Chelsea reject Lozowski making his mark with Leeds

Fly-half Alex Lozowksi is becoming the poster boy of this developing Leeds squad – and he is only 20. What is more, he spent six years of his youth trying to become a professional footballer with Chelsea, and has only been playing rugby union seriously for the last two years.

He joined the Carnegie academy last October, having spent some time in the youth set-up at Wasps.

At the start of the season he was barely on the radar, and was only in the equation to play at fly-half because big summer signing Glyn Hughes was the only recognised, and experienced, No 10 on the Headingley books.

But after coming off the bench to score a try and a conversion in the opening-day defeat to Nottingham, he has not looked back.

He took the No 10 shirt two games later and, in Sunday’s derby win over Rotherham Titans, he was faultless with his place-kicking and provided the spark that created the only offensive try for David Doherty.

“Pre-season went well and the season has gone well so far so, hopefully, I can kick on a bit,” said the son of former Wasps and England centre Rob Lozowski.

“I know I’ve got a lot to learn in terms of controlling a game and driving the team around the field.

“I’m working on that all the time with Jimmy (Lowes, head coach). I still need to learn how to get the team into good positions.

“There’s times when I’m looking around in a break of play and I’m out of breath.

“The pace of the game is a big step up. But I’ve been working really hard with the strength guys and they’ve helped get me in shape.”

It is all a far cry from what he dreamed of becoming, a professional footballer with Chelsea.

“I didn’t get very close,” laughed Lozoswki, who was a midfielder by trade. “I was there for six years between 10 and 16. It was a brilliant time. I loved every minute of it and it was a pity when it came to an end and I got released.

“But my dad always kept me level-headed. He never demoralised me by saying ‘you’re not going to make it’, but he made sure I understood that it was a very tough game to get involved in, and especially at Chelsea where you’d have to be pretty special to break through.

“So I remained realistic. I wasn’t good enough and after they released me I started playing rugby and I’ve never looked back.

“I’d played a bit at school, but not seriously.

“I never really played seriously until I got to university. I’ve played a lot fewer games than a lot of the Leeds guys and I’ve definitely got lots to learn.”

While improvement is required with ball in hand, when it is at his feet, Lozowski is proving a cool customer. On Sunday, he upstaged Rotherham’s Juan Pablo Socino – the Championship’s leading points scorer.

“As a fly-half, you have to concentrate on your own game,” said Lozowski, who is studying for a degree in economics at Leeds University.

“Juan had an off-day but I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”