Some players have been destined for greatness for the moment they picked up a ball. Marcus Smith is one of those. He has been the best player in every team he’s played for and as an U18 England player he was called up to the senior squad. At virtually every step of the way, his coaches reckoned he would be the future. His progression is unusual though. Very few players have that level of belief bestowed upon them. Most have to keep the fire burning themselves as coaches prefer their rivals or simply don’t give them the opportunities.
Back during the 2015-2016 season, there was a player in that exact spot. He’d played in 18 matches that season for Castres, starting four times. He’d played a combination of just 592 minutes during the season. Hardly enough to make you think he’d have much time left in his burgeoning career. But, just two seasons later he’d moved to Toulouse and was starting at scrum-half for Toulouse. As the rugby nauses will know, that was Antoine Dupont.
If Dupont can fly under the radar thanks to a lack of opportunities, then anyone can. With that in mind, let’s look at the players from the Premiership this season with fewer than 592 minutes of action who might spring a surprise this season!
Tom de Glanville (24, back three, Bath)
De Glanville has had a stop start career until now. Between 2020 and 2022 he started 36 games for Bath but that number dropped to just 21 in the last two years with 13 Premiership starts. But, the mark of someone ready for more playing time is how they take their limited chances. Last season, de Glanville scored five tries in his three Premiership Rugby Cup games and backed that up with another five tries in his eight Premiership matches. He’s coupled that excellent try scoring record with great ball security and is deserving of plenty more chances next season.
James Chisholm (28, Backrow, Harlequins)
Chisholm featured in plenty of fixtures last season, 19, but started just six. In that limited playing time he won 11 turnovers and conceded just four penalties. An incredibly rare combination of high risk turnovers without the corresponding increase in penalties. He’s matched that with an 89% tackle success rate in that time. Expect to see more opportunities and more playing time for Chisholm this season around given how he performed with limited chances last time.
Arthur Clark (22, Lock, Gloucester)
It’s hard to stand out as a lock when given limited opportunities to play. So much of a lock’s work can be found in the unseen actions which only really show themselves over extended playing time. Clark has made the most of his 521 Premiership minutes though. His 100 tackles are the third most of players featuring for fewer than 592 minutes. Only Chisholm and Bristol’s Dan Thomas ranked above him. Clark has won more lineouts, and lineout steals, than either and has a 90% tackle success rate and three turnovers.
Jarrod Evans (27, Fly-Half, Harlequins)
Evans probably had a different season to what he expected. The reduction in Premiership teams has meant back-up players have been devalued. Marcus Smith featured for England right the way through the World Cup and played twice in the Six Nations, yet, he only missed five Premiership games. Evans played well when given the keys to the Quins’ attack but he wasn’t really given the minutes to shine. With Will Evans and Andre Esterhuizen gone, expect to see Evans’ game time increased and maybe some starts at inside-centre.
Josh Hathaway (20, Back three, Gloucester)
Hathaway has had a varied international career. At the 2022 U20 Six Nations, he played for Wales, in 2023 he played for England and scored a hat-trick against Scotland, in 2024 he made his senior debut for Wales. During the 2023-2024 season, he has seen more game time than ever before, 775 minutes across three tournaments and it’s clear what both Wales and England have seen in him. Gloucester’s ropey season meant he was given game time in five of the last six rounds and scored five times. He also featured in both finals Gloucester played; the Premiership Rugby Cup and Challenge Cup, though both off the bench.
Ratu Siva Naulago (33, Winger, Bristol Bears)
The former Hull rugby league player has had an interesting few seasons with Bristol. Back in 2021-2022 he scored four tries in his five appearances but also managed to catch two red cards in the same time frame. The following season he got four in 11 without any cards. Last year, he featured in all seven of Bristol’s final Premiership rounds with a single try and two yellow cards. The fact he featured in all those matches suggests more is expected this season. His single try doesn’t tell everything about his season. He was an offloading demon and a nightmare for defenders to catch, let alone tackle.
Dan Frost (27, Hooker, Exeter Chiefs)
Frost has been hammering at the door of more chances for both Wasps and Exeter in recent seasons. Last year, he was the favoured starter for Exeter’s Champions Cup group stages and he backed that trust up with three tries in four starts. He is the classic modern hooker with a boatload of tries, eight this season, and the second most turnovers, nine, of anyone on our list. Exeter’s exodus hasn’t included the departure of any hookers with significant game time, but it’s impossible to think of what more Frost needs to do.
Francois Van Wyk (32, Prop, Leicester Tigers (moving to Bath)
Van Wyk terrorised his opponents during four Premiership Rugby Cup appearances at the start of the season where he also bagged three tries. He was a defensive rock as well, he made 99 tackles, missing just three and won four turnovers. He featured in 24 matches throughout the season and started the Premiership Rugby Cup final but his involvement in the Premiership was limited to 564 minutes. He’s off to Bath next season. I’d expect Beno Obano to still be the starter but Juan Schoeman, Obano’s deputy, is off to the Lions. Expect Van Wyk to challenge Obano and get plenty more game time regardless of whether or not he wins that battle.
Not all careers are linear and these eight players have shown enough in limited game time to suggest that when more opportunities come their way, they are more than ready to shine.
It’s nice to see a couple of Quins in that list, but if they are any example then I need to take the rest of the article with a pinch of salt.
James Chisholm was a JRWC winning captain and World Junior Player of the year, but sadly his physical style of play has taken a toll and these days it seems that he spends more time rehabbing injuries than playing. When he is fit, he is still good enough that he would be a good shout… but he’s not fit often enough for long enough.
Jarrod Evans should see more game time this year, and could well be an option for Quins at 12 (where I believe he played fairly regularly before joining us), and Andre Esterhuizen’s departure will have opened up that opportunity. But Will Evans is still very much at the Stoop - it was Will Collier who left - and since W Evans is a flanker and W Collier a prop, neither has much bearing on whether J Evans will play.
Arthur Clarke, on the other hand, really does look like one to watch. We borrowed him for a few weeks last season and I would happily have seen him stay.
“If Dupont can fly under the radar thanks to a lack of opportunities, then anyone can”
Dupont didn’t fly under the radar thanks to a lack of opportunities - he was a teenager who hadn’t come close to hitting his peak.