Tearaway Cardiff Rugby flanker Ethan Fackrell headed north on loan to play for RGC in the Indigo Group Premiership Cup last October.
He readily admits it was a big move at the time, leaving the comfortable trappings of family life back in Cardiff. The first time he made the four-hour trip to North Wales he was questioning the wisdom of such a move, leaving the big smoke for the first time in his life.
“Two and a half hours up I was like where am I? I was in the middle of nowhere thinking to myself this is mad,” he recalls.
But it didn’t take long for him to settle in his new surroundings.
“I was in a house with a group of boys – I knew of the boys I was sharing a house with – Rhodri King was there, I knew him from previously playing against them.
“When I first got there it was pretty easy to mingle in and get to know people – Brodie Coughlan was on loan as well – with him being on loan at the same time and living in the same house it was easy as he was relating to how I felt coming up.”
With home comforts no longer an option, Fackrell put his head down on and off the pitch as he mucked in with the boys.
“You have got to make sure the house is clean, do your own washing, washing your clothes, keeping your area nice and tidy so you’re living on your own for two months. It was a good feeling because you’re becoming more independent,” he says.
He admits the first week or so were tough but a flying visit by his mother gave him the push he required, “I think I just needed that little nudge to say you can do it, you are capable of this,” he says.
“I have nothing but good memories from the time I spent there. There were a lot of good life experiences – moving away from family and stuff, my first time away from home and living away for example.”
Fackrell enjoyed his playing stint with RGC where he played five games in the Premiership Cup.
“The first game was against Pontypridd off the bench. I was only expecting 20 minutes off the bench but there was an early injury – I only trained Tuesday and Thursday and I was in the team for Saturday. I wasn’t expecting a lot of game time having gone straight up there but an injury in the first 20 minutes occurred so I nearly had a full game and it all took off from there really.
Ethan Fackrell looks to pass the ball against Ireland
Fackrell, who was one of the few shining lights in Wales’ opening U20 Six Nations defeat in Ireland last Friday, took the challenge of moving up from age grade rugby to senior rugby in his stride.
“I think the pace of the game was a bit higher than age grade rugby. Physicality-wise the game against Ponty wasn’t massive but playing against likes of Merthyr and Cardiff the physicality really stepped up. Against Newport we really had to dig in and put everything on the line and you came off battered and bruised.
“Those three games were the toughest games I had played mentally and physically as you had to go to a dark place. In Ponty they like to play a quick fast moving game so everything was quick, but then games like Cardiff, the mental and physical side of it, the pace of the game was roughly the same but you had people just wanting to run over the top of you which obviously made it a lot more difficult to defend and attack.”
Fackrell is looking forward to playing at Parc Eirias against Scotland where he is hoping a home crowd can replicate Ireland’s fans from last week.
“You could hear the Welsh fans singing some of the time in Ireland but I think having more people at home and singing welsh songs it’s going to boost us massively. Ireland rose to their crowd, they scored two tries early on and that gave them momentum so if we can have our fans at our backs nice and early and we put a statement out there and the crowd get behind us, I think we could do really well.”
Fackrell made 22 tackles and hit 22 rucks to be the standout player for Wales against Ireland in what was a tough evening in the coalface of battle.
“You have got to enjoy the bumps and bruises along the way. It was really good to go out and get my first cap but obviously disappointing with the result. We were poor in areas but we put it to bed and it’s now just focussing on Scotland.
“Personally I did well but it’s about the team – doing well as a team and not as individuals. If we all do our individual jobs then it works for the team. If we don’t do our individual jobs then we are never going to succeed.
“We had a good start against Ireland and if we can take our chances early on – we entered their 22 eleven times and scored one try so I think if we can enter Scotland’s 22 eleven times and get four or five tries you are always in a game.
“If we cut out our missed tackles and penalties, then we could be in a good place.”
