Croydon Harriers recently lost one of their biggest talents – physically and metaphorically – to another sport, when British discus record-holder Lawrence Okoye signed up for the San Francisco 49ers American football team.

English Schools’ champion: sprinter Tyrese Johnson-Fisher: now making a name for himself on the rugby pitch

Could they be about to lose another massively gifted athlete, following English Schools sprinting champion Tyrese Johnson-Fisher’s phenomenal four-try performance in the semi-final of the NatWest Cup schools rugby competition?

Johnson-Fisher secured his Oakham School under-15s’ place in a Twickenham final almost single-handedly with his pace and power against Sherborne.

Last summer, Johnson-Fisher was wowing track watchers when he won gold in the junior boys’ 100 metres in record-breaking time at the English Schools’ Championships.

But his performance on the rugby field this week has already been noticed: the national governing body, the RFU, has published this video of the quartet of tries on its own website. Watch through to the finish – Johnson-Fisher’s length-of-the-field fourth try is the best of an outstandingly good bunch.

Ian Smith, the Leicestershire boarding school’s director of sport, said: “Tyrese has the ability to score from anywhere, he is a very powerful runner, he’s still learning the game but he gets better every time we see him play.”

If that’s what Johnson-Fisher can do as a novice, watch out schoolboy rugby players across the country…

• Inside Croydon Events: for dates and links to what’s happening in and around Croydon, updated daily, click here

• ---

  Inside Croydon: Named among best regional media campaigns, 2014.

• Croydon’s only independent news source, based in the heart of the borough: 729,297 page views in 2014.

• If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com