If you’ve ever wondered what happens when childhood dreams collide with grown-up responsibilities, meet the man living that paradox: juggling international rugby with a full-time job as a wealth manager.
His story is equal parts inspiring and deeply human.
My first encounter with Charlton Kerr was when I visited his school to run a one-off coaching session. He told me later it was a pretty average session, especially considering I was supposed to be the “hotshot England player.”
He told me this with the smile that seems to accompany much of what he says. Yet behind that lightness is a wisdom that makes Kerr an impressive leader in the new-model Great Britain sevens setup.
Interviewing a former teammate is always a joy, but our conversation went far beyond nostalgia. It revealed the challenges GB players face today, and how they are doing everything they can to stay competitive in a demanding, rapidly evolving landscape.
Charlton joined the programme as part of the then-newly formed England Academy — a green 18-year-old thrown straight into a high-performance environment at a time when sevens was thriving.
“I was lucky,” he admits. “Simon Amor was doubling down on the England Academy, and that process for growth was amazing.”
His first England cap, however, “came after some time, some waiting,” he says wryly.
After three tournaments as a non-playing reserve, watching from the wings, his moment arrived.
“The last game in Vegas, we were a try down. I was desperate to get on, but also thinking, ‘maybe I’d be all right staying on the bench’.
“It’s one of those ones where you’re between, ‘I’d love to get on, but I also don’t want to come on and make a mistake’. I came on with a minute to go.”
He was thrown straight into the action, gathering a loose ball before popping up on the end of a move to score the winning try.
“I dived over, threw the ball away in excitement, then apologised to the ref in the same breath, then I think three or four lads just mobbed me. And then it was a whole pile-in after that. That was probably one of the best moments of my life.”
Behind every moment on the big stage lies a local rugby club.
“I got into rugby because of my dad and my brother,” Kerr recalls. Like many younger siblings, he was desperate to join in from the moment he turned five. “As soon as I was old enough that there were any boys at the club who’d run around and play tag rugby with me, I did it.”
Those early days at Towcestrians RFC were pure joy — and a touch theatrical. “I was big on playing Fifa during the week and by the weekend I was copying all the celebrations at rugby.
“My dad and brother recall times of watching me absolutely giving it on a celebration at Biggleswade away or some random place… and these disapproving parents shaking their heads.” He laughs.
“But that’s what rugby’s about when you’re young — expressing yourself.”
The simple innocence of that moment stands in stark contrast to the complexities of Charlton’s recent 7s career.
This season, many GB players are balancing jobs outside rugby with international competition. “I work full-time as a wealth manager. It’s stressful, tiring, mentally and physically exhausting at times,” he admits.
“But I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t give me a huge sense of fulfilment.”
His days are gruelling: “you’re looking at about three or four hours in terms of physical work… around a nine-to-five job. You get into a field to basically end yourself, physically, throw yourself into a dark place, in the cold more often than not, and on your own, no atmosphere, no fanfare.
“And then you've got to get back and get yourself cognitively switched on to perform at work. The realities of it are really difficult.”
He is quick to add that he’s not part of the social-media-fuelled “rise and grind” brigade.
“It’s over fanaticised, isn't it, a bit on social media — ‘wake up early, sleep late, hustle’ — it’s misguided. If you don’t get your recovery in there as well and take time to actually fill up your cup, then you’ll find yourself in a pretty dark hole pretty quickly.”
So how does he fill up his cup? For Kerr, it hinges on reframing the ‘grind’.
“When I turn up to that field, that's my place to have a bit of ‘me time’. It’s almost a bit of therapy really. It’s something that you can reduce back to something you’ve always enjoyed doing.
“You don’t enjoy the work necessarily as you’re doing it, but afterwards that sense of reward or that you’ve done something purposeful with your day and you furthered yourself and bettered yourself as a person. That is something that sport just keeps on giving you.”
This perspective doesn’t develop overnight. His worldview is shaped by the challenges he has faced along the way. His list of injuries alone is daunting — three ACL reconstructions and reconstructive hamstring surgery.
Much of the rehab was lonely work including a 12-month stint doing it solo. “That injury layoff in particular, was one that shaped me most as a person because I think it really made me see what I value in life and what I hold important to me.”
His resilience fits perfectly with the demands of leading this GB programme. The squad faces unique hurdles — limited time together, part-time structures — but Kerr refuses to lean on excuses. “Comparison is the thief of joy,” he says. “We’ve reframed it as opportunity. We still get to represent Great Britain on the world stage.
“We’ve got a beautiful kind of blend of new and old at the moment and, unfortunately, I’m in the ‘old’ category, would you believe it?” he jokes.
Hearing him say this makes me feel a little older, but I can believe it. Even as a youngster, he demonstrated curiosity, humility, and an appetite for growth — traits that always hinted at the leader he would become.
That blend of old and new players is energising. “It’d be easy to stifle new ideas, but we’re listening. Even if we don’t agree with the outcome, we want to know how you got there.”
It may be too early for younger players to think seriously about LA 2028, but I wonder whether it fuels Kerr. “Not qualifying for Paris was just heartbreaking. That was just a lot of effort.”
GB missed out after losing to South Africa in the Monaco repechage.
Now, however, Kerr is focused squarely on the present. He asks whether my career felt like it passed in the blink of an eye. Suddenly my own playing days feel very distant, and I’m glad he has found a way to keep going through adversity.
“I’m trying to be present and be where my feet are and just really enjoy the moment because it goes by so quickly. I think I’m just trying to do my best to enjoy it and not be so hard on myself.”
I have many memories of an exasperated young Charlton after dropping a ball.
“When I used to make mistakes, I was always quite angry, but I was never really angry at other people. I was angry at myself. I think giving myself a bit of love back and actually just enjoying it for what it is. Just give yourself a bit of love back.”
As with my brief coaching of Kerr as a schoolboy, nothing from my captaincy could possibly take credit for such a grounded philosophy. Tough times require tough leaders and he is certainly that. But he also carries the same spirit he had as a smiling kid at Towcestrians RFC.
In true selfless fashion, he ends our conversation by speaking about others. “My support system has been incredible,” he says. “Without them, none of this would be possible.”
We end the conversation reflecting on good times. And he has one last piece of wisdom to impart: “Don’t be a rocking chair. Lots of movement, but going nowhere. Intent and purposeful action matter.”
The philosophical skipper leads Great Britain this weekend in Perth where they will once again go to battle against circumstance, with intent and purposeful action.