England tour will make me better player

BBC News

5 hours ago

Gloucester lock Arthur Clark said he has come away from England's tour this summer a better player. Clark won his first England cap in their 40-5 victory against the USA in July having been called up to his first national tour which also included Test matches in South America.The 23-year-old said "definitely" when asked if the experience had improved him as a player."I feel like I probably need to put into practice all the stuff I learned," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire."Being in that environment, being surrounded by people like George Ford, Ben Spencer, Henry Slade, Ben Curry, Charlie Ewels was just special, you naturally take on board their actions and the way they play the game."Yet Clark said the "most interesting" part was being able to talk to Borthwick, who played as a lock during his career for Bath, Saracens and England. "That was probably the most interesting and the best bit on the tour, being able to pick his brains and having meetings with him around the line-out - which was his speciality and hopefully will become mine," he added.
Clark described the past 12 months as a "whirlwind" and a "breakthrough" season for him. He made 13 appearances for the Cherry and Whites - 12 of them league starts - played for England A in November in the win against Australia A, and then was called up to the senior squad for the Six Nations, albeit not making it onto the field. He was then one of 10 uncapped players called up to the summer tour and while he did not make the matchday squad of the first two Tests in Argentina, he was called up to start against the USA."I had good feedback throughout the whole campaign, saying I was training well and keep pushing but there's always that doubt in your mind that something isn't' going to go right," Clark said of being told he was starting the final Test."Then we found out the Tuesday morning. Because I was starting with the forwards I was the first row to go up and I sat back in my chair like oh my god, I'm up there. "Heart started beating a bit faster, the nerves started kicking in from there. It was an amazing feeling."
'A special moment for my family'
Clark's father, Barry, played for Gloucester during the 1980s and together the family also run a farm in Stow-on-the-Wold. Clark will be the fourth generation of his family to take it on when he retires from sport. Plans then had to be put in place quickly to enable Clark's parents to fly out to Washington DC when they knew he was starting."I had to ping them a quick message Tuesday morning being like book flights, get out here," Clark said."My girlfriend said he [dad] didn't speak while I was running out and he was just on his own. "He's probably the biggest person in my rugby career and my life in general. I'm glad he could have made it out for that trip... it was made that bit more special having him in the changing room after, watching me receive my first cap. A very special moment for me and my family."