Noah Caluori names All Black idols growing up as he sets lofty World Cup and Lions goals
Noah Caluori names All Black idols growing up as he sets lofty World Cup and Lions goals
England prospect Noah Caluori appeared on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast this week, as Ben Youngs and Dan Cole quizzed him on his breakthrough season.
The 19-year-old winger currently sits top of the PREM try scorers list after bagging an incredible 12 scores in just seven appearances, including a five-try display against Sale Sharks and a four-try demolition of Newcastle Red Bulls.
Dream PREM debut
During Caluori’s first PREM game just mere months ago, he came off the bench with half-an-hour to go against Newcastle and made an immediate impact, collecting an unsecured clearance kick from Owen Farrell to beat two players and dive over the line in tremendous fashion.
“It was crazy, genuinely crazy,” said Caluori, reflecting on his PREM debut.
“After the game, I was like, ‘What the hell have I just done?’ I text my mates from back home; one of the boys in the academy, Ryan Jones – probably my best mate – text me saying, ‘I don’t feel like I was watching you. That’s not the guy I played at school with.’
“Like, genuinely, what the hell just happened? It was crazy. After the game, I was in the changing room, and I was genuinely thinking, ‘Oh, my days, like this was crazy’.
“The whole night was mental, and then in the morning, my phone blew up. I was just like, ‘What is going on?’ But it was incredible. It was so good.”
The future for Noah Caluori
Despite his barnstorming start to professional life, there’s still plenty to learn for the young winger, but he’s got a plethora of players around him to do just that.
“Seeing everyone, all the guys that have done it all, like you want to just take after them, following their similar footsteps,” he said.
“Everyone has their own path, but like, on that same trajectory as them. Like seeing that if they can accomplish it, and I’m playing with them, I’m young, why can’t I do the same?
“I want to go do what they’ve done, and I want to accomplish more. Just having that hunger to carry on fighting day in, day out, for your position, to go achieve the next thing, to go and reach the next level.”
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His hunger is clearly there, so what are his goals for the future?
“Hopefully, I want to be able to say in 10 years time. Hopefully want to World Cup with England, hopefully British and Irish Lions, and then win a Champions Cup and PREM with Saracens,” he said.
He admitted that along his journey, he’d like to play against his idols from when he was younger, Rieko Ioane and Beauden Barrett.
With Ioane playing for Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup, that could happen sooner rather than later, and if Caluori can earn international honours before Barrett retires, then there’s a chance the two may also face each other.
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