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Don’t ever think that just because you have never played for the county or been selected for a Premiership academy that you won’t make the grade in rugby.

History is littered with examples of late bloomers or talented players who have operated under the radar during their teenage years.

I was talking to one such case during the week - Newcastle Falcons full-back Simon Hammersley.

The Yorkshireman is as natural a talent as they come, and his attacking style helped set the Premiership alight last season as topped the monthly stats for defenders beaten and metres made.

But his so-called rapid emergence ignores the fact that as recently as four years ago he was playing fourth-team university rugby.

Jamie Noon, a Falcons and England stalwart, did not play a single game of county rugby and was only brought to Newcastle’s attention when his school teacher wrote to the club explaining his amazement that he had not been spotted by anyone.

Newcastle’s Scotland prop Jon Welsh worked as an electrician and nightclub doorman before going pro during his 20s, and Falcons team-mate Dan Temm arrived in England as a cricketer.

Yes, academies do great work and unearth bags of talent. But so do other avenues.