Can I put these up on my Instagram?’ asks Paolo Odogwu, as he poses for photographs in the hip, graffiti-tagged backstreets of Birmingham.
His audience is growing quickly. After Wasps’ victory over Bath last week, he gained 1,000 followers in a single evening.
So who is Paolo Odogwu? The Premiership’s rising star who was born in Coventry, idolised former Nigerian footballer Jay-Jay Okocha and eats pasta on Christmas Day.
A bit of a cultural mash-up,’ chuckles the English, Nigerian and Italian hot-stepper.
Odogwu’s nationality is of particular interest because, over the coming days, he will be asked to make a decision about which country he wants to represent in the Six Nations.
‘I was born here, my dad’s half-Nigerian, half-Italian and my mum’s fully Nigerian,’ he says. ‘I like watching Nigerian football. I love the whole vibe. Until I went to secondary school, it was all football. No one in my family knew anything about rugby. The first rugby game they watched was me playing at school… as a prop!
One of my idols was Jay-Jay Okocha. He had so much skill and flair and I just thought “I want to be like him”. I like the idea of having your own individual style and that’s what I try to bring in myself. I don’t want to play like anyone else… I just want me to be me.’
Odogwu, 23, has stamped his identity all over the Premiership. Before moving on to his impressive rugby credentials, he talks through his life away from the rugby pitch: school days, African music and his parents’ upbringing.
‘My parents had a pretty good background in Nigeria,’ he says. ‘My dad’s dad is a doctor and my mum’s dad was a corporate lawyer. There’s a massive wealth gap there, so you have some people with private gates and armed security, then others five minutes down the road living on the streets. Fortunately, my parents grew up well-educated and they’ve instilled that in me.
Growing up, we went to Italy more than Nigeria. It’s easier to get to, obviously. We used to go to Bologna every year to see my dad’s family. We eat a lot of Italian food. We have a massive seven-layer lasagne for the first course on Christmas Day!’
Odogwu is heavily invested in his roots. Last year he took part in the Black Lives Matter marches and is a vocal campaigner on social media. He takes pride in his appearance. On the pitch, he stands out with red-flash dreadlocks and personalised boots, featuring designs such as BLM and the NHS. For his photoshoot on fashionable Gibb Street, he wears a customised leather jacket and tie-dye effect trousers.
Extracts: Dailymail
