by He’s the next prop idol in England to get Joe Marler’s seal of approval. There is already a debate going on which side of the scrum will best realize his potential.
And on Saturday, Sale Sharks teenager Asher Opoku-Fordjour will take on Leinster loose pair Andrew Porter and Cian Healy, who have the best of 200 Ireland caps between them, in his fourth professional game. “It was a bit wild,” Opoku-Fordjour tells Telegraph Sport.
The 19-year-old only made his Sale debut last month and then came off the bench two weeks ago against Harlequins where Marler went out of his way to praise his ability in a live interview on TNT Sport (see the video below). “It felt good to hear from someone with such talent to recognize me and praise me,” said Opoku-Fordjour. “It was very cool.”
Even more impressive was his performance against Stade Francais where he ended up playing 47 minutes against what many experts consider to be the most dominant scrum in the Top 14. Teenage props are not meant to more than hold their own in such circumstances. So the hype, even though he is the youngest of four brothers is not allowed to go to his head.
“I don’t usually swag,” Opoku-Fordjour said. “My brothers keep me grounded. They keep me on my toes and make sure I don’t get out of line.”
And it’s not just fans who are excited. On Wednesday at Sodden Sale’s Carrington training ground, England scrum coach Tom Harrison dropped in to discuss Opoku-Fordjour’s progress, among other things, with Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson, although their views are not entirely aligned.
“He sees Asher as a loosehead,” Sanderson said. “I don’t agree. I think we have a lot of loose ends with good mobility and a bit of quickness and it’s easier to get right technically. Asher can work a tight end and that’s very rare, as rare as a teddy bear s—. He could be a good loosehead but like others in his position like Bev (Rodd). He could be an excellent tighthead given his mobility and ability stick to the scrum.”
Opoku-Fordjour remains on the outer edge of Harrison’s radar. The most likely candidate to enter the equation for the Six Nations is James Harper, who can squat 300kg and bench press 200kg.
But just for Opoku-Fordjour to go to an exempt game at the RDS feels something out of a dream after starting the season at Sedgley Park and Sale in the National Leagues. “At the start of the season, I wanted to secure my place at England under-20s and train more often here,” said Opoku-Fordjour. “Maybe I thought I could be involved in squad training sensibly. I certainly didn’t see what I’m doing now happening so quickly. It was a great opportunity. I just had to take it. Coming up against Healy and Porter, that’s a huge challenge. I hope I will do my job.”
‘I started on the wing’
None of this was predestined. When Opoku-Fordjour started playing rugby at 10 for Broadstreet Rugby Club, he was nowhere near the front row. “I started on the wing, then I went to the centers, then I went to the shore, then I was an ocker, I realized that I couldn’t throw, so I ended up at prop,” said Opoku-Fordjour. “It was a long and winding road to find my right home.”
He didn’t appear to be a superstar in the making, at least at first. He was released from the Worcester Warriors academy and then Wasps academy coach Richard Beck needed a bit of a kick. “I remember he walked me around the field and said we see potential in you, but you need to work harder, push yourself harder,” Opoku-Fordjour said. “He compared me to Greg Fisilau (now Exeter’s second tier) as a man with natural talent and what it takes. Right now he told me you are not. From that moment on, I fought him and he really drove me to be where I am now. He went through all my games with me. It was really good for me and that made me want more time.”
When Wasps went under, Opoku-Fordjour was not short of offers but chose Sale in part because of how they pushed their young players. His reputation continued to grow over the summer as he was part of the England starting line-up that forced a penalty try against Ireland in the Under-20 World Championship.
“It felt great,” Opoku-Fordjour said. “That was a great feeling. When you get a good scrum, you want to look back at it and see what you did to make it go forward. My mindset is to try to dominate, go forward and win penalties.”
It will be a tough ask against Leinster, especially with Sale leaving many of their big guns in Manchester, but as Sanderson says he has yet to find his limit. “We were very intent on his progress and his understanding of the level he could rise to. He did it in the Premiership. Then he did it last week in the Champions Cup so we haven’t found his ceiling yet. That may be the case this weekend. It could be at the international level. That’s what’s so exciting.”
