Alumni in the Spotlight - Joe Baulf (Class of 2009)

Joe Baulf (Class of 2009) left Trinity to study geography at Southampton University. He is now a partner in the Transaction Services arm of the Capital Markets team at PKF Littlejohn.

You were part of one of the most successful first teams in the history of the school. What made your team so different to those before?

It all stemmed back to the first couple of years at Trinity. We had a group of boys that started winning from the off, thanks to one Jermaine Alexander and his ability to sprint 100m in under 11 seconds. From there, the coaches at school looked to develop our core skills to complement the team’s natural physical attributes. After completing three unbeaten seasons, the mentality of the team was one of winning and nothing else was acceptable. There were very skilled players throughout the team, but this was underpinned by an extremely solid all-round squad.

How instrumental was your pre-season tour to Australia and Singapore to your success?

The tour was a brilliant bonding experience for a group of players who had already been together for six years. It further strengthened the team spirit while pitching us against some incredibly difficult teams. I don’t think anyone who went on that tour will forget playing in 95%+ humidity in Singapore.

Funniest story from your tour?

The tour was full of some great coming of age antics that I will never forget and that will live in the memories of only those who went on the tour. On one evening while in Singapore, myself and couple of the other lads in the team came across several of the coaches very drunk, wrestling in one hotel room. Safe to say, the coaches’ memory of this was hazy the next day and training started a lot later than expected.

Any matches from that season that still haunt you?

The first game of the season against Langley Park, losing by one point, will always haunt me and the rest of the team. I still can’t put a finger on why or how we lost that game. Langley had always been a heated game, due to the proximity of the schools, and although we were the better team, the occasion, post a successful tour, got to us and we threw it away.

Former student and England rugby player Alex Codling was your coach. What impact did he have on the team?

Alex was a taskmaster who changed the way we looked at approaching games and preparation leading up to them. That higher level of professionalism spread throughout our training, diet and overall game plan. I personally saw the pack show a much higher level of controlled aggression in games, turning us into a real force to be reckoned with. His arrival also came with great perks, like the full kit sponsored by Canterbury and ex-professionals like Brian Habana coming to help coach a session.

Did you go on to play at a professional level after leaving Trinity?

Attempting to go professional was something I stepped away from when I was 16. Going through the motions and trialling at Harlequins, Saracens and London Irish enlightened me to the darker side of the academy system. Of the guys I played with at school, County and London level, I only know of one who truly made it professionally. A lot of the others either fell away beforehand or were dropped due to injuries.

I can’t underestimate enough how much I loved playing for Old Mids, now Trinity RFC, for five years after university. Playing week in, week out with guys throughout the years from Trinity was really special. I still follow the results of the school and the club avidly.

What one piece of advice would you give an 18-year-old Joe Baulf about how to plan for the future or key things to consider?

Say yes to everything, take the risks you were worried about and don’t worry if there isn’t a plan. The things that scared you will be trivial in 10 years’ time. Life also does not need to be worked out at the age of 21.

If you could win only one match all season, who would you want to beat?

John Fisher was always the team I wanted to beat. There was an incredible rivalry between the two schools as we played every season. They always had a phenomenal team and beating them in that final year was the crown jewel in my mind. A special mention has to go to Whitgift as our true rivals, but we only ended up playing them once over my seven years at Trinity, so it was a battle that was never settled.

The greatest player ever born, in any position, anywhere in the world?

At the time I was at Trinity, Jonny Wilkinson reached the pinnacle of rugby by winning the World Cup in the way he did and he will stand for me. However, as the greatest player ever, I would have to say Richie McCaw. Seeing the way he led and routinely won with the All Blacks was pure mastery of the game and he defined a group of players that changed the way rugby was played at the time.