England's Kyle Sinckler: 'I definitely cost the team a Grand Slam'
Kyle Sinckler is grateful to Alun Wyn Jones’ Wales for the provocation in Cardiff a year ago that forced him to curb his ego and stop acting as the bad boy of English rugby.
On that day Sinckler eventually reacted to repeated wind-ups from Jones by conceding two penalties in quick succession that contributed to a major momentum shift as a commanding half-time lead crumbled into a 21-13 defeat.
Wales went on to be crowned Grand Slam champions – a prize Sinckler believes would have belonged to England had he kept his cool and not justified Warren Gatland’s description of him as an “emotional timebomb”.
It is a harsh assessment given he was outstanding until he was replaced on the hour mark, Eddie Jones sensing the red mist was about to descend.
Revenge was taken in the shape of Saturday’s 33-30 Guinness Six Nations victory at Twickenham that saw Sinckler shrug off renewed attempts to antagonise him having spent months addressing the personal issues that fuelled his rage.
“I’m very, very thankful for what happened in Cardiff because without that I’d probably have kept costing the team. At half-time my ego was bigger than this room,” Sinckler said.
“Looking back on it, I really enjoyed being that villain – the bad boy of English rugby. I was just very angry. Very, very angry. I had to harness that and do something positive and understand why I was angry and kept making the same mistake.
“Cardiff was perfect. It was exactly what I needed. It was sink or swim because if I didn’t change then I wouldn’t have played for England any more.
“I definitely cost the team a Grand Slam and I probably cost everyone a shed-load of money in bonuses. I was so in denial. I never took responsibility for what happened.
“I was saying ‘life is hard, it wasn’t my fault, the referee doesn’t like me, in Cardiff you’re never going to get the rub of the green’. But when you strip it back and look at it, it was just ego.
“It was ego trying to get in with Alun Wyn Jones, trying to be that bad boy which cost the team. Now hopefully everyone can see – and I know myself – I am a different person.
“I thank Warren Gatland and I thank Alun Wyn Jones because I feel I have grown from it and I’m only going to get better.
Eddie has labelled referee Ben O'Keefe the 16th man#ENGvWAL https://t.co/JCxRDL6agM
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 7, 2020
“The same kind of situations were happening on Saturday in terms of them holding me down, someone stamping on me when I was getting up, or certain things said, but it made no effect.
“In the past I always had to get one up on people or confront people, but now if you target me that’s wasting energy on me. I’m fine, I’m not exerting any energy, I’m doing my job.
“If two players are on top of me, that’s sweet, because then there will be two fewer guys in the defensive line.”
Hoping to inspire young athletes from the tough south London neighbourhood where he grew up, Sinckler is launching a foundation called ‘R3cusants’ designed to provide financial assistance to those with potential.
5?? players get an 8/10 #ENGvWAL #GuinnessSixNations ??????????????
https://t.co/duzAmDh5We— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 7, 2020
“I’ve got to thank all the knowledge I’ve received from Saviour World, especially my mentor who has helped me out a massive deal,” Sinckler said.
“We spoke last Sunday and in my own head I wanted to dedicate this Wales game to my foundation that I’m setting up.
“My issues were never anything to do with rugby, rugby was always my canvas. It was always stuff outside of rugby and the aim of my foundation is to help kids in inner-city London and give them the opportunity.
“My biggest gripe is that there are guys who I went to school with who didn’t have the means, transport or parents pushing them, or the kit or the facilities. If you look at the talent that’s in inner-city London, it’s an untapped reservoir.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments