As the son of a double European Cup winner, Jed Gelderbloom’s comment that his family “has a rugby culture” is something of an understatement.

His dad, South African centre Glenn Gelderbloom, was part of the Leicester Tigers squad that dominated the European Cup in 2001 and ’02, while a sporting family also has links to hockey and athletics.

“I enjoyed rugby as soon as I started playing at Oakham Rugby Club,” says Jed. “I made a lot of good mates and that was one reason I wanted to keep going.”

Originally as fly-half, it was the suggestion of former Tigers academy head coach Jamie Taylor to switch to the No9 shirt, and Jed does not regret it.

“I think it was a really good decision,” he says. “Diccon Edwards, as a coach, helped me to learn the positon and academy scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet has helped me a lot too.”

Getting to know you

Who was your favourite player growing up?
Dan Carter

If you could play alongside any rugby player in the world, who would it be?
Ryan Crotty

What’s your first memory of Welford Road?
My mum says I watched some games when I was a baby, but my first memory was a game against London Irish and we had a seat right in the middle.