Growing up in Coventry, not so long ago, Asher Opoku-Fordjour would watch videos of Kobe Bryant on the eve of every rugby match; idolising the American basketball superstar who practised his shooting in the gym at Palisades High School until the sun came up.
‘I would get into bed and watch clips of him on YouTube,’ explains the 20-year-old, known as ‘Ash Beast’ to his Sale team-mates. ‘I’d watch clips of him talking about what he called the Mamba Mentality. The way he was just locked in. Everything in his life was based around being the best and how to be the best. It taught me that if you want to truly be the best, you have to be locked in.
‘The night before a game I would watch videos of Kobe Bryant, then I’d watch videos of Ellis Genge, then I’d watch videos of rugby’s biggest hits. Stuff to get a feel for the game and give me something to replicate. I’d be in my bed at night thinking, “Yeah, I’m gonna try to do this”.’
He laughs. ‘Usually I didn’t do it. But I tried.’
These days, the young prop no longer needs to watch videos of Ellis Genge the night before a game. Now they are team-mates on the England beat and Opoku-Fordjour is quickly garnering enough moments for his own YouTube highlights reel.
One of rugby’s laidback characters, he reclines into a leather armchair at Sale’s training ground and offers a potted family history.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour idolised Kobe Bryant as a youth and watched clips of him before games
The young prop is known as Ash-Beast by his team-mates at Sale Sharks where he has thrived
He no longer needs to watch videos of Ellis Genge though after having joined him at England
‘My mum and dad are from Ghana,’ he says. ‘They moved over here and lived in Croydon for a bit, before they moved to Coventry. I’ve only been to Ghana once, when I was 15, and it was a sick experience. The food; jollof rice, fufu, banku.
‘The people are so nice but you can see their struggle. That difference between the rich and the poor. I’d like to go and live there for a year to really understand where you come from.
‘The genetics over there, they’ve got the build to be rugby players. It’s just a case of learning the skills and the rules. Ghanaians are not as tall but they’re quite bulky.’
One of his three brothers, David, plays on the wing for Coventry in the Championship. ‘I used to be quicker than him but I’ve slowed down a little bit,’ he says. ‘He’s rapid. He’s very quick. I’d probably keep up with him for the first 20 metres but after that he’d be gone.’
Leaving his siblings behind, Opoku-Fordjour moved north to Manchester after Wasps went bankrupt. He lives in the academy house at Sale and, locked into the Mamba Mentality, he is quickly becoming a household name.
‘We don’t do much work on speed per se but I still feel like I can move. We’ve got GPS trackers and my highest speed is 9.2 metres per second (20.6mph).’
For context, Jonny May, the devastatingly fast England winger, clocked a top speed of 10.49mps (23.5mph). Pretty good for a prop? ‘Some might say, some might say,’ he replies, with a knowing smile.
With a 155kg record on the bench press, Opoku-Fordjour puts more focus on scrummaging than sprint times. He is capable of propping both sides of the scrum but his primary goal is to establish himself as a tighthead.
With his rise to the top of the game ongoing, the 20-year-old is becoming a household name
Despite putting more focus on scrummaging than sprint times Opoku-Fordjour is still rapid
England are short on options in the No 3 jersey and Steve Borthwick has earmarked him as a long-term option. He is gradually bulking up with age, transitioning into senior rugby after winning the Under 20 World Cup last year alongside the likes of fellow breakout stars Henry Pollock and Junior Kpoku.
‘Last season I was playing at 108 (17st) or 109kg (17st 1lb). Before games I’m getting to 113 (17st 11lb). I want to get to 115 (18st 2lb) by the end of the season, but I don’t want to just chuck on a load of weight and then not be able to move.
‘Slowly but surely. The day before a match we carb-load. I try to put on 2kg (4.5lb) at the end of the week. It’s a bit like boxers. Eating pasta, rice, or whatever I’ve got in.
‘Scrummaging is a pride thing. It’s a man test. It’s eight v eight but individually it’s a matter of pride. In my head I’m thinking, “I’m not going backwards here. I don’t wanna go backwards and I’m not going to go backwards”. You have to back yourself and I’ve also learnt that you have to prepare.
‘I was having a good run and then something happened against Northampton Saints. Tarek Haffar, he’s my age, but I just couldn’t do anything against him in the scrum.
‘You need those games to look back on and learn. That week I didn’t prepare like I normally do. Maybe I was getting comfortable. You can’t get comfortable because that’s when you’ll get caught out. It’s like that Mamba Mentality. You can’t relax on what you’re doing.’
He lists flying Springbok winger Cheslin Kolbe – 5ft 7in and just under 12 stone, for the record – as one of his rugby idols but looks closer to home for his scrum gurus. ‘Nick Schonert and Si McIntyre have helped me so much.’ With no driving license to his name, the help sometimes extends to lifts home from training.
Opoku-Fordjour signed a new three-year deal at Sale this week and will mark his first appearance on a senior contract with a start in Sunday’s Champions Cup tie against three-time kings of Europe Toulon.
Earlier this week, Opoku-Fordjour was named in Steve Borthwick’s Six Nations squad for 2025
The youngster admits before games he looks to pile on around 2kg toward the end of the week
Opoku-Fordjour signed a new three-year deal at Sale, having debuted for England in November
‘This club feels like home now,’ he says ‘I want to win something here. They’ve given me opportunities to play at this age and put trust in me so hopefully I can help them win something.
‘I want to do everything in the game. Who doesn’t want to do everything? I want to play for the Lions, I want to win as many caps as possible, I want to win a Premiership with Sale. I want to do it all.’
On Tuesday, he was named in England’s squad for the Six Nations. He made his Test debut against Japan in November, recalling the moment of panic as he boarded the team bus to head to Twickenham. There he was, alongside Genge and his rugby idols, when suddenly he realised something wasn’t right.
‘I listen to Dave a lot,’ he explains, pausing to consider our difference in age. ‘You don’t know who Dave is, do you?
‘He’s a UK rapper and I listen to him on the bus before a match. Then I’ll listen to some softer tunes like Adele, then I’ll listen to some gospel music to really soothe me.’
The problem was, when he needed him most, Dave had gone AWOL. ‘We were walking onto the bus and I realised I’d forgot my headphones,’ he says. ‘I’d left them in the room but I didn’t want to run back and be late. It would have thrown me off completely.
‘I just had to go without them, but looking back I was lucky. You get off the bus at Twickenham to walk in and there’s so many people. That sound, you need to hear that. It was a surreal day. It felt like everything was moving in slow motion. Just, wow. It felt like I wasn’t really there. I loved it.’
No regrets, he introduced himself, England’s new gospel-loving, hot-stepping prop. Cap number 1,464, locked into the Mamba Mentality.
