The making of Jonathan Joseph, England's rising star

Barely was the baby Jonathan Joseph out of the delivery suite than his father
Ivan, a dexterous fly-half in his day for Northampton, started scheming his
rugby future.




A booklet comprising all the achievements his parents wanted him to fulfil
when he grew up, written when he was but a week old, comprised the words: “England
rugby player.

”


Ivan, now a chemical engineer for BP in Reading, chuckles at the memory.

“Oh,
it probably wasn’t unusual for a rugby fanatic,” he says.

“He was my
first-born son, so it was a flippant comment in his birth book.

The wish
t…