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.
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.
“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.”
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
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments