24 September 2023 , 21:00
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Henry Arundell left Lille dedicating his five-try World Cup debut to friends from the London Irish club that made him and is no more.
Three and a half months before equalling an all-time England scoring record, he was made redundant when the Exiles went bust. A 20-year old without a job, unsure of his next move with rugby’s biggest show fast approaching.
Buzzing though he was after staking a claim for selection deeper into the tournament, he kept his emotions in check, appreciating he was the lucky one. “You don’t want to get too high or too low,” he said. “That’s the key.”
Three months ago he sat in a meeting room being told his employment and that of his team mates was being terminated. The club they had taken to fifth in the Premiership was folding.
Anger mixed with sorrow, bitterness rubbing shoulders with uncertainty. Equalling a national record held by Josh Lewsey, Rory Underwood and Douglas Lambert seemed a world away.
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“Ultimately you have to move on quickly, that’s the nature of it,” Arundell said. “But it was a sad time for a lot of people. There was a bit of me that was playing for those lads. A lot of them wished me luck.
“I was lucky we went straight into England camp four days later so I was able to distract myself. It was tougher on lads who took quite a long time maybe to get a new club.
Arundell goes over for England's seventh try during his record-breaking performance (Getty Images)“It was about supporting them. While I was focusing on the rugby side of things, they are close friends of mine and always will be. Those lads are special.”
For all the stardust he sprinkled on proceedings at Stade Pierre Mauroy, Arundell does not know when he will play for England again.
He is not a first-choice selection and his impending move to Stuart Lancaster’s Racing 92 in France renders him ineligible for selection once this tournament ends.
Arundell and Marcus Smith celebrate (Andrew Fosker/REX/Shutterstock)No wonder his focus was fixed on the here and now, rather than getting carried away with his 49-minute five-timer.
He did pause to recall the only previous time he had scored five in a game, in an under-16s game for Harrow, but quickly reminded himself the following week he was on the wrong end of a 72-10 battering.
“It’s great scoring five tries; but in the grand scheme of things we haven’t won the World Cup,” he said. “We still need to win the group. It’s fun having individual stuff, but the main priority is winning the tournament.”
ENGLAND - Tries: Arundell 5, Dan 2, Rodd, Smith 2, Willis. Cons: Farrell 8.