Pozniak can’t wait to have a crack at National One

NEW recruit Tomek Pozniak cannot wait to have a crack at National One after the Polish international wing scored on debut in Rams’ final 42-28 pre-season friendly win at Chinnor on Monday.

Recommended to the club by former Old Bath Road ace Samir Kharbouch, Pozniak racked up 20 tries in 22 appearances for Wimbledon last season, his prolific efforts not enough to prevent the Dons dropping back to Level Five.

And while he was happy to stay loyal to the Londoners’, a chat with director of rugby, Seb Reynolds, ensured his arrival in Berkshire.

The new signing explained: “It was such a nice call for about half-an-hour. He was asking what makes me tick as a player, explaining the vibe of the club — and at the time I was maybe thinking ‘oh, everyone says this’ — but then I came down and realised he was bang on.

“All the lads love it. I’ve turned up at the ground an hour-and-a-half or two hours before the start of training and there are 10 to 15 guys in the gym — it was clear it was just the right fit and I’ve never seen that before.”

Having scored six tries in seven games for Esher in their National Two South campaign of 21/22 — the wing revealed he’d been impressed by what he’d seen of Rams as well as what he aims to bring to the side. He continued: “I pride myself on finishing. It started off as a bit of an unexplainable strength as I’ve got a very odd running style for a wing, but I’ve always ended up scoring tries and the way Rams play, with the continuity, off-loading game, it just made it easy.

“The Rams’ style is so free-flowing, quite similar to Wimbledon last year, and I just can’t wait to get involved with the incredible quality the guys have.

“I know I’ve got to work on my stuff off the ball, keeping up with the pace of National One and the basic catch-pass skills to be flawless while working at high speed at this level.” The Pole’s paternal grandparents moved over to the UK following the Second World War, originally based up north where he got into the sport on the basis: “I was rubbish at football, and still am to this day!”

Starting as a Mini at Macclesfield RFC, Pozniak took a bit of time out of the game before regaining his love for the sport when attending Manchester Grammar School, going on to play for Burnage in adult rugby as a 17-year-old.

An international call-up followed after Pozniak impressed at a U20s camp, then selected for his country’s first XV against the Netherlands in the Rugby Europe Trophy in 2020.

Covid closing the world for 18 months disrupted his progression, but he has since also gone on to represent his national side in both rugby league and Sevens — coming across fellow Ram and Swedish ace Axel Kalling-Smith, admitting his Polish contribution is ‘a big part of my life’.

“After a good year with Esher I ended up playing against Romania and Portugal in a World Cup year, which was one of my top rugby experiences.”