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Back in 2021, Max Ojomoh was taught a valuable lesson: always check your junk mail.
It was the week after he made his Premiership debut for Bath and the young centre was already catching the eye.
He missed an email from an unfamiliar account at the RFU which turned out to be an invitation to join up with Eddie Jones’s England squad. It came out of the blue, yet for a few weeks it seemed like the midfielder was on a fast track to making his international debut.
‘I didn’t know about the call-up until Stuart Hooper, the Bath coach at the time, told me,’ explains Ojomoh. ‘I had no idea. I had been sent an email by England’s head of comms but I’d never received anything from them so it ended up in my junk mail.
‘I’d just made my first start in the Prem, chucked a massive miss pass and I guess they liked it. You think it’s going to happen imminently but you end up waiting…’
In the end, Ojomoh waited four years for his first cap. He made his Test debut on this summer’s tour of America before starring at Twickenham in England’s final game of the autumn.
The 25-year-old delivered a dazzling performance against Argentina last month so you can be certain he will not be waiting another four years for his next cap.
‘Those challenges made me a more rounded player,’ he says. ‘I’m a completely different player compared to then. I was pretty raw… just chuck a long ball. More flashy, worse at defence, less experienced, didn’t really know how to lead a team.
‘I wouldn’t change it. It took a while but I’m glad I got my first and second cap. It’s been a mental three months, when you think about it. Prem final, Challenge Cup, going on tour, getting my first cap, starting the season out of position and then managing to sneak onto the field for the Argentina game.
‘I got all my family down, flew my best mate over from France, got eight of my schoolmates tickets. You never know whether it’s your last time so I thought “This is a big one” and got everyone down. Went to the pub afterwards for a couple of orange juices. The Alma in Wandsworth.
‘Some of the lads were cooked from the autumn, a lot of the boys had their families at the hotel, so I just spent some time with my school mates. It was a special day. It rivals the Prem final which I thought would never be topped.’
Ojomoh’s cap now sits on the wall of the family home in Trowbridge. It is mounted beside one belonging to his father, Steve, who played on the flank for England between 1994 and 1998.
‘My cap from the summer is on the wall at home now. I was so happy to tick that off. A year ago this week, I came back from three months out with my plantar plate. I came off the bench against La Rochelle and then lost away at Bennetton. It’s weird how quickly things can change.
‘I was just pretty happy with how I bounced back. You get a good run of games, you get your opportunity and you take it. It’s a long time between now and the Six Nations. I’ve got to keep my form, win here with Bath and see if I can get close to the squad.
‘Nothing is really promised when it comes to that jersey. I’m just going to go back to how I was before, try and play well. There’s great competition in the centre jersey now. Now I’m trying to move on to pastures new.’
With the Six Nations already looming, Ojomoh should be favourite to wear the No 12 jersey against Wales in England’s opener on February 7 at Twickenham.
He faces competition from Fraser Dingwall and the returning Seb Atkinson, but Ojomoh has earned the chance to show that he can transfer his club form to the international stage.
He brings attacking flair to the backline with his ability to kick, run and pass. He covered for Finn Russell in Bath’s No 10 jersey at the beginning of the season but has now settled back into the midfield.
‘Playing 10 has not helped me necessarily but it’s allowed me to show other people what my game is,’ he says. ‘No one would have known I could play 10. A big part of my game is being that field general. I tend to have a good relationship with my 10s. It’s not just Finn giving me that ball and I chuck a miss. There’s a lot more detail. It just lets me show the intricacies of my game. I do prefer centre though.
‘I’ve had the privilege of working with a number of great players and coaches throughout out my career at Bath. I’ve had so many good players around me. Finn, Jonathan Joseph, Jamie Roberts, Josh Matavesi, Max Clark, Rhys Priestland. The list goes on. I still play golf with JJ. If I’ve taken one per cent off each of their games then I’ve become pretty knowledgeable.’
The Ojomoh name runs deep in the history of Bath rugby. Steve won 10 trophies with Bath in the 1990s, including five league titles. Born in 2000, Max was not around for those glory years in the West Country.
But he is at the heart of the city’s rugby resurgence. They won the Premiership, the Prem Cup and the Challenge Cup last year and now they are hoping to embark on a new era of dominance.
‘I was ball boy a couple of times back in the day. For my eighth or ninth birthday, one of my family friends bought me the opportunity to run out at the Rec with the captain, which at the time was Stuart Hooper. I ran out with Hoops holding his hand. There’s a photo of it somewhere! That was a bit after the glory years…’
Bath face a daunting trip to Toulon on Sunday but the Champions Cup should be one of their aims this season. They are England’s strongest contenders. Their squad is loaded with depth, with the ability to unload world-class replacements from the bench for a final-quarter surge.
‘There’s a buzz around the place now,’ he says. ‘It will be good to sit down and reflect on the year. I enjoy my New Year’s resolutions. One of them for this year was to get capped. Graduate from uni with a 2:1. Did that.
‘I graduated from Bath just before the summer tour. I finished my dissertation in the last week of the Six Nations and shed a tear at Pennyhill. Improve my body composition. Improved that, for sure. A year’s streak on Duolingo, French. I’m getting close! Next year I’ll set myself a number of caps. I want to hit 100 games for Bath.
‘Last year was our first trophy. That was a serious achievement. Now everyone wants to win it again for the lads that didn’t play or weren’t here. I’d love to give everyone a feeling of what that trophy parade was like or what it was like just after full time… it was priceless. I hope we all get to share that moment again this year. It’s definitely something we’ll strive for.’
