Rugby Legends with Arthur Dickins

Asher Opoku-Fordjour: England’s New Prop Star

• Paul Banks • Season 1 • Episode 23

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0:00 | 18:13

In this episode of Rugby Legends, Arthur Dickins is joined by England and Sale Sharks prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour to explore one of the toughest and most misunderstood positions in rugby.

Asher shares his journey from the backline to the front row, revealing how a position change transformed his career and ultimately helped him earn England honours. From learning the technical demands of tighthead and loosehead to handling the physical battles that come with life in the scrum, Asher gives a fascinating insight into what it really takes to succeed as a modern prop.

The conversation covers everything from being sent on loan, dealing with setbacks, and finding ways to stand out when opportunities are limited, to training techniques, recovery routines, England pathways, and the mental resilience required to compete at the highest level. Asher also explains why props don't fear contact, why self-doubt affects every professional player, and how he overcame the challenges that every young rugby player faces.

Whether you're a prop looking to improve your game, a young player hoping to break into elite rugby, or simply a fan wanting a deeper understanding of the front row, this episode is packed with practical advice and honest insight from one of England's most exciting young forwards.

In this episode:

  •  Why Asher became a prop 
  •  The move from wing to front row 
  •  The coach who changed his career 
  •  Lessons from Manu Tuilagi 
  •  Life on loan as a young professional 
  •  Tighthead vs loosehead explained 
  •  Scrum techniques for young props 
  •  England Schools and England pathways 
  •  Recovery and preparation routines 
  •  Building confidence at the highest level

Hi everyone, I'm Arthur Dickins and this is my Rugby Legends podcast. In each episode I interview an amazing rugby player or coach to get their insight and advice for young rugby players just like me who are keen to learn and Get better. In this episode, I'm speaking with Asher Opoku-Fordjour, one of the most exciting young forwards in English rugby right now, Asher is a prop for sale sharks and the England national team, and at just 21 years old, he's already made a serious mark on the game. He won the 2024 U20s 6 nations with England starting all five games. He also played in the world Rugby U20 championship final as England beat France to become world champions. Asher became the youngest English prop to win his senior cap when he came off the bench against Japan at Twickenham in November, 2024. I hope you find Asher's knowledge and wisdom has helpful as I did. Enjoy. so firstly Asher, as a youngster, you played Wing, flanker and Hooker. What took you to playing Prop? I don't think it was my decision. So basically I started on the Wing and I loved running with the ball in my hand and stuff. And then Hooker, as I gradually got bigger, it kind of gradually moved me to the forwards as well. and then I tried, hooker couldn't really throw too well, I eventually I ended up being a prop. Do you ever miss any of those positions? not really. I'm happy, I'm very happy with where I'm at, in the Scrum. it's a good place to be. Yeah, know, it seems like it such a quite nice tight pack. Yeah. What are the coaching lessons that have stuck with you from those formative years? I would probably say there's those, I had this, senior academy coach, from wasps and it wasn't more so about rugby, it was more just about my attitude and how much I wanted, how much I wanted it. So he basically just said to me like, you've gotta give this your all if you wanna get a contract. So from that day, literally, I've given my all to being the best I can possibly be. And I think that's really important for like young kids coming through. if you really want it, you have to be able to put in the work and, give everything you can. Yeah. Like hard work beats talent. Yeah. Literally. Yeah. No, a lot of coaches say how you just gotta play every game like it's your last, yeah. That's how you, that's how you get the, best out of yourself really. I would say. Which players inspired you growing up and what was inspiring about them? I would probably say Manu Tuilagi , he was one of the, I didn't really watch, the league that much prem, but like when I watched England, he's probably one of the people that stuck out for me and he was just carrying, running over people, whacking people, and it just excited me. Really? Yeah. I remember in the 2023 World Cup, I remember he broke his wrist like midway. Yeah. He was taped up and carried on playing the whole world. Yeah. Yeah. Literally he's a solid man. You joined Sale Sharks and then played out on loan during your first season with them. What was that like? to be honest, I didn't really like it going on loan while being like naive. I thought I was ready to play already at Sale, so I wanted to stay there, play with the boys, but it was, in hindsight, it was really good 'cause it just taught me them lessons I needed to learn. Like especially at set-piece time for scrummage and and stuff and just becoming just more gritty I guess.'cause it, it's not fun. Some, it can't, it's not always fun sometimes, on loan.'cause you like, you're not playing with the best of players, so you've gotta find ways to, to stand out I would say. What kind of lessons did you learn? I would definitely say Scrum times. Getting drilled backwards wasn't always, wasn't always fun. So they're the lessons I would say. And, also just like buying into whatever team you are in. I think that's the way you get the best out of yourself really. And not just coming there just to be there proper buy in. As you said about standing out. How would you make yourself stand out? I guess it's like taking every opportunity you get. So when, you get an opportunity to carry the ball, carrying it, and showing yourself every tackle, showing yourself in set-piece giving your all really, that's what I would say, taking every opportunity. How do you prepare for the confrontation of playing prop? I'm not too sure. I think it is, it's probably just ingrained in me now. I would say. Like I wouldn't have to like, prepare for the confrontation. What I would say is, getting my body right throughout the week so I'm fully ready to go on the weekend is really important for me. What kind of, like, how would you get your body ready for the week? Just like recovery stuff, making sure I'm on top of, on top of my stretches. sauna helps ice baths, compression boots. Just a little bit of everything really. Yeah. No, compression boots are really nice because Yeah, they do stretching. Makes everything easier. Yeah, it does. What's your favourite out of the ice bath or the sauna? Oh, definitely sauna. I'm not, too good in the Do try though, but you won't catch me in there for a long. What's different about playing tighthead versus loosehead prop? So I would say at tighthead, like you are, you're trying to keep the loosehead down, down and forward. But at loosehead you're trying to obviously vice versa. So the loosehead's trying to keep the tighthead up, which, yeah, so it's just like a sort of a different feeling. And on loosehead you're on, you are on the outside of the tighthead a little bit. So you, have to work your way in and try and not fully in, 'cause you can't go too much on an angle. So it is, there's loads of little technical pieces that have to be, that you have to know to be able to play both to a decent level. Which one's your favourite to play? Oh, I'd definitely say tighthead. I've done it the longest, so I feel like it's just, it's more natural to me. So I played twenties at Loosehead and it was good there, but I don't know, as I'm getting older, I, definitely say I prefer tighthead, but I'm not opposed to playing loosehead. What's the hardest part about playing prop? I would, probably say playing prop is one of the hardest positions on the pitch. just because, you have to do everything that everyone else does to a, high level and then you have to scrum on top of that. So you probably get, the most fatigued in a game, I would say. Yeah, no, when we interviewed Richard Hill, he said, yeah, the props do a lot of work like that don't get seen. Yeah, that is very true. I do agree with him. Now, How hard is it to switch between tighthead versus loosehead? I would say once you've done it quite a few times, then it becomes easier. But once, as you first start switching across, then it's a bit hard.'cause in one, when you're on one side, you're focused on doing a certain thing, then you have to come across and do an opposite thing. So it is pretty hard at the start, but once you get the hang of it, then it becomes way easier. How do you like anything really? A hundred percent. How did you get the hang of it? just doing it loads really. So I've, been scrummaging at loosehead a lot recently just due to injuries. But yeah, just doing that, doing it a lot. A hundred percent. Which other position in the scrum do you rely on the most? I would say second rows. I think they, the back rows don't do much really, I would say. But then the second row is they're really putting in some work and, getting you through there. Yeah, I don't what Henry Pollock could say about that. He, wouldn't be doing much work, I promise you. Just the, hair he is working on. What's one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to be good at prop? I would say scrumming is your bread and butter, and you have to master that first before. So I would say put most of your time into, scrumming and learning what suits you and how you can be there best at scrumming with, your body type and your body shape. How would you like work on your scrummaging? would you do it like with a, would you use a scrumming machine with all your, pack? so one way you can practice your scrum is in training, just like 8v8, just live and using things that you've worked on, what you've been told to work on, and just putting it into practice there. And then another way is just on a sled, like a single-man sled, which you can do by yourself. You can literally do it on a wall. To be honest, I used to do it like with my washing machine at home. Just like my, my, my shape and my setup, I'd just be crouched by and just getting that feeling of knowing where you want to be and how you want to do it so you can do it anywhere really. There's no excuses not to be practising. That's not actually a bad idea of the washing machine. Yeah, it's not, is it? What do you enjoy most about playing prop? I would definitely say just getting scrum penalties and helping the team go forward. But I would also say, I like carrying quite a bit. I don't, I get a few opportunities to show what I can do, but not too many. But I, I would definitely say carrying's involved in that as well. get in a couple of bumps as well. Yeah. Yeah. Can't go wrong with that. How would you prepare for a game and when does this process start? I feel like the process starts at, the beginning of the week and it would start from the, once the game, once you reviewed your game from the last week, it's literally your, next job is to focus on what's coming next. from, meeting one about the opposition, that's when the prep starts. And like from that day, that's when your recovery starts and so forth. It just keeps going throughout the week. And then the only day I, rarely give myself is my off day and I probably still get some recovery as well during that day. So yeah. After a club or school match, we have match teas together with our opposition. What happens after your matches? I feel like boys, we sometimes, depending on the week and what we have afterwards, some lads will go upstairs and have a little drink. but then I feel like lad's just want to get off and go home after just being banged around for 80 minutes. I feel like lad's just go home really nowadays. What would you do? I would come home and I'd get a takeaway and normally on the Chinese at the moment, that's what, that's my go-to. And then, yeah, just chill. Really Good shout. Yeah, good shout. Yeah. No, when we into tommy freeman and he said, yeah, he'd have a, he'd go for a couple of drinks. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes you do It just depends. Depends whether, you've got a game the next week, how quick a turnover is, but yeah, I'm not opposed to that as well. What was it like being called up into the full England school last year? Oh, I was sick. It was, I, didn't really I couldn't believe it really. I was pretty shocked. So I was literally at, a 21st birthday party and then in the morning I got the call. I missed the first one, and then I called back and yeah, I was pretty shocked. And then, I was, I went back home and packed my stuff and then I was off. It was pretty surreal. It was such an honour. How did you celebrate? How did I celebrate? I didn't, really get a chance to celebrate really. I was just into camp and that was it. What was the environment like and what did you enjoy most about it? The environment was very good. the boys are very welcoming. Everyone's really welcoming, just helping you get settled in. And then, what was your second question? Sorry. what did you, what'd you enjoy most about it? I enjoyed the competitiveness of training. That's, it's really tough and it's it's so intense and you come off the field after training and you're, like proud of yourself of how tough it is and how you stayed in it and, just training with the boys really is, sick really. Who did you room with? I, when I first, it was Chandler. Chandler took me under his wing and settled me in. Do you have any really good friends in camp? Yeah, I'd probably say chandler's up there and Manny Feyi-Waboso. So he is a good lad as well. There's a lot of lads, everyone gets on really well there, to be fair. Yeah. No, Manny Feyi-Waboso, so I can't imagine running at him or he, yeah, he's a, he's literally a brick, a really fast brick. Imagine that. What's the best thing about being a professional rugby player? I would probably say just being with your teammates like most of your week and just having that, sort of brotherhood and being together and just like fighting everyone there is literally fighting for the same thing, for the same cause. And I feel it is just a good feeling being around all them boys all the time. Yeah. If anything, loads of people say competition's really good, rises you to a high standard. Yeah. Literally. What would you say is the worst thing about being a professional rugby player? Oh, ooh. I'm not a morning man. So early mornings aren't that great for me. So I would probably go with that and know, same here. I hate when I play club matches, when it's eight, like 10 o'clock. the game starts. I love when it starts at two 'cause I early, yeah, Eight and 10 o'clock. That's way too early for me. I dunno if I'll be able to do that. What are you most proud of in your rugby career to date? I would definitely say my, in my first England cap. that was unreal. I had all my family there. and yeah, it was just, it was another surreal feeling. Like I didn't, feel like it was real. I was just, I can't really remember much from that, game as well. It was just mental. How did you celebrate that? I went out and, yeah, it, was a good night, but I had to go home early 'cause I was throwing up everywhere so it wasn't, that great. Seems like a productive night. Yeah, it was very productive. how do you deal with self-doubt? Do get self-doubt quite a bit. I have to reassure myself that I'm meant to be here and I'm good enough to be here. And yeah, that's, I just tell myself that really, and I have to go back to the reason I want to play rugby and the reason why I'm doing this. And that helps when I go back and I've got it written down and, I go and, I look at it and it helps me, come back to being a confident lad. And final question, Asher, if you made a mistake in a game, how would you not let it affect you further on? you just have to, you just have to snap out of it. Sometimes you, don't always snap out of it and then it leads to more negatives and more negatives, which is, which is not what you want. And, you have to stop thinking about it and move on to the next job, or you'll just get, you'll, keep getting caught up in that moment and then before you know it, the game's over and you've just played horribly. So you've, got snap out of it really quick. And even if you think about it in the moment, you just tell yourself, you, you're gonna be able to go back, watch it back, and find the fixes for what you've done wrong. So there's always gonna be a time and a place to, to get back away from that. A hundred percent. And as well, memory like a goldfish. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, thanks so much, Asher, for taking the time. I really appreciate it and I loved speaking with you. It's all good. Thank you very much, mate.