Edgerley: Leaving Esher was the best move I've made (From Sutton Guardian)

Edgerley: Leaving Esher was the best move I've made

8:00am Saturday 12th May 2012 in Sport By Stuart Amos

Rosslyn Park scrum half Sam Edgerley may cross paths with former club Esher next season, but if he does not it will mean his mission has been accomplished.

The 20-year-old quit Molesey Road midway through the season to switch to the Rock in the hopes of igniting his prospects of reaching an Olympic Games with the England Sevens squad.

The move seemed to have paid off when the former London Irish academy player, who sparkled for Esher at the Middlesex Charity Sevens last summer, made his World Sevens Series debut for head coach Ben Ryan’s men in Tokyo last month.

And Chobham-based Edgerley admitted leaving director of rugby Mike Schmid’s doomed side to concentrate on cracking the shortened format of the game was the best move he ever made.

“Ben (Ryan) sees me more as a scrum half than a winger and that was the reason why I had to move. I had to get game time at number nine,” he said.

“Moving away from Esher was the best move I could have made, because I needed to be playing regularly. I had to be proactive.

“I even had to learn how to throw in at a lineout, because that is the scrum half’s job in sevens. I think that is what led to my debut. I don’t think I would be playing sevens for England if I was still at Esher.

“Probably my main goal is to play in the Olympics in 2016, but I’m keeping my options open at the moment.

“I’ll see how it goes before I make the decision.”

Edgerley, pictured below, returns closer to home at the London leg of the HSBC World Series Sevens at Twickenham stadium today.