Strangely enough, Harri Deaves didn’t walk around with ‘I’m great’ emblazoned across the front of his T-shirt after playing the house down for Wales against Italy in the U20s Six Nations.
He didn’t ring Huw Edwards and demand a mention on News at Ten.
Instead, he posted a tweet thanking those who had supported him and sent him messages. He also showed his appreciation to the people who had helped him overcome a major injury. Before last weekend, he hadn’t played for 790 days because of the bump and the pandemic. “I owe you all more than I could ever give you,” he said in his social media post.
Who said it was tough for youngsters to stay grounded today?
Deaves manages it.
Read more: The excited reaction to Harri Deaves' Wales performance
His team-mate Dafydd Jenkins told WalesOnline: “He’s a really good boy — humble as well.
“All he wants to do is play rugby and be the best he can.
“He’s great to play alongside because he works so hard and is happy to do the dirty work that needs to be done, the stuff a lot of people don’t see.
“He just gets on with it.”
His show against Italy was something else.
The match had barely begun when he put in two scything tackles in quick succession and achieved a turnover. Highly visible in his bright yellow headguard, he seemed to be everywhere at once, playing with pace and intensity but also intelligence.
He didn’t look to attack every breakdown, instead picking his moments. Noticeably, there was anticipation from the 20-year-old, that sixth sense that all exceptional No. 7s are blessed with.
His show also saw him carry solidly and take a couple of high catches, following up one with a kick upfield.
It was all a bit startling. “Everyone is talking about him and going: ‘Wow! Who is this player?’” said Wales U20s head coach Ioan Cunningham.
“He wears a bright yellow head guard and he catches the eye.
“But he deserves it because he throws everything into the game and his stats are through the roof — from tackle completion to rucks and ball carries, contacts, hits.
“He doesn’t leave anything out there. It’s great to watch him play and he has a big future.
“He’s a very good player. But he’s also keen to learn and get better and that’s the most important thing. He wants to deliver and back up again.”
Deaves celebrated his 20th birthday just last week.
A groin injury kept him for the best part of a year before the onset of the global health emergency which has meant pretty much the whole of his rugby generation has had to play a waiting game.
But he’s tried to keep himself occupied.
In a pen-pic online, he styles himself as the “only man to catch a salmon in Pontyclun river”.
A member of the Ospreys academy, he’s been known to rise at 5am before leaving his house in Pontyclun half-an-hour later to report for rugby sessions that start at 6.30am. Afterwards, he sometimes helps out as a roofer in a pal’s business.
“I help one of my friends out — weekends and after rugby when I can,” he says.
Does he wake while the rest of us are sleeping? “Yeah, to go to training,” he says, “because I’m still in the academy with the Ospreys. We train at half-six and I live an hour away.
“I go straight from training to work.”
The roofing seems a labour of love as much anything. “I love the boys I work with,” says Deaves.
His answers are short and to the point, with a Zoom media conference something new to the former Wales U18s player. He’s a product of Pontyclun RFC, aka The Badgers, and he’s evidently proud of the village and its rugby club, declaring himself “a Badger for life”.
Last week’s praise hasn’t gone to his head.
“It’s obviously nice, but it’s one game after two years out,” he says.
“One game means nothing.
“I have to back it up with performances week-in, week-out.
“It was brilliant just to get back out there, awesome to get a game after so long, and better for getting the win.”
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A delve into Deaves’ rugby background explains his wide skill set. He played rugby league at U15s level, in a side called South Wales Rabbitohs alongside Sam Costelow and fellow Wales U20s player Ioan Evans, and has featured at wing, centre and full-back in union.
“I changed to openside two years ago,” he says.
“I went to Bridgend College with the intention of playing seven, but the captain also played there, so I played a lot at centre at first.
“Midway through my first year I changed to openside and got the jersey there.”
So many shooting stars at U20s level come to nothing, but Deaves appears the part. The challenge for the Ospreys is to complete his development and bring him through into the senior game.
He doesn’t model his game on anyone else in particular — “I like to take parts from different players’ games — but says he has trained in a couple of sessions alongside Justin Tipuric and calls the Ospreys captain “a top guy”.
Next term the challenge might be to feature on the bench or more for the Ospreys, but, for now, it’s all about Wales U20s.
They play Ireland at Cardiff Arms Park on Friday evening and the Irish looked good when beating Scotland in round one.
Deaves doesn’t spend too much time discussing the opposition threats.
But they would be wise to keep an eye on him.
He’ll be wearing a yellow head guard and shouldn’t be hard to spot.
The kid for Pontyclun will be anywhere and everywhere.
One to watch.
For sure.
