Sport + Life

A compelling and very honest conversation with Gloucester (and England international) winger Ollie Thorley about how his life changed with his family's decision to leave London and move to Cheltenham as a small boy. Without that sliding-doors decision, Ollie thinks he may never have even played regular rugby - let alone become a pro and a Gloucester legend. We talk about Ollie's passion for swimming and how his innate physicality as a boy - size, speed and strength - meant some of his rugby skills were underdeveloped. It was too easy for him to outmuscle and outpace boyhood opponents so his handling, positioning and skillset was counterintuitively stunted. We also discuss Ollie's love of his school days at Cheltenham College but how the attention on him as rugby star and Deputy Head Boy was something he found difficult. He was also wrestling with a stammer at the time (which he's clearly overcome).Very honest and two-way conversation with Ollie asking me about my background and what would be m