Some players take a more winding road to the top than others but few can match the circuitous ascent of Curtis Langdon. The eight-year-old kid from Weston-super-Mare who was sent to kick-boxing classes to help toughen him up is now a hard-edged 27-year-old approaching his prime and a perfect illustration of just how far perseverance can propel you.
These days he is firmly established as Northampton’s first-choice hooker, eagerly awaiting Saturday evening’s big east Midlands derby at Welford Road. Before fetching up at Franklin’s Gardens last year, though, his desire to go the extra mile in search of sporting fulfilment had led him down all sorts of highways and byways.
The full list? His hometown club Hornets, Bath Under-15s, London Irish, Henley Hawks, Sale Sharks, Macclesfield, Fylde, Doncaster Knights, Sale FC, Worcester Warriors, Montpellier Hérault and, finally, Saints. Given he left home at 15 to join Irish’s academy and also trained with Newcastle Falcons and Darlington Mowden Park in 2016, no one could ever accuse him of avoiding the hard yards.
The ledger also shows two England appearances, against the United States and Canada in 2021, when Eddie Jones was missing a number of Lions tourists. He was desperate to make it cap number three on this summer’s tour of Japan and New Zealand, only for a shoulder injury during Saints’ Premiership final triumph in June to scupper his chances. Just last week he missed out again, to Sale’s revitalised Luke Cowan-Dickie, when Steve Borthwick announced his first autumn training squad.
It is enough to drive a sane man crazy, even if Saints’ director of rugby, Phil Dowson, has previously described Langdon as “mad as a box of frogs”. This week the former instead opted for “lively” but that is not the whole story. What strikes you most when chatting to the cheerfully straight-talking Langdon is his calm, enduring belief that, one day, the international tide will turn for him. “The next opportunity I get I want that to be it,” he says firmly. “I’ll be in there for good then.”
The English hooker debate is increasingly fascinating. Jamie George has been a truly outstanding servant but the national captain turns 34 on 20 October. While Theo Dan should be around for years, the aforementioned Cowan-Dickie will also be 34 by the time the 2027 World Cup kicks off. Langdon, the all-action arrowhead of Saints’ front row, may yet get a chance even if his name is again missing from England’s formal autumn squad on Wednesday.
And while history is littered with frustrated hookers – another Saint, Jon Raphael, sat on England’s bench behind Leicester’s Peter Wheeler from 1975-81 without being capped – Langdon is not the type to duck a challenge. His dad, Matt, was in the Royal Marines and father and son have spent years chasing the pro rugby dream. “We did a lot of running on the beach and I was on the protein shakes quite early. I was desperate to make the Somerset county team or get into an academy and putting on size was quite important.”
He might have broken through at Bath as a youngster had he and his good mate Dan Frost, now at Exeter, not found themselves tussling for the same academy spot. “Me and Frosty were really close – still are – but it was so frustrating playing with him because he’d always want to run the same line as me. They kept Frosty on as hooker and I got released. Danny Grewcock was in charge … I think he liked me but I was quite a slight lad and he said I liked contact too much.”
Having to bide his time on loan in the lower leagues was another formative experience that also alerted him to the talent lurking beneath the Premiership. “Those club opportunities are hugely important, especially for a young front-rower. You need that exposure to adult rugby. It’s tough, as well. They might have a hooker or a prop with 100 caps for his club who’s been there for years. At Doncaster Ben Hunter was a bit of a Champ legend. We got along really well and I learned a lot. It served me well when I did get my opportunity in the Premiership.”
Even so, following Worcester’s financial demise and a spell in the Top 14 – “they took the set piece very seriously” – what he really craved was the stability that his move to Northampton has provided. With nine tries in 27 games for Saints last season, the dividends have been swift. “It’s not been easy moving about all the time. You get settled in places and maybe don’t want to move. But I’ve always put my rugby career first. If that meant moving somewhere else for a better opportunity I’d do that.”
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Now he just needs the fates to align. A red card against Munster at Thomond Park in January undermined any chance of Six Nations squad involvement before the bittersweet postscript to Northampton’s final celebrations. “I saw the England doctor straight after the game … in my head it was just a ‘stinger’ that would be alright in a couple of days. But then Steve called me after we’d just got back from our open-top bus tour. It was a difficult conversation because I was confident I’d be alright for the first game. As it turned out, though, my shoulder took a little longer to recover than expected. So he probably made the right decision.”
Dowson, for one, believes his man will crack it eventually, despite his latest squad omission. “The route isn’t always linear. I think he’s getting feedback from Steve … he’s clearly very disappointed because he’s desperate to be involved but so are many other people. Gabriel Oghre down at Bristol will be in the same boat. The only answer you can give is through your actions and behaviours. We feel for Curt because we think he’s playing really well and we love him. But it’s very competitive and you’ve got to keep pushing. I’ve no doubt Curt will keep doing that. Particularly in the second half against Harlequins last week I thought he showed what he is capable of.”
So keep an eye on the headguard-wearing Saint against Leicester. Few players on the field, if any, will be more motivated. “Even if I had gone on the tour I’d still have been mega hungry to kick on. I’m always wanting to better my game and go on to bigger and better things. I like to think everything happens for a reason but you make your own luck.” The determined Langdon deserves to get there eventually.
