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'I felt like Mr Burns off the Simpsons': Jonny May's mental torment

By PA
(Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Jonny May admits that for the only time in his career he was relieved not to have been picked by England after a nasty dose of covid reduced his Australia tour to two training sessions. Waking up exhausted the day after arriving down under, the Gloucester wing tested positive and spent the next seven days in isolation where he lost almost a stone in weight and a recent knee injury swelled up alarmingly.

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Only a groggy transfer from one hotel to another as England swapped the location of their base in Perth broke up a tortuous spell in quarantine. “It was all a bit of a blur to me. I caught covid, I’m in one hotel, the doctor is flapping around as you can imagine,” May said.

“I got put in some van with this ultra-mask on, driven across town, around the back of a hotel, up this lift that looks like it is used for laundry or like a food cart – it’s not a human lift – right up to the top floor, and that was me up there on my own for seven days.

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“I felt like Mr Burns off the Simpsons, all weak and tired. Three days of it was me in and out of sleep. Then you get into a little routine, get up, ring the chef, have a coffee, have your breakfast. I watched quite a lot of Aussie rules football. They have a whole channel for it so I watched a fair bit of that.

“I watched all of Stranger Things and Tom Brady on Disney+, it was called Man in the Arena. What I took from that is how he always has an influence on his teammates. In the back of my head, I was thinking, ‘If I get out of my room, just have a good influence. I’m not in the best position so I can contribute on the pitch, so just try to help in other ways’.”

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May trained by himself for the middle week in Brisbane and having missed the first and second Tests, he was then overlooked for the third as England snatched victory in a series decider. “When Eddie Jones announced the team on the Monday on the last week and I wasn’t in it, I was actually quite relieved. I would have given it a go but I didn’t feel up to it,” May said.

“It would have maybe been different fitness-wise if I’d played 25 games last season, but I didn’t. Everything was backed up against me in that sense. I did everything I could to be available and if Eddie had picked me I probably would have given it a go, stupidly.”

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It was May’s second significant dose of covid and it came just two matches into his comeback from a major knee injury. I haven’t really been this excited to play for a long time because I just want to flippin’ play,” May said. “I have done so many rehab sessions, running on my own, sitting in my hotel room, I just want to play now.”

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

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T
Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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B
Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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