Meet Harri Deaves - A badger with the heart of a lion

There is certainly no danger of Harri Deaves forgetting his rugby roots.

The Ospreys flanker is hugely proud to be a product of Pontyclun RFC - or The Badgers to give them their nickname.

He demonstrated as much by wearing the club’s socks during the BKT URC Origin Round clash with league leaders Leinster Rugby in Swansea last time out.

Despite the Ospreys going down to a 22-19 defeat, Deaves was named Player of the Match after topping the tackle count with 19, beating the most defenders (5), hoovering up the post-contact metres, winning a turnover penalty and even putting in a 50:22 kick!

It was some display and one which saw Leinster boss Leo Cullen describe him as a “thorn in the side for us”.

On receiving his award, Deaves made a point of stressing the importance of remembering your rugby roots, something which the Origin rounds set out to do.

“It’s been a big driver for us,” said the 23-year-old.

“There are boys here who would die for their community clubs.

“Without the schools and clubs, we wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t have a platform, so thank you very much to them.”

Outlining his own journey, he says: “My first memory of rugby was playing for my school when I was about eight years old.

“My teacher at the time told my parents I should really start playing rugby and I joined Pontyclun RFC and fell in love with the club. I am Pontyclun through and through.

“I did leave as a teenager to play for Pontypridd and was involved with Ponty schools, but I went back to Pontyclun to play U16s and that was where I really fell in love with rugby, and it was one of the best years of my life.

“That was when I moved to playing seven having originally been a full back, centre or wing.

“I then went to Bridgend College and that was where the Ospreys saw me and picked me up. I went there to do civil engineering and after two days switched to rugby.”

The former Wales U20s international cuts a distinctive figure with his yellow scrum-cap, which is something of a tradition at the region with fellow flanker Justin Tipuric having famously worn a blue one through his illustrious career.

Tipuric, who is now in his final season as a player before moving into coaching, has nothing but praise for his young back row colleague.

“Harri is class. He’s everywhere every game,” said the 93-cap Wales great.

“He’s got a heart the size of a lion, to be fair to him, and he’s only going to get better and better.

“Hopefully, one day he’ll be in that red jersey where he belongs as well, so fingers crossed it will happen for him.”

Giving his thoughts on Deaves, Ospreys coach Mark Jones said: “He does it all really. He does everything you would want in the game.

“He’s a very bright guy. He understands the laws very well and he’s incredibly fit. He gives us an all-court game.

“He wins collisions because of his footwork and he’s incredibly powerful with the ball. He’s got a mindset to get out the other side of the tackle. You look at the yards he makes after contact. For his size, he’s incredible. His post contact stuff is really good.

“The boys will tell you, he plays like he trains. You can imagine boys are running away from him in training because he is harassing you!

“His local club is the Badgers and he is a badger around things, that’s for sure.”

Another former Wales international on the coaching staff at the Ospreys is James Hook who works with the Academy and has watched Deaves’ development.

“If you weren’t sure of Harri’s passion, just look at that performance against Leinster and that interview he gave,” says Hook.

“He is getting Man of the Match on a losing team, so fair play to him.

“He is a fantastic player. He never lets you down, he is a 100 per center. He is like that every week, every session in training.”

Former Wales wing Alex Cuthbert, who played with Deaves for a couple of seasons at the Ospreys, adds:

“He is flat out all the time. He leaves everything on the line. Any big moments, he is always in and around it. Plus he’s such a likeable guy.”

For Deaves, who worked as a roofer during his Academy days, the focus now switches to Saturday’s showdown with league champions Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun.

Having come so close against the leaders, it’s a case of trying to go one step further against the second-placed side.

“Our ambition and our want was to turn Leinster over, but credit to them,” he says.

“They haven’t lost all season and they are a quality outfit. It was a real battle.

“We will take positives from it, we will take learnings from it, come back better and stronger and look forward to Glasgow away now.”