Photo: Getty Images, Date of birth 20 April 1998 Country England. Shields owes his new career to his parents. Now that is covered it is worth telling Shields' fascinating story. 'And his mother's nachos!". And all the coaches I’ve had have guided me and helped me. The only mistake I saw was a dropped restart. But now the 19-year-old Saracens forward is plotting to be part of a golden future for his country. He wants to play at the highest level he can. Younger brother Nicholas, 25, will represent New Zealand in the World Beach Handball Championships in Russia this summer. Jones is impressed too - he has had Isiekwe in many of his recent training camps, and will be eyeing him up for a trip to South Africa this summer. It prepares you to be a fully-fledged professional. How good is this lad? Alex Lozowski is outside of the UK, experiencing life in France at Montpellier. "Yes, you can't support Australia," says Nigel. I didn't really know what I did well! "I'll be able to watch his games with a beer!" 'I played football, tennis, cricket - whatever was going on at school,' he said. The... Born in Hemel Hempstead, Isiekwe has captained Hertfordshire U16 and Saracens U17. Whizz forward 40 years and there is Brad; a 14-year-old playing for Taita College 1st XV, three years up. Never really watched him specifically in a game before but I did yesterday. I’m studying for an A level in philosophy. But he did and gave me a nudge. But seeing as Isiekwe was only born in April 1998 he has no memories of those glories. Nigel recalls. England will hope Isiekwe can fly both flags proudly come 2019. There are a lot of physical demands but I enjoy the challenge and it suits me. At the age of fifteen, he represented London and South East U16's district in 2014, which quickly saw Isiekwe gain his first age-grade international call-up; playing for England under 16's against Wales and Scotland. Parents of children 'DON'T face a greater risk of coronavirus' BMW 3 Series Electric spied looking a lot like the regular model . Nick Isiekwe (born 20 April 1998) is an English rugby union player who plays lock or flanker for English Premiership side Northampton Saints on loan from Saracens. The club also won £2,000 of Gilbert kit and equipment courtesy of Aviva, title sponsor of Aviva Premiership Rugby. [10], Saracens Ben Earl & Nick Isiekwe Sign On Dual Registration, Isiekwe on England, Saracens and preparing for exams, England name Under-20s squad for Six Nations challenge, Eddie Jones believes Nick Isiekwe can be the next Maro Itoje, "Premiership final: Exeter Chiefs 10-27 Saracens", "Premiership final: Exeter Chiefs 34-37 Saracens", "Leinster 10-20 Saracens: English side win third Champions Cup in Newcastle", "Isiekwe pledges long-term future to Saracens", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nick_Isiekwe&oldid=983319327, England international rugby union players, Infobox rugby biography with deprecated parameters, Pages using infobox rugby biography with multiple clubs, Pages using infobox rugby biography with multiple nationalteam, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 October 2020, at 15:25.

One Saturday evening I was lazing around and my mum wanted me to do something, so the next day I went down to the local rugby club, Old Verulamians. You can physically impose yourself on a game and there’s the lineout, which is technical. Nick Isiekwe is the best physical specimen seen in years - according to his coaches at Saracens. Eddie Jones believes that Saracens lock Nick Isiekwe could be the next Maro Itoje after naming the teenager in his 31-man England squad for the … 'It is great for Nigeria for those guys to have come from there - to have that heritage can only be a good thing.' Isiekwe has already featured over 50 times for Saracens. 19:23 13 Apr 2018, updated 21:08 13 Apr 2018. They’re the high-flyers and they have the knowledge. A full list of contents for the December 2020 issue of Rugby World magazine, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, Get Christmas sorted with a Rugby World subscription and you get a £5 M&S gift card, LATEST RUGBY WORLD MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION DEALS.

Soon he was a Hurricane in Wellington – following in the footsteps of All Black heroes Jerry Collins, Christian Cullen and Tana Umaga. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group.

I enjoyed going to the athletics meets; a lot of my friends were in the team so discus was good for me - especially with my long wing-span. "At the start of Bradley's life he weighed four-and-a-half pounds, and now he's 17-and-a-half stone!" Saracens stars Nick Isiekwe, Alex Lozowski and Will Skelton visited amateur club Hackney RFC as part of Aviva's Grassroots Surprises campaign to champion the inclusive and diverse nature of rugby. I did two last year and I have an aspiration to go to uni part-time. Very impressive performance in pretty much everything he did. "He was eight weeks early but we were extremely lucky, he flourished from birth and was only in an incubator for a day. We backed the All Blacks as kids but my parents used to back England. What he is happy to talk about though is his Nigerian heritage.

'As I got older rugby took over and I fell in love with that - Martin Johnson became a hero too, he was tough and a good leader. While that may be surprising - and make most spectators feel desperately old - it makes more sense when you realise Isiekwe was more of a football nut growing up in Saracens territory, around Hemel Hempstead. The latest media Tweets from Nick Isiekwe (@NickIsiekwe). [1] At the age of thirteen, he played rugby union for Old Albanian RFC and went through the ranks at the club.[2]. An England international, Isiekwe is in line to start for Saracens against Bath on Sunday, Maro Itoje (left) and Anthony Joshua (right) are two other British stars of Nigerian heritage. It was a big part of my life growing up. Isiekwe, a member of the Saracens Academy structure,[3] was trialed at many positions including Prop, Number 8, Flanker and Centre, but his six-foot six stature saw him physically outgrow his original positions and moved to second row, a position he was used at for England U20's during the 2017 Six Nations Under 20 Championship. But now the 19-year-old Saracens forward is plotting to be part of a golden future for his country. I’ve been there ever since. He looks to be following the lead of Itoje and Kruis – and was named in the England squad for the tour of Argentina in June on his 19th birthday. England will hope Isiekwe can fly both flags proudly come 2019. They now run a 40 hectare estate in Stanford Dingley, and Danielle works in the local pub. Isiekwe born in Hemel Hempstead first played rugby at the age of nine, playing touch rugby for Old Verulamians after being encouraged by his mother Ruth to take up a sport. He played for England U16 in the wins over … Soon Brad, his wife Louise and seven-month old daughter Charley will join them in England. Originally I was a crash-ball centre, at 13 I changed to prop, then I grew a bit more and went to second-row.