The promising youngster’s relocation from hooker to back-row came after consultation with
England coach Eddie Jones
Trying to keep a lid on the hype that surrounds Alfie Barbeary is like swimming against the tide. Wasps’ head coach, Lee Blackett, has done his best – railing at how even before he made his Premiership debut it was considered a matter of when, not if, he toured with the
British &
Irish Lions – but a hat-trick on his first league start last year, aged 19, blew the lid straight off.
He has since been included in England squads – he had been into camp even before that match against Leicester last September – and his raw potential, his eye-catching ball-carrying for someone so young has been evident whenever he has taken the field since. The trouble is, that has happened all too infrequently because Barbeary has been blighted by persistent injuries ever since bursting on to the stage.