Then they bring the more conservative, trusted kicker on. Sometimes your face or attitude doesn’t fit in those environments, look at Danny Cipriani.
I did a few things when I went away with England that failed to go in my favour. There was nothing too crazy but being young and naïve I snuck out a few times under curfew and I also got the names of coaches wrong in team meetings.
There was a lot of pressure from the management at Gloucester to win something and as a 20, 21-year-old that was difficult to manage. I thought the criticism I and the younger boys received at the time was harsh. If you look back, there are not many 19-21-year-olds doing what we did. We were a bit naïve at the time in how we didn’t expect the levels of pressure, you’re just playing for enjoyment at that age. Marcus Smith is 25 and they are still saying he’s learning his trade. We should have won something with the squad we had and the rugby we were playing but we needed experience in big games. Having players like captain Peter Buxton and Mike Tindall out in the Premiership final in 2007 really hurt our chances and we ended up falling short in a 44-16 defeat to Leicester. That Leicester side was one of the best the Premiership had seen with the likes of Lewis Moody, Ben Kay and Julian White.
After making my debut for Gloucester against Brive in the 2006 Challenge Cup quarter-finals, only a few weeks later I then started my first professional final aged 18. The club wasn’t going through a very good period at the time and Dean Ryan chucked a load of young boys in like Anthony Allen, Olly Morgan, James Bailey and myself. I remember the final vividly against London Irish, I had to come off around 65 minutes in because I got knocked out. James Forrester scored in extra time which was an amazing end to the game.
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Denne historien er fra December 22, 2024-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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I always wanted to play an exciting form of rugby
THERE were periods of my career where I felt like I was playing well enough to earn a shot with England. However, if you look at the way England’s gone, even with Marcus Smith now, he gets taken off when he is playing fantastic rugby just because he’s more of a flair player and as a result has a stigma attached.
England must find a way to deliver
WITH Christmas fast approaching, it’s time for us all to look forward to better things and hope we achieve them.
I've still got plenty to give, says Beaumont
JOSH Beaumont prepares to put his body on the festive front line again in the Sale cause revealing his biggest “regret” has been not winning an England cap.
Saracens fight back to overcome Bears
SARACENS secured a pulsating victory over a Hannah Botterman-inspired Bristol Bears to move to within a point of the summit of the table.
Hopkins in snatch it
AFTER the resignation of their popular head coach Toby Booth earlier in the week, Ospreys were given a huge boost when replacement Iestyn Hopkins crashed over with the clock in overtime to condemn their fiercest rivals to yet another defeat in Swansea.
No Mostert? That's got to be a mistake
HERE'S a funny thing: one of the more prominent rugby sites on the world wide web super information highway thingy has just published its list of the 100 best players in the sport. And no, the Spring-bok lock Franco Mostert isn't in it. ALLOWED
Tompkins hits the 200-mark for Saracens
MARK McCall has hailed Nick Tompkins, who makes his 200th appearance today for Saracens against champions Northampton at StoneX Stadium, as the epitome of a player the club aims to produce.
Anguish for Chiefs as Sale march on
GEORGE Ford’s educated right boot proved hugely instrumental as Sale subjected rock-bottom Exeter to yet more misery and gloom.
Rampaging Bears tear Tigers apart
BRISTOL produced a memorable display of attacking rugby which left Leicester thoroughly shaken and stirred.
England's outsiders deserve a chance niveste cu
IT’S just six weeks before the start of the 2025 Six Nations, and since Steve Borthwick became England head coach his main message to the media has been we want to get better. However, by the end of the autumn series, Borthwick had become a bit more critical, saying that England were not fit enough, and were not carrying what they had been doing in training into matches.
