Interview with professional rugby player Paolo Odogwu

Hello everyone. How are you all? This week I interviewed Wasps winger, Paolo Odogwu! We chatted about all things rugby but also spoke about the current Black Lives Matter campaign and race within rugby. I really hope you all enjoy this blog and a big thanks to Paolo for agreeing to be part of this interview and topical conversation at this moment in time.

For those that don’t know you, please can you tell them who you are, who you currently play for and your position in rugby?

“I am Paolo Odogwu, I’m 23 and I currently play for Wasps in the English Premiership. I play on the wing. I joined Wasps last  year from the Sale Sharks”.

With the current protests and campaigns going on for Black Lives Matter, how well do you think the rugby
community embraces this important issue?

“Until now, I believe it’s a topic that’s been ignored within rugby because it’s predominantly a white male class sport. People think it’s a gentleman’s game so there won’t be any racism in it but I feel like that particularly at Wasps (because they’re who I play for), they’ve probably dealt with it the best out of any other club in the league because they’ve actually been addressing everything that has been going on and asking us about our experiences. They’ve been trying to gain an understanding of it and not just post the hashtag on social media and that be the end of it. Myself and Simon McIntyre have spoken to the squad about the importance of racism and Wasps have fully supported us which has been fantastic”.

Growing up, did you always aspire to be a rugby player?

“No, I didn’t actually start playing rugby until I was eleven years old! I wanted to be a footballer or a professional wrestler (he laughs). I didn’t even really know what rugby was at that age but when I moved to my secondary school, they didn’t play football so I ended up playing rugby and quite liked it. I ended up being alright at it too which definitely helped!”.

Have you experienced any setbacks as a professional player or had to make any sacrifices in your career?

“Yeah, definitely. When I joined the Leicester Tigers academy, I had to leave home straight after I finished my GCSE’s at the age of sixteen to live in a house full of boys which as you can imagine, was carnage! I was also studying full time at school and playing rugby full time so it was really hard for me. It was difficult balancing the two. I would miss a lot of lessons and have to catch up which at seventeen years old, I couldn’t really be bothered to do but it worked out okay in the end and was worth it”.

Do you have a favourite memory as a player? Are there any that stand out for you so far in your playing career?

“Yeah, definitely. When I was at Sale Sharks, my fifth ever professional game was against Toulon. I scored in that game and it was my first home European debut, it was so special. It was so fun and I was only nineteen playing against Bryan Habana and Ma’a Nonu. It was crazy and pretty surreal!”.

Where do you see yourself in five years time? Do you have any thoughts on what you’d like to do after you’ve finished playing rugby?

“I’ll be 28 by then so hope I’ll still be playing if my body lets me and is fit and healthy! Outside of rugby, I’m very much into fashion and design. I make custom trainers and custom rugby boots at the moment but I’d like to get more into the fashion side of the business once I’ve finished playing rugby. I’ve always scribbled all over my clothes from a young age (he laughs). I’m not joking you, since I started playing football when I was younger, I would always draw a little logo on my boots or something just to make a point as to who I am. I’m really into American football as well and it’s big over there to have custom pleats and all that so I started to research how they do it and found all the paints. I  started creating my own and now I’ve got my own little Instagram page which I love adding to and sharing my designs of rugby boots and trainers I’ve designed myself”.

Did you listen to the Rugby Union Weekly podcast that aired last week called Rugby and race? What did you make of it and did you relate to any of the players experience’s?

“I did tune in and I shared so many experiences with them. Anthony and Ugo both said: ‘When you have teammates who say; oh you’re not really black because you’re well spoken or you’re the whitest black guy I’ve ever met’, I felt that and I think to myself what do you mean?! Why on earth should the colour of your skin and grammar matter but in terms of ‘rugby is an inclusive sport’, I think it’s inclusive in terms of the size and shape you can be to a degree and then the higher up you play, it’s completely different but in terms of race, it’s not because the game is based around white culture. That’s because of where it came from, it’s no one’s fault but it hasn’t evolved into anything different. That’s why when you see someone do something slightly different, you’re portrayed as cocky for celebrating a try for example. There seems to be an ingrained culture and you have to be seen as respectful and humble but there’s a difference between being humble and being happy and enjoying yourself. You’re portrayed as not worthy of playing the game if you do something ‘different'”.  In terms of it being inclusive in schools, I know from experience that my school didn’t play football so I didn’t have a choice. That was a school in Birmingham and you had to do an entrance exam to get in there but then I know a lot of people who go to state schools who love rugby and want to be able to play but can’t get into it and go down the player pathway route because it’s not accessible to them. I was lucky. My school wasn’t very good at rugby but I ended up getting into the Tigers academy through a county trial”.

I know that you also sometimes play rugby 7’s in the summer months. Do you enjoy it? How long have you played it for?

“I’ve been part of the rugby sevens set up for four years now. The Premiership Sevens competition is made up of the twelve teams that form the Gallagher Premiership. All of the teams nominate players from their team and I really enjoy it. I’ve been successful at it and I broke the record for most tries scored in the group stages in 2016 when I first began playing. In the previous campaign, I became the all time leading try scorer in the competition”.

I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing Paolo so I hope you enjoyed reading the blog. I thought it was so important to highlight a topic which is so prevalent right now. Stay safe, take care and thanks for reading. Elizabeth x

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