Having helped Harlequins qualify for the World Club 7s and mixed it with the club’s “big dogs”, Iziq Foa’i travels to the north of England tomorrow in high spirits.
Abu Dhabi-based centre, Foa’i, was part of the Quins squad that reached the semi-finals of the Premiership 7s at The Stoop on Friday, playing five minutes of their last four defeat to Newport Gwent Dragons.
The 19-15 reverse ended the hosts’ involvement on the night but with winners Gloucester already qualified they will make the short trip to Twickenham this Saturday, having finished higher than any other Premiership club.
Foa’i heads to Merseyside tomorrow for a two-week spell with St Helens that will end with a trial at the rugby league club.
He does though retain hope of selection by Quins for next weekend’s global showpiece, and could not be happier with how the last fortnight has gone.
“The experience overall was great,” he said. “I really enjoyed it, it was so physical. I didn’t expect it to be so physical. I thought it would just be really fast-paced, but after last weekend, the next day — the recovery day — my body was just so sore and I needed a few days to recover.”
The Abu Dhabi Harlequins youngster spent a similar per-iod with the west London club’s Elite Player Development Group (EPDG) last summer, but admits training alongside some of the biggest names in northern hemisphere rugby represented a tougher task.
“It’s a massive step up,” the 19-year-old added. “Last year I was with the EPDG, which is like under-18s, this year I’m with the big dogs like Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown and people like that.
“We were training with them and that was definitely a big step up. Training is so much more physical and the contact is unreal. There are about four or five sessions a day, but it’s been awesome.”
Foa’i has clearly enjoyed his time on the banks of the river Thames and admits to a little anxiety at the thought of being the “new kid” again with rugby league side St Helens.
Having already agreed to return to complete his schooling in the UAE — a move backed by Quins — a full-time professional contract is someway off, and would require the go-ahead from the director of rugby, Conor O’Shea.
However, the club’s sevens and academy coach, Howard Graham, who has watched Foa’i’s development closely, has been impressed.
“He’s come in this time, he’s fitter, he’s obviously grown a bit — he’s 6’3”, 6’4” and 115kg. He has potential and that’s the key for him.
“But it is a new environment for him, it is a full-time environment and when you’re not full time you don’t get the same training.”
Graham added: “We need to see more of him playing at this level.
“I’ve watched him obviously over in the Emirates in the sevens and some 15s but we need to see him play at a level we know against the standard of players we know.
“In that way it just shows the level that he is at and can get to.”
