people as well. I definitely think it's a country where rugby is on the up and I'm very grateful for getting the chance to play there and play at a high level for my age when I was there.
'I ended up coming back and going to school at Oundle and so joining the Saints Academy has been a perfect fit for me. It's a great club with a great set-up and I'm enjoying being back in England where the standard is so high.'
Josh, who pays tribute to Pablo Munilla, his coach at Marbella, for playing such a crucial role in his development comments, 'Pablo was a great role model and now former England and Saints hooker John Olver is my PE teacher and coaches me in the Oundle first XV. He has inspired me to be the best I can be.'
At 6ft 7ins, 17 stone, Josh (17) is always likely to stand out from the crowd and it's little surprise he has found his calling in the second row.
The coming season will be one of development for Josh before he thinks about the seniors, but and while he's juggling his studies for his A Levels, he will be doing plenty of rugby-related homework.
'There are a few things that I'm looking to work on at the Saints academy this season trying to be a bit more physical and using my size to my advantage is one of them,' he added.
'As a second row you always have to work on the set-piece but I also want to make an impact in the loose and make my presence felt like Courtney Lawes. There are a lot of good second rows at Saints to learn from.'
Josh made his England U18s debut in March and was part of the side that clinched the title at the FIRA-AER U18s European Championship in France.
Over the summer, he travelled with England on the three-match tour of South Africa, where he played his part, starting in the last-gasp win over Wales.
'It was a great opportunity to be on a long-distance tour, and it's a bit of a step into the unknown,' he added.
'We played France which was a good rematch from the European Championship final as well as the Springboks who are a physical bunch. But that's what you want to test yourself against.'