It felt a bit surreal when I ran out at Murrayfield

RICHARD DE CARPENTIER - THE FORMER ENGLAND SEVENS INTERNATIONAL AND LEICESTER, WORCESTER, HARLEQUINS AND BATH BACK ROWER

- Jon Newcombe

WHEN Ben Ryan rang me up to tell me he’d picked me for England Sevens, I just thought it was one of the lads winding me up. When I was at Uni, we’d prank call people and tell them they’d got a trial at Cardiff Blues and things like that. This time, I thought that I was on the receiving end so I told him to ‘eff off ’ and slammed the phone down, not once but twice! In the end, he emailed the head of rugby at UWIC (now, Cardiff Met) and that’s when I knew it was no joke. It still felt a bit surreal, though, when I ran out at Murrayfield scoring against Fiji with my first touch for England Sevens.

I signed for Leicester straight after Uni. They were the top dogs back in the day, it felt like Manchester United had come in for me. In hindsight though, I am not sure it was the best move for me because they were packed full of internationals and I’d have got more game time at Ospreys or Sale, who were also interested. Instead, I’d get battered every week in brutal scrummage and maul sessions (I can testify Julian White is the hardest puncher around!) without hardly playing on a weekend. It was what you call character forming but nevertheless a good year.

Not many people see the compassionate side of Richard Cockerill, but I pretty much owe my career to him. I was getting nerve pain down my right leg, at first they thought it was a tight glute, and then they thought it was my hamstring, but a scan confirmed I needed a back operation. And because I was a crook, Nottingham pulled out of a season-long deal. There I was, 21, injured and not knowing what to do. Cockers must’ve heard about my predicament and he offered me a three-month extension to tide me over during my rehab. He didn’t have to do that and I’ll always be grateful to him.