LUCTONIANS continue to give budding rugby players their first taste of the game and a growing list of those have gone on to the top echelons of the sport.

For years, the mini and junior section at Lucs has been renowned for producing players for their senior sides. Since the inception of this youth section in 1993, Lucs have managed to supply 75 players off their own conveyor belt, who have played National League rugby for the club. 

But the success of the production line at Mortimer Park has not been limited to lads staying at level four in the rugby pyramid.

If you look at the upper echelons of rugby in this country you will now see a sprinkling of Luctonian influence across the league. The most famous export being the England and British Lions lock Jonny Hill, who moved to Sale Sharks this summer after a very successful time at Exeter Chiefs, where he picked up winner’s medals in the European Champions Cup and Premiership competitions in his 116 games for the club.

Whilst Hill, is the standout name of the crop of ex-Lucs lads playing in the division, Josh Mcnally, Tom Pearson and Seb Atkinson are all excellent players in their own rights. Mcnally is now a proven lock in the top division, having been a part of London Irish’s promotion squad, he then moved to Bath Rugby, where he currently plies his trade.

Pearson is hot property in the Premiership this season, becoming a real standout performer in the London Irish side. The former Lucs Colt and first XV player is banging on the door of the England team having been selected in a number of the most recent training squads and has had an astronomic rise in less than 18 months of playing at this level.

Atkinson is the new kid on the block. Having been a junior at Lucs through to under-14s, he then became a part of the Worcester Warriors academy setup. At the recent demise of Warriors he was swiftly picked up by Gloucester, and in just two short months, has battled his way into the starting XV, featuring at centre in the Cherries’ Premiership and Champions Cup victories in the last two weeks.

With Matt Ferguson (Northampton Saints’ scrum coach) and Scott Bemand (England Women’s backs coach) both now coaching at the top level, having been senior players at Lucs in their early playing days, the influence across the top of the game, from the community club in Kingsland is quite something to behold.