England U18s: Declan Treacey on setting the standards on and off the pitch

04/17/2025 10:45 AM

England U18s and Bath centre Declan Treacey spoke to Ruck about his career so far. Having recently scored his first try for his nation in England's previous U18 Six Nations Festival win over Spain in his third cap, it has been a memorable few weeks for the youngster. 

Co-captain for Bath's U18 side, whose academy he has been involved in since he was 13 years old, Treacey has always been someone who has been highly rated in youth rugby. 

In the Bath U18s he has played alongside his older brother, back-row Connor, at times this season. Having an older sibling being able to guide the way has been instrumental for the centre. 

Declan cited it as having a hugely positive impact on him, saying: 

"You can’t ask for much more. It’s the best thing I could have asked for, really. Just any bit of advice I need I go to him, because he’s done what I’ve done and been through it. And, he’s a really good person to learn off in terms of how he works and what his mindset is like." 

The two Treacey brothers have often been described as natural-born leaders, younger brother Declan spoke about his background as a leader and where it has come from. 

"From a young age, I liked to encourage my teammates and make them better players. And as soon as you step on the pitch, I feel like I just should be talking to my teammates and telling them what they should be doing, or what they’ve done well, and things like that. It makes me want to be a better player, to make other people better. And it just comes from that, really, and then going up through the age groups or whatever, it just comes naturally." 

He then explained his leadership style in more depth and the role that he believes he has within this current England team. 

"I think leading by example, you want to be setting the standards for everyone, whether that’s in training, off the pitch, anything. It could be picking up a bit of litter, cleaning up after yourself or after others. You’ve just got to try and keep leading from example and hope others follow you really. Then on the pitch, it’s all good being loud and talking a lot, but you’ve got to just set the example." 

For those who may not be fully aware of how he plays the game, he explained his playstyle and how it has developed over the years. 

"At a younger age, I liked to be quite physical and dominant in collisions and things like that, in defence and attack. But I think as you get older, you’ve got to realise people get bigger as well, so you’re not the biggest one there, so you’ve just got to try and be as versatile as you can really.

“Whether that’s my catch, pass, my tackle, my kick or my carry. So, I think I’m just trying to become as versatile as I can and keep defenders on their toes and manipulate defences as much as I can." 

Having been involved in the first annual RFU backs specialist camp last September, one of his first involvements with the England Rugby system, Treacey talked about what the experience was like and what he's learnt. 

"That was a good camp. It was one of my first with the England set up. And it was just quite driven on your skill set and detail and skills. With Will Parkin and you pick up a lot of new like drills to focus on. How he expects our backs to look as slick as possible, every pass is on point. It really just pushes yourself when you go back to your school or your academy to be a better player and drive the people around you when you go back." 

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