WATH Rugby Club have created double the trouble in the Smith brothers and their former professional coach believes the duo are capable of going on to great things.
The twins, Benjamin and Samuel, will turn 18 later this summer and after making huge strides in their development are about to head into pastures new.
The pair live around the corner from the Moor Road club and have been developed by Wath’s head of rugby Ryan Burrows in his dual role at both the club and as their mentor on sixth form scholarships at Wath Academy.
Tighthead Benjamin’s rapid progress saw him play for England under 18s earlier this year and that has alerted Premiership giants Exeter Chiefs.
Loosehead Samuel had a setback with migraines but also made it to the England training camp earlier this year under the guidance of England youth coach Jon Pendlebury.
He is being monitored by Leicester Tigers whilst he goes off to university, either at Nottingham or Loughborough.
Burrows, who played at the top level with Newcastle Falcons ahead of returning back to his boyhood club of Wath who pulled off a remarkable treble this season, says the duo’s potential is ‘scary’.
Burrows said: “I first saw them as two year 11s and they were big, powerful, raw and athletic.
“At 15 they were playing against men and bullying them.
“Had they been born a week later they would have been in the year below.
“They are the youngest in the age group but you wouldn’t be asking for their ID.
“I pushed them three times to Yorkshire Academy and I began questioning if I knew what made a rugby player.
“But we played against Brooksby College and one of their coaches asked: who are these two?
“Because they had just smashed the starting prop for England under 20s.
“Two days later, some calls were made, and they were in the Yorkshire Academy system.”
Samuel has featured several times for Wath’s second team this year and picked up the man of the match awards in almost every game.
Burrows believes their naivety has been a benefit and given coaches a blank canvas to work with.
“Because they came from a rugby league background and hadn’t played union before, they have picked up no bad habits. Their rise has been meteoric.
“They are big, big boys and they are only going to get bigger. The pair of them are massive success stories for the area. They are great humble lads and if they keep the right mentality, especially Benjamin because he’s already on the pathway, we could be talking about an international player from Wath.”
