Star of Campus: Uche Oduoza

How did you start out in professional rugby?
I started off at Worcester academy at 17 and did three years there. I played a few professional games for them and then went to Japan for a year actually which was really cool, there’s a lot to see there. I then moved to Newcastle which is when I started uni here and finally onto Leeds where I am now.

So are you looking to get Leeds back into the Premiership then?
Yeah, I’m hoping to! It’s quite hard at the minute though as I’ve finished playing rugby full time because of uni commitments. I’ve kept it slightly part time over there but I’m focussing more on my studies right now.

What are your plans for when you’ve finished here then? Are you looking to get more into rugby again?
Yeah, I’d love to get back into rugby but I’ve had a couple of bad injuries which is why I’m trying to get the degree first. It’s so that I can hopefully find my feet afterwards in case the knee doesn’t hold out really. With rugby sevens turning into an Olympic sport in 2016, well I would love to play in that really, so if my body can still do it I’ll try and put myself forward for that.

How’s the sevens going? I heard you got called up for the Moscow leg of the European Grand Prix?
Yeah I played one tournament there in the summer. I was scheduled to play before but I had a little niggle in my knee unfortunately. It was good to get back into the fold with the sevens guys. It’s a really tough game but I enjoy it. You get to see so much of the world.

How do you feel when you go out to represent your country in front of all those people?
It’s daunting! I remember my first tournament and I played terribly! It was in Wellington Stadium in New Zealand in front of around 30,000 people and it was amazing. I’ve never seen so many people in one place in my life! The more you play the more you get used to it though. You start to focus on your team mates and what you need to do to win and it begins to become a bit more second nature.

What would you say has been your prodest moment of your career so far? I’ve seen the video of your 98m try for England!
[Laughs] yeah that was pretty good! I was quite happy with that but my proudest moment would be when we won the Twickenham sevens in London. To win a sevens series in front of your home crowd is absolutely amazing. We were down by three trys in the final and turned it around right at the end so that was a really good moment for us.

What’s your role for York now you play at such a high level?
Well I played a few games at the end of last season as I was trying to get back from injury. They’re a really good group of guys, really enthusiastic and I love playing and working with them. There’s nothing to say I can’t play a few games here so it would be nice to play a bit later in the season. I’m doing a bit of coaching with the backs too, just trying to bring the things I’ve learned with my clubs and with England to try and help them the best I can really.