Life with Welsh was such a roller coaster

To play professional rugby was such a privilege and something I never expected to happen once I left the south-east to go and do a master’s in chemistry at Bath University.

- MATT CORKER

To go on and play over 300 games, including more than a double century of appearances for a great club like London Welsh is something I still cherish. Martin Corry once said that the two things he focused on were being the best at the things that took no skill and being fit every week. That really resonated with me. I put a lot of effort into my body and that helped me to cement my place in the team. It is very easy on a good day, to be your best, but it is what you can grind out when you’re feeling 65 per cent, when your body isn’t at its peak, that can make the difference between being picked or not picked. I think that’s what helped me play so much.

Iestyn Lewis was a big influence for me at university, putting a lot of time into me. He made me go out and buy shoulder pads, scrum hat and forearm guards to make me look more aggressive. I was playing No.8 for Bath uni because they had a gap there, and that was certainly good for my development as it gave me more exposure as a ball carrier and allowed me to add elements to my game. The universities and the Premiership clubs weren’t as strongly aligned then but I did get to play a couple of A-team games for Bath.

My big break came playing for the university against St Mary’s in Twickenham. I got concussed in the game but Wasps had some scouts there and they liked what they saw before I got injured and they offered me an academy contract. I am 6’6/6’7 and they had a space for a player of that profile. It was good timing as I didn’t really have much of a clue about what I wanted to do at that stage, other than maybe do a PhD. I remember being in the student union watching as Wasps beat Toulouse in the 2004 Heineken Cup final thinking, ‘I can’t wait to be a part of this’.