When it comes to looking for someone to model himself after as he progresses through the ranks, there are two players in particular that Ireland U20s captain Sami Bishti is drawn to.
A tighthead prop by trade, Bishti is unsurprisingly a great admirer of Tadhg Furlong – who is set to embark on his 11th consecutive Six Nations Championship campaign with the Ireland senior side.
Additionally, Thomas Clarkson is one of the main challengers in the number three jersey to Leinster front-row Furlong for both province and country, and is – like Bishti – a former student of Blackrock College in Dublin.
“I obviously look up to Tadhg Furlong. He’s probably the best ever to do it in terms of tighthead and the way he’s gone with Ireland through the years. It’s pretty cool to see his journey and definitely someone I’d look up to, especially him being at Leinster as well. So it’s pretty cool,” Bishti said at last week’s Ireland U20s Six Nations squad announcement.
“Then Thomas Clarkson as well, because he came through the same school as myself. Seeing his journey and the way he’s gone up and excelled exponentially has been pretty impressive. He’s definitely another person I’ve had to look up to in that sense.”
Given he was the skipper when Blackrock won the Leinster Schools Senior Cup last March (and also held the same role for the Ireland U19s), it appears to be a solid choice on behalf of head coach Andrew Browne to select Bishti as Irish captain for the forthcoming U20s Six Nations Championship.
Yet while he has achieved international recognition in rugby, Bishti – whose paternal grandfather came from Libya – explains how he previously represented Ireland in a different sporting pursuit.
“I actually did a lot of the throwing in the junior part of the senior school [in Blackrock]. When I was in second and third year, I would have thrown. There was an ex-youth Olympian thrower named Killian Barry. He was kind of a coach in the school and would’ve coached me in the rugby,” Bishti recalled.
“He saw me chuck a rugby ball one day and he was like, ‘let’s see if you’re good at the hammer throw’. So, I was actually lucky enough. I represented Ireland in something called the SIAB in July of 2022. So that was pretty cool. We competed against England, Wales, Scotland.
“I think I came fourth or fifth. When you kind of compete against the other countries, they definitely had some people who had probably thrown a couple of years longer than me.
“It was shown in the results, but it was a good experience nonetheless. It’s something I look back with tremendous pride to be able to represent my country in throwing.”
