Josh is on target for high rugby honours

One of the most promising young rugby players to emerge from Pembrokeshire over recent years is Josh Helps, who has played for Wales at under 16 level and captained the Welsh under team on a tour to South Africa as proof of his maturity.

 

Josh is a young giant of 6 feet 5 inches and 18 stone but he is currently sidelined from action because of a shoulder injury sustained in training just four days before he was due to make his 12th appearance in a Welsh jersey but his rehab has gone well and Josh aims to be fully fit to restart next season as a second row with the Scarlets’ Academy set-u

 

Prior to his injury Josh had been playing well in senior rugby with Carmarthen Quins in the Welsh Premiership and for his home-town club Narberth in the Welsh Championship, where he caught the eye during his four games for the Otters first XV as part of his gaining experience in a five-year Academy contract with the Scarlets, for whom he eventually hopes to become a regular first team player.

 

 

He started with Narberth Juniors as a seven year old where he was initially coached by Jeremy Bowen-Rees and later by Bobby Simons and once he was a pupil at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf he played for the county schools until he was 14 and then at under 15 level had a season with Carmarthenshire Schools alongside other quality players like Ryan Elias, Jeavan  Sebastian, Jack Maynard and Will Boyd, coached by Anthony Dragone and Anthony Maynard.

“I was also lucky to have good coaching from Graham Evans in school,” Josh told us, “and my headteacher, Mr Newsome, fully supports my rugby alongside doing A Levels in Biology,  Geography and Maths.

 

 

“I had a year in the Scarlets’ Academy under 16s and was delighted to be chosen as player of the year and to round off a great season I was picked for Wales against Italy and England.  I was in school when my mother phoned me to say a letter had arrived with the good news!

“We played the Italians at Colwyn Bay and I’ll never forget pulling on my red jersey and walking down the tunnel before they played the Welsh national anthem. Amazing!

“They were a year older than us but we beat them and although we lost against England at Lytham St Anne’s it was another part of gaining experience for me.”

 

 

Josh then had two seasons in the Welsh under 18s team, starting a year younger than most and having the experience of a tour to South Africa.
 

“It was a fantastic place to play rugby and see everything in the country, and the All Blacks’ youth team were physically immense – another sharp learning curve for us”

 

In his second year of Welsh under 18s rugby Josh was honoured with the captaincy and again it was off to South Africa for a series of internationals against France, England and the host country.
 

“We played really well to beat France by 40 points and then led England until the final moments when they grabbed a try to edge us out.
 

“We reserved our best performance for the Springboks but we lost by a single point, which was hugely disappointing after such a great battle.
 

Perhaps even more nerve-wracking for Josh was the fact that he had to speak on behalf of the team on four occasions on South African television – but says he coped well after a nervous first time!

 

 

His involvement in rugby obviously keeps Josh very busy but in his younger days he was just as keen on football and played centre half for Narberth junior teams coached by Nigel Davies and Matthew Johns.
 

“I really enjoyed my time there and my father Chris had played for years with Clarbeston Road in the same position so he used to enjoy going to watch me play.”

 

Chris does the same with rugby now and Josh is full of praise for the way Chris and mum Louise, who was a useful hockey player in her younger days, have provided rock-solid support for him throughout his time so far in rugby.
 

“They and my grandparents, George and Rose Phillips, are the best chauffeurs in the world for me and my old brother James, who used to play for Narberth Youth,” says Josh with a chuckle!

 

 

Ask Josh about his biggest disappointment so far and he might consider the fact that he has played in five losing Welsh teams against England but ultimately that wouldn’t rank alongside his shoulder injury.
 

He can even remember the date, January 26th, just four days before he was due to add to his cap tally with a match for the Wales over 20s against their counterparts from Italy.
 

“We were training at Colwyn Bay,” said Josh, “and we were getting some tackling practice in. I thought I had suffered a slight ‘stinger’ reaction from slightly mistiming it but when I got up the physio was there very quickly and knew I had dislocated my shoulder just by looking at me.

 

“The doctor put it back in place straight away and it wasn’t as painful as I thought it might be but I knew I was out of the game against Italy.
 

“I was operated on the Friday to make sure it was all ok and so far things have gone really well and I have a target date in July to complete my rehab so I know I can get back into action.”

 

 

It is hopefully a minor hiccup in the long-term chain events which will see Josh achieve his ambition of a regular place with the Scarlets at regional level and ultimately selection for the Welsh national side.

 

Josh Helps is a modest and unassuming young man but there is no doubt that he is fully focussed and ready for the challenges ahead and we have strong hopes that one day we will see his already impressive list of Welsh caps to include full caps for Wales!