38 - 31

17 - 20

24 - 14

19 - 45

30 - 21

29 - 25

29 - 12

18 - 12

38 - 26

Thursday

12:00

'He's like a bit of wagyu beef: massaged every day, stretched, fired up - he's just so professional'

Liam Heagney

26 Nov 2020

(Photo by Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Jonny May lit up Twickenham last Saturday with his two-try salvo for England in their Autumn Nations Cup win over Ireland, the scores moving him into joint-second the all-time English try-scoring list alongside World Cup winners Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood on 31, with only Rory Underwood still in front.

The winger scored six of those tries in his 19 appearances under Stuart Lancaster at the start of his Test career. However, he has come into his own during the Eddie Jones era, the 30-year-old scoring 25 tries in 40 matches.

After seeing his latest two arrive against the Irish during a devastating four-minute first-half spell, the second the result of a thrilling kick-and-chase from his own England 22, Jones beamed about May: “He is a great role model for all the players in the team.

Dylan Hartley and Ryan Wilson co-host the latest RugbyPass Offload episode

“When you consider the player he was… I remember watching him in the 2015 World Cup and at one stage he was going to end up in Row K. Now he is a serious finisher.”

Ex-England skipper Dylan Hartley has now joined the many luminaries who have this week lined up to pay homage to how clinical May has become. Appearing on RugbyPass Offload, Hartley said: “That try he scored, the second one from their own line and the overthrow, he scores tries like that in training every day.

"Every team has got its big explosive ball carriers that grab the limelight, but who’s resourcing rucks, who’s doing that nitty gritty, the boring stuff?"#AutumnNationsCup #WALvENG ???????https://t.co/pJiq6LBGTe
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 26, 2020

“He is crazy. He will run sideways across the field, find a weak defender or even a strong defender, drops the footwork on. His off-the-mark speed is unbelievable, his out-and-out high-end speed. Eddie says this to him, all I want you to be is the fastest winger in the world and he dedicates himself, he puts a new level of professional on a professional rugby player. He epitomises what it is to be a professional.

“If he is not recovering, he is preparing. If he is not preparing, he is training… everything is set for him to be the best and the fastest he can be. He’s like a bit of wagyu beef. He’s massaged every day, he’s stretched, he’s fired up. Do you know what, he is just so professional.

“He is fun, he is interesting. I want to admire his moustache as well. He almost looks like the offspring of Freddie Mercury and Borat. As an advert for Movember, he has done a great job.”

RugbyPass Offload co-host Ryan Wilson revealed he was once a clubmate of May’s, way back when Moseley were participating in the Championship. The Scotland flanker said: “I actually played with Jonny May at Moseley eleven years ago.

“He won’t know that as he hasn’t a clue who I am but when I played at Moseley eleven years ago in the Championship, the boys from Gloucester, that college down there somewhere (Hartpury), those boys used to come up and get a bit of game time with Moseley.

“That was when Exeter were in the Championship, the year they got promoted. We were down at Moseley slogging it out and those boys used to come up. I just remember him being an odd bloke then, just quite an odd bloke in the changing room. One of those funny guys.

“There is plenty of odd blokes but he had just a bit of a strange way about him. I can’t remember him playing. I can’t imagine it was glorious rugby back in the days on Billesley Common, Portakabins as changing rooms.”