England star Sinckler can't remember World Cup final and has not watched replay
Kyle Sinckler has no recollection of the World Cup final despite watching much of England’s defeat by South Africa from the sidelines after being knocked unconscious in the opening moments.
Sinckler admits it took almost four weeks to come to terms with the cruel misfortune of seeing the biggest match of his life ended by an accidental collision and he has not watched a replay of the November 2 showdown since.
Once the explosive Harlequins prop had risen to his feet he was able to walk to the replacements bench where he witnessed England fall to a deflating 32-12 defeat, but the battle being fought out before him passed in a fog.
“It took three or four weeks to get over the final. It was dark,” the Maximuscle ambassador told the PA news agency in his first interview since the World Cup.
“You go through phases where you’re distraught, feeling sorry for yourself and down in the dumps.
“I was struggling because I tore my calf just before the semi-final, it was a pretty bad one as well so I couldn’t really walk.
“That was getting better and then in the final I got a pretty big concussion, so I didn’t really know what was going on.
“I can’t remember anything really from the final. They said I came back out, but I can’t remember that.
"An extremely famous rugby player"
…according to @Argentina_2027 is about switch to the @usmlr https://t.co/MmmzJmekh8
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“It was an innocuous incident which was just meant to be, but it was really, really tough.
“You ask yourself, ‘why me? I’ve trained so hard to get to this moment. I’ve dreamed it, this is my life’.
“But then I snapped out of it, realising that you can either be the guy who is always feeling sorry for yourself or use it as motivation to push on.
Josh Raisey considers why the Test level partnership of Leicester's Ford and Saracens' Farrell has been Eddie Jones' go-to in 28 of his 50 England matcheshttps://t.co/SL9er6gHTp
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“So I just flipped it on its head – it wasn’t meant to be so crack on, just keep doing what I’m doing and keep working hard and hopefully I’ll get selected for England again. Because I never take that for granted – ever, ever.”
The incident ended an outstanding World Cup for Sinckler, who showed his athleticism and rugby smarts to run in his debut Test try in the quarter-final rout of Australia.
In the following round he was among the stars of a stunning victory over New Zealand, but he sees no value in revising the events of the Yokohama climax to a “bittersweet” tournament a week later.
“No, no. I’m done with it. It wasn’t meant to be. There’s nothing I can learn from it for myself,” Sinckler said.
“From what I heard South Africa played unbelievably well and were deserving winners on the day.
“When you look back at the World Cup you have a sense of pride to have gone so close, but our aim was to win and become world champions and we fell short of that.
“It’s bittersweet, but that’s sport and we’ve got to keep going. We’ll dust ourselves off and go again.”
Sinckler watched the Springboks’ celebrations upon their return to South Africa with goodwill following a chance meeting with their captain Siya Kolisi during the summer leading into Japan 2019.
The 26-year-old tighthead visited Cape Town with his friend Tim Swiel, the Newcastle and former Harlequins fly-half whose professional career began in South Africa.
“We were in a petrol station and it was 11pm. It’s the off-season and I wanted some ice cream and this was the best place to get some ice cream,” Sinckler said.
“Then Siya walks in – it was really random. He had a knee brace on and he was struggling with his injuries. He said, ‘Kyle, what are you doing in Cape Town?
“Siya is such a genuine guy. He took my number and then next day he drove us around and took us to a township.
“He told me about the struggles they have in South Africa and the quota system. In the township we saw kids with no shoes or socks, they had nothing, but were happiest kids in the world.
“He said this is why the system is in place – if it’s not then these kids won’t get an opportunity and that would never have got an opportunity.
“Siya looked after us, we went to a braai (Afrikaans for barbecue) and he dropped me off at the airport when I was leaving. I just had a feeling that our paths would cross again.
“If anyone was going to win the World Cup, I’m glad it was him. He’s such an honourable man.”
Eddie Jones masterminded England’s march to the final and while his future beyond 2021 remains in doubt, Sinckler is grateful to the coach who spotted a diamond in the rough.
“Eddie made me, man. Eddie made me. He changed my life. To not see him as England coach whether I’m there or not would be pretty weird,” Sinckler said.
:: Kyle Sinckler is an ambassador of Maximuscle, the UK’s leading sports nutrition brand that’s helping him become the best in the world.
Press Association
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments