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Josh Beaumont opens up on very different personal battle compared to his electioneering dad
Bill and Josh Beaumont are fighting intensely personal – but very different – rugby battles amid the backdrop of the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the sport around the world. Bill, 68, is attempting to hold onto the chairmanship of World Rugby against the challenge of vice-chairman Agustin Pichot, while his 28-year-old son, a key member of the Sale Sharks squad, is devising ways of completing his seven-month rehabilitation from knee reconstruction surgery while in lockdown with limited training aids.
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The electronic vote for World Rugby’s top job takes place on April 26, with the result of the 52-council member election revealed on May 12. But the results of Beaumont junior’s home-based strength training and fitness regime will only be properly tested when Sale are allowed to bring their squad together again for the attempted completion of the Gallagher Premiership season.
With Bill having the most powerful job in the sport, Beaumont is backing his father to retain his role as chairman. “I’m very proud of how hard he has worked over the last four years to grow the game and also look after the players,” said Josh Beaumont to RugbyPass. “I have seen at first hand the amount of effort he has put in. Fingers crossed he is successful in this campaign and can do another four years to continue the good work he has already done.”
While the dates for his father’s re-election fight are set in stone, Beaumont’s own timeline has been severely affected by the coronavirus lockdown. The only positive note was that his move from a flat to a house in the Manchester suburbs happened just before social distancing, allowing him space to create an indoor gym with the equipment he managed to attain.
Before the lockdown, Beaumont was receiving daily treatment and following a personal rehabilitation programme alongside Sale’s strength and conditioning experts, but now that is all done remotely.
Sale are unable to send their physios to his home to deal with the aches and pains around the patella tendon that required two surgeries. The restrictions have left the 6ft 7in forward doing his best to self-treat with equipment collected while recovering from previous injuries.
Weight training aimed at strengthening the injured knee is possible, but Beaumont does not own a bike – let alone a static Wattbike – which could significantly aid his recovery sessions.
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“It’s quite hard to judge exactly where I am with the recovery, not being able to work full time at the Sale training ground,” admitted the club’s ex-captain. “It’s coming along quite well and I was able to get some equipment back to the house.
“I have about four more weeks building the leg muscles up to where the other side is. Once I get to that level I can start running again so, hopefully, I will be able to play a bit this season. In normal circumstances, I would be doing two or three conditioning sessions and bike work, but I haven’t got access to a Wattbike and don’t actually own any bike! Even if I did I’m not sure riding around the roads is a good idea anyway.
Good luck to the @SaleSharksRugby lads this afternoon back at the AJ Bell in the @ChampionsCup Gutted I can’t be out there but will hopefully be back towards the end of the season. Thanks for all the kind messages I’ve received over the past couple of weeks ?
— Josh Beaumont (@JoshBeaumont1) November 24, 2019
“The longer I can leave it for that tendon to bed in the better. I have been doing as many different weights exercises as possible but not getting access to the club’s physios and receiving treatment when coming off a serious injury means areas in the leg do get tight and that is the downside at the moment.
“Because of all my injuries over the years I have a load of recovery equipment at home but it’s not the same as treatment from a trained professional who knows how to loosen up the tight areas. The knee got infected, so I needed another operation, and the first couple of months of rehab were pretty rubbish.”
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Beaumont ruptured the tendon against Wasps at the start of November and a six-month recovery became seven when the injury got infected. He was hoping to make it back before the end of Sale’s current campaign and now, with the suspended Premiership schedule set to be played in the summer, there is every chance he could still play a part in the bid for the title.
The second-placed outfit have brought in Springbok stars to create a squad of real depth and Beaumont is eager to add his own particular skills to the equation. Picked in Eddie Jones’ first England squad in 2016 before a shoulder injury halted his progress that season, the Australian identified Beaumont as a player who could operate with equal impact as a specialist No8 and second row, a dual role he has since tried to give Bath’s Charlie Ewels.
This could prove a hard-sell to the Celts, especially the Irish https://t.co/ivClAHhYci
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 15, 2020
However, reminding Jones about his unique talents is not at the top of Beaumont’s list of priorities at the moment. “It took us time to get going at Sale because of people coming in at different times after the World Cup. With my injury, we were a bit short in the second row, but Jean-Luc du Preez has been doing a good job alongside Bryn Evans.
“Bryn is an All Black, has that experience and has been immense this season. I have learnt so much from him about the lineout. We also have Lood de Jager, who is a massive guy and gives us even more lineout options. My motivation is to get back and help Sale win something this season.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Exeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
29 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
29 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
85 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
85 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
29 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
11 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
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