My Story: Joe Launchbury
England and Wasps lock Joe Launchbury talks about his unconventional route to becoming a professional rugby player.
I've always felt that in sport, and rugby in particular, people develop at different speeds but talent will always shine through in the end.
No one in my family really played rugby but it was my father who got me into the sport. My dad was in the Royal Marines and a couple of his colleagues at the time looked after the local side at Under 7s level and told him to bring me along. To be honest I didn't really enjoy it for the first few weeks but after a bit of time I grew to love the game.
I made the move from Devon to Horsham and played a couple years there and then I went to board at Christ's Hospital and kind of left club rugby behind so I could concentrate on school.
Disappointment
A few years into school I got picked up by Harlequins Academy, around the age of 15-18 and I played there alongside my commitments with Sussex County. At the end of school I didn't get the renewal of a junior contract at Harlequins but if I'm honest I saw it coming, although I was fully committed to trying to make it work, I struggled with the balance of school and rugby.
That was a challenge and when the news came it was disappointing but not a shock and gave me an opportunity to evaluate what I wanted to do and whether I could play rugby professionally. Fortunately I had a good group of people around me who pushed me in certain areas and allowed me to get back into it.
My whole way through school I had a policy of not really talking about rugby, I felt if I spoke to teachers saying I wanted to be a professional player it would be seen that I wasn't concentrating on school so I kept it to myself. I don't think people, even those close to me, would have known it was something I was desperate to do.
It took the disappointment of not getting the senior contract at Quins to understand that even though the goal was there I had work to do. I missed out, but knew there would be other opportunities and an alternative route such as going to university and getting picked up there. Fortunately for me I made the jump slightly quicker.
Gap year and the bakery
After school I had the grades to go to Bath University to study sports science. I chose Bath as it was a good rugby university and they had links with the rugby club where they let guys play A-league games. First and foremost I wanted to be a student but hoped over my three years there I'd be able to show Bath what I could do.
For whatever reason on results days I decided to defer for a year, a few of my mates convinced me to go travelling so I took some time off from education. It was in that year I made the decision to play rugby locally and an old school teacher convinced me to go and play for Worthing which although was half an hour from where I lived they were the standout team in the area. They played in National Two at the time and that was brilliant for me as a grounding and step into men's rugby. I learned loads on and off the pitch and it reignited my passion for the sport.
Once I got encouraged to play there I was also saving some money to go travelling and job hunted in the area but living in a small village there wasn't much to choose from so I ended up getting a job in the local Sainsbury's. I worked there for six months, and saw it as a way to earn money to go travelling but the rugby ended up going well and I ended up not going travelling either. It was a productive gap year.
I worked in the bakery section and it was a good grounding for me and made me appreciate what hard work is. What I do now is such fun and I see it as a hobby.
Realising my dream
While at Worthing it took me a bit of time to adjust to men's rugby, but once the season got going and the games started coming around thick and fast I proved myself and became pretty settled.
I was fortunate that Will Green was there at the time, he was an ex prop who won the Heineken Cup with Wasps and still had contacts at the club. I didn't know that at the time, after one game I think we played Richmond away and he told me Wasps were there to see me play and were impressed. It snuck up on me but before I knew it was invited to play some A-league games for Wasps. I was closer to realising my dream.
It was fantastic for me, I did that for six months and then I got the opportunity to go to South Africa with a prop called Bob Baker for eight weeks to live in Port Elizabeth. We were attached to Eastern Province Kings who became the Southern Kings who played in Super Rugby and now play in Pro 14. It was a good side and a good standard, a good opportunity to learn and my first insight into the day to day of professional rugby.
It was also a big culture shock to be living away from home and I feel I learned a lot that put me in good stead to turn up at Wasps eight weeks later in July. I feel it accelerated my learning and when I turned up at Wasps I felt I had a bit of understanding of what it took to make it in the sport.
Wasps came calling
The first few months at Wasps I went on loan to Rosslyn Park and played a handful of games there. I felt that would be me for the rest of the season, but there were injuries at Wasps and I got my chance.
My first game was against Quins in Abu Dhabi, we stayed in a seven star hotel all week. I got a false illusion of what professional rugby was like, but it was great to come off the bench and score.
There was a maul and I managed to fall on it. It was a good debut and my career grew it from there.
I've always felt that in sport, and rugby in particular people develop at different speeds but talent will always shine through in the end. There are lots of different ways you can succeed, so firstly enjoy what you are doing and then stick to your guns. Disappointments and setbacks should not define you.
Joe Launchbury
