EXCLUSIVE: 'This has been my toughest season' - Sinckler ready to control aggression
Having seen Harlequins teammate Joe Marler recalled to the England squad after his second ban of the season, Kyle Sinckler is desperate to regain his own lost ground and play a part in the Six Nations championship.
He is currently behind Exeter’s Harry Williams in the England tighthead pecking order, but the Quins prop has a ball carrying ability that makes him a different kind of rugby beast, one with a temper he knows must be controlled.
England coach Eddie Jones made it clear that Sinckler had to improve his discipline having been arrested, but not charged, after a night out in Auckland after the final British and Irish Lions test in New Zealand. Jones said then: “He’s got to understand that the team comes before the individual. If we wants to develop his rugby career, that’ll be the big thing for him.”
Sinckler, 24, then made life tough for himself when he was banned for seven weeks in October for gouging while playing for Quins against Northampton which ruled him out of England’s Autumn tests.
Having made up for lost ground, he then injured his hamstring on the eve of England’s pre-Six Nations training camp in Portugal with the initial diagnosis putting him out for six weeks and ruining his hopes of making the Championship. However, Sinckler has got back in just three weeks and continues his fight to get the match fitness needed for test rugby in the Quins front row against Leicester on Saturday.
Given the 19 stone prop came into season having appeared in all three tests for the Lions during the summer’s drawn series with New Zealand, Sinckler, who has won eight caps, was all set to cement his place in the England squad and his position as the biggest threat to Dan Cole’s place as the starting tight head. Then came his ban and exile from the international arena with critics again questioning if he had really found the right balance between his natural aggression and staying on the pitch.
“This has been my toughest season and I have learnt a lot about myself and how to deal with things,” admitted Sinckler as he reflected on a season of real frustration. “I do try and get the balance right and I will make some mistakes, but hopefully not the same ones twice.
“With the ban it meant I missed the Autumn tests and then I felt I was playing some good rugby only to pull up with a hamstring injury just before the England training camp. I was told the injury was six to eight weeks and I came back in just three and having hit all my markers now I have to perform well for Quins and let Eddie make his decision.
“He knows what I can bring to the table and the main thing for me it as now about being fit and ready if called upon. Rugby is a roller coaster and you just have to keep your head down and work hard.
“Eddie has spoken to me since the injury and he is really good at keeping in touch and has told me to keep playing and see what happens. I have to get that match fitness because if you have three weeks out you cannot expect to just go straight back into the international environment.
“Eddie is not afraid to mix it up and if I hold up my end of the bargain and play well, hopefully, he will then bring me in. I do miss being in that environment with Eddie.”
Sinckler and his teammates received a dressing down from John Kingston, the club’s director of rugby, after last weekend’s 44-22 loss at home to Wasps which left Quins in ninth place in the Premiership, five points away from the all important top six places and qualification for the European Champions Cup.
A trip to Welford Road offers Quins a chance to regain lost ground and Sinckler said: “We have had a tough week after losing in that manner with the fans leaving the stadium after 60 mins. It’s not a great feeling knowing we let so many people and ourselves down. But, we have this match to put it right and we are ready to go.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate 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
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 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.
25 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.
25 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?
11 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.
11 Go to comments