He was raised in the Amman Valley, schooled in Llandovery and captained Wales as a teenager.
Yet, this weekend, Harry Randall will be wearing the white of England and taking on a pivotal role for Eddie Jones’ team against Wayne Pivac’s Welsh side.
The 24-year-old Bristol scrum-half is a young man with a fascinating back story.
He was born in Slough to English parents, with his dad Joby having played for the home-town club at centre/wing, as well as for Wasps Colts.
But when he was four, Harry, along with his two elder brothers, Jake and Charlie, and younger sister Bethany, headed for the Amman Valley amid a family move.
Life in west Wales saw him take up rugby with the local village side Tycroes RFC, following in the footsteps of his brothers.
Then came a move to Amman United, famously Shane Williams’ home club, while he also turned out for Kidwelly.
He played a bit on the wing early on, but, once he settled at scrum-half, he didn’t look back, with Will Genia and Aaron Smith his inspiration.
At 14, he took up a place at Llandovery College, where the likes of Alun Wyn Jones and George North were schooled.
Iestyn Thomas, the long-serving head of rugby at the college, remembers him well.
“What is unique about Harry is he is able to create situation others don’t see,” Thomas told Rugby Pass.
“At Llandovery, you would see him head down what appeared to be a dark alley in a match and you would think he was going to get absolutely mullered.
“Then, two side-steps later, he emerged unscathed, making people look stupid, and from having your hands on your head in despair it was a case of ‘How did he do that?’
“Llandovery play in the Welsh Colleges league and won’t let anyone play who isn’t ready, but they do make exceptions and they granted one for Harry.
“He was in the fifth year playing against players in the Upper Sixth.
“That was highly unusual at Llandovery, but not only did he cement a place you could see he had something special. He was leaving people for dead.”
Randall was a diminutive figure at school - he’s still only 5ft 7ins and 12st 4ins today - but Thomas never had any worries on that front.
“Probably people were a bit more motivated to smash him, but of course smashing him was easier said than done,” he said.
“He was a livewire. He was always on the move. You could never pin him down.
“I never had any concerns about his size. He has a big heart and is really brave with a really good tackle technique
“You can see to this day when he bring down players much who are much bigger. It doesn’t matter who is coming at him, he stops them.”
Randall’s talent saw him follow his brothers in gaining representative honours for Wales at age-grade level, while he also became involved with the Scarlets Academy.
He captained Wales U16s and went on to play for the U18s too.
But, at 17, he decided to move to Hartpury College, in Gloucestershire, to “change things up a bit” in his own words.
With that, he switched international allegiance to the land of his birth, going on to win the 2016 World Championship with England U20s.
He scored a try against Wales as he shared in a Six Nations Grand Slam triumph the following year and played in another world final that summer, ahead of signing for Bristol in 2018.
Since then, he has gone from strength to strength at the Bears, catching the eye with his speed, both in terms of his pass and across the ground.
He made his Test debut against the USA in July of last year and has now retained the No 9 jersey for Saturday’s game against Wales at Twickenham ahead of the vastly experienced Ben Youngs, having started the 33-0 victory over Italy.
According to coach Eddie Jones, he will have a key role to play in terms of injecting pace into the game from the outset, with his sharpness around the ruck and his quick tap penalties.
“Harry is lighter, faster and will get to the ball quicker in the early part of the game when it is more of an even pace,” said Jones.
“We just believe he will give us something little different from the start of the match when we feel there will be some opportunities early on.”
Randall’s parents still live in Wales, where they run an Ammanford-based roofing business, while he spent 13 of his 24 years in the country.
So how does he view his journey?
“Wales played a big part in my childhood, so I’ll never forget that,” he said, speaking on the subject a couple of years ago.
“I had a great upbringing there and a good experience.
“I loved my time at Llandovery College. It was a really enjoyable time in my life and they helped me develop a lot.
“There were a few shirts from Alun Wyn Jones and George North dotted around the place. It was good inspiration to know those boys had come out of that same college and to try to follow in their footsteps to some extent.
“Wales will always have a place in my heart, but I class myself as English as I was born in England and have English parents.
“I’m English, so I didn’t feel like a traitor for moving back to England.”
So while there will be tinge of a Welsh accent from the No 9 in white on Saturday, there will be no doubt over where his loyalties lie.
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