England Under 20s

Alex Day

Key Facts

Squad	Northampton Saints
Position	Scrum half
Age	20
Height	1.83m (6'0")
Weight	87kg (13st 9lb)
Caps	U20: 7

Switching to scrum half was a revelation for Alex Day, who until four years ago had appeared at full back and centre. He captained St Joseph’s College, Ipswich, studied for a BTEC in Sport, Media Studies and PE and is a member of the Northampton Saints Academy, on loan to Moseley for the 2012-13 season.

Harwich-born Alex played for Colchester RFC from the age of 12 to 17, having taken up the game when six at St Joseph’s, where he played through the age groups to the first team. He represented Eastern Counties from U14 to U18 and captained their U17 and U18 sides. Alex also became the Eastern Counties Young Player of the Year for 2010-11.

His travels have taken him to Italy and South Africa with his school team and to France and Ireland with Colchester. Alex said: “My favourite game was for the school against Natal Academy U19. We were underdogs and much smaller than them but still turned a seven-point lead at half time into a 36-0 win.”

He toured with England U18 in August 2011 and appeared off the bench when his side beat Australia 46-19 in Sydney in the final match before his England U20 debut as a replacement against Scotland in February last year. Alex subsequently played a similar role in the other wins over Wales and Italy and appeared in four Six Nations matches this year along the way to England’s title win.

Franklin’s Gardens is his top ground and he says that he owes much to mentors Graham Richards, his school coach and Alan Dickens, the Saints’ Academy manager and former Northampton, Sale Sharks, Leeds Carnegie and Saracens scrum half and to England U18 head coach John Fletcher.

Alex most admires former All Blacks centre and captain Tana Umaga and Saints and England scrum half Lee Dickson “for his work rate and exuberance for the game”. His pastimes are relaxing with his family, golf, fishing, travelling and he also played cricket for the school first team.

He has one golden rule. He said: “It is to be happy in whatever I do and do it with a smile on my face.” That applied when he helped England U18 to beat Ireland 29-12 on his debut at Donnybrook in December 2010. He also started the Scotland, Wales and Ireland matches in March and April the following year.