The rise of Ruaridh McConnochie has been among English rugby’s most heartwarming stories. From lower-league obscurity with Nuneaton to an Olympic silver medal in 2016, followed by a switch to 15s with Bath and thrilling late-bolter selection for Eddie Jones’s 2019 World Cup squad, he offers a ray of hope to every aspirational lower league player out there.
Or, at least, he did until this month. Following the Rugby Football Union’s decision to cut its professional sevens programme, it may be some time before McConnochie’s feelgood tale is repeated. To say the latter feels sympathy for all those currently stuck in limbo is an understatement. “I’m absolutely gutted. It’s horrible what’s gone on … guys have families, mortgages and live in south-west London which isn’t the cheapest place to live. To be told like [they were] has put them in a tough spot.”
For as McConnochie also makes clear, the ramifications go beyond a few individual disappointments. Any dreams Team GB had of replicating their Rio achievements could be dynamited even before they start preparing for Tokyo. “It’s going to be a big ask for them. To go into a World Series not even knowing whether there is going to be an England side is backs-against-the-wall time. I think it would really be a huge waste of such a good bunch of people and I hope something comes of it before the new World Series season restarts. I’ve so much to be thankful for in the three years I was in sevens. It stood me in such good stead to come into 15s and perform.”
It could also end up costing more in lost morale and profile than it saves financially in the short-term, particularly in the light of the benefits other nations are deriving from their sevens pathways with the Test game growing more quickly by the month. There was no more elusive back in the world last year than South Africa’s Cheslin Kolbe, also a 2016 Olympic medallist, while New Zealand’s Caleb Clarke is merely the latest All-Black-in-waiting to have cut his teeth in the abbreviated format.
Which prompts an uncomfortable question: where would the long-striding McConnochie be now if the funding axe had fallen when he was an emerging sevens wannabe? Sliding doors and all that, but the 28-year-old is a prime example of the talent lurking beyond the confines of Premiership academies. As Bath head to Leicester this weekend, for example, it will stir memories for the former University of Gloucester student of the unglamorous twice-weekly trips he made to the Midlands to train and play for Nuneaton. “We used to play at clubs such as Scunthorpe … in winter they always had a bog in one corner of the pitch. You didn’t want to get trapped at the bottom of a ruck up there.”
Welford Road in August will be luxurious by comparison and McConnochie’s horizons have also been broadened by his brief taste of international rugby last year. Having pulled out injured on the eve of his scheduled first start against Wales, his debut against Italy in Newcastle in the last warm-up game before the squad left for Japan was a big moment.
“It was a weird few weeks. I false-started two weeks in a row so there was a massive sense of relief. I probably didn’t play my best against Italy – it was a game that didn’t really flow initially – but if anything it just makes you want it more. You want to have that experience again.”
Hence the reason Bath’s director of rugby, Stuart Hooper, believes there is more to come from the winger, surrounded as he is by other spectacular back-three operators such as Anthony Watson, Semesa Rokoduguni and the still-injured Joe Cokanasiga. McConnochie feels the same, having spent lockdown trying to outdo his housemate Max Clark on the fitness front. “We made a home gym in the garage; it was good to have someone to compete against each day, rather than just doing it on your own. My gym scores are as good as they’ve ever been.”
The next objective is to rediscover the best of himself on the field. McConnochie is five kilos heavier than in his sevens days – “I don’t think I’d be able to carry my current weight for 14 minutes of sevens; it may sound short but it was hell” – and his ability to break tackles was among the reasons he caught Jones’s eye. He has another chance to do so today, with the England head coach set to be in attendance. The latest from England is that they want to see him on the ball more often, an ambition shared by every Bath three-quarter.
“We’ve had long conversations as a backline,” says McConnochie. “We’ve got some incredible outside-backs here and we want them to get their hands on the ball as much as possible. We want to have at least 10 touches per game – and that doesn’t just include catches and kicks that go nowhere. We’re excited and last weekend against London Irish was a good first marker. I feel we can still get much better.”
The aforementioned 34-17 victory over Irish also showcased Bath’s improving scrummaging and a win in Leicester would mark the first time in the 107-year fixture that Bath have won three games in succession at Welford Road. Leave some vapour trails down the wing and McConnochie might yet force his way back into England contention this autumn. “I just want to get back to where I was when I was getting picked for England: being confident in my attack, beating people and using my best attributes to do that.”
And if his phone remains silent? “If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen, but as long as I’m happy with my own performances I can’t ask for more. The timing of lockdown was quite good for me. The last proper break I got from rugby was in 2017 so mentally it’s been quite refreshing. The big thing that’s changed is the personal pressure I put on myself: to maintain standards and keep up with everyone else. The likes of Anthony Watson have been training the house down … you want to try and challenge them as much as possible.”
Bath’s frequent flyer has some ground to make up but confounding lengthy odds is his speciality.