Many athletes have had to leave home to further their sporting career. Rugby prospect Jacob Henry is no different.
Henry, 21, was born in London but grew up in Dingwall, where he made his name as a talented teenage rugby player.
He was initially on the books of local side Ross Sutherland and spent two years with Highland in Inverness, before catching the eye of Scottish Rugby.
The reward for his journey was a place at the Commonwealth Games, with Henry in the Scotland sevens squad for the tournament this summer.
“I’ve been all over the place,” said Henry. “I started my age-grade rugby at Ross Sutherland and I was just enjoying having fun.
“I got asked to do some of the Caledonia regional stuff and then moved to the Borders when I was 17. I got into the senior academy at Edinburgh and am now playing sevens at the Commonwealth Games. It’s crazy.
“Moving away from home was something I was wanting to do. There wasn’t much to do in Dingwall and when the offer came to go to the Borders, I jumped at it.
“Living up north, all the camps would be in Aberdeen or Edinburgh, so I’d been used to staying away from home. Going there wasn’t too bad and I slowly adjusted to it.
“I think the reason why I ended up moving about all over the place was because it was best for my rugby – someone who comes from that far away but needs consistent training.
“Once that started that’s when I really started to improve.”
Name: Jacob Henry
D.O.B: 31/8/00
Home town: Dingwall
Previous CG experience: none
Event(s): Rugby sevens
Henry is currently on the books at Edinburgh, but he was brought into the sevens setup towards the end of last year. He had been starring for the Southern Knights in the Super6 when the chance came to play sevens.
“I feel like this past year, coming back from a bad injury, I’ve been catching up on everything. It’s been a good year for me; I played well in the Super6 and from that got asked to train with the Scotland sevens.
“I got picked for my first tournament and did the next one after that. I went back to 15s to get ready for the next season with Edinburgh, but I wanted to give the Commonwealths a shot. I asked to go back and they facilitated that.”
A serious Achilles injury prompted an arduous rehabilitation process which was mentally challenging for Henry. The Scotland under-20s cap credits Edinburgh with helping him through.
He said: “I feel like after rupturing my Achilles, I didn’t realise how bad an injury it was until a couple of months later. I had no function in my foot really and had to slowly build it back up.
“It was pretty much learning how to walk again, then how to run, then how to sprint. It was tough and a long process, 11 months being away from rugby.
“It was lucky in some sense it was followed by the Covid season, so I didn’t have to catch up on too much rugby. No-one else was really playing.
“Edinburgh looked after me really well and I came back better than before. I can still feel it here and there, but it’s where it needs to be for what I want to be doing.”
🏴💬 "I'm absolutely delighted. It's going to be special."
Jake Henry chats after being named in the @Team_Scotland mens sevens squad for Birmingham 2022. pic.twitter.com/hfJkXE36DF
— Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) July 8, 2022
Team Scotland will face South Africa, Tonga and Malaysia at the Games this summer, with the rugby sevens taking place in Coventry between July 29 and 31.
Alongside Henry in Team Scotland will be fellow Highland alumnus Paddy Kelly, who moved into sevens in 2020 after injuries had hampered his career.
Representing Scotland on a big stage is an honour Henry is relishing.
“I’ll probably be overwhelmed with emotion. I watched the Games as a kid and it’s probably something I can only describe after I’ve done it,” he said.
“It’ll definitely be a special one.”
