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Kyle Sinckler has just been handed a responsibility few believed could ever happen ten months ago
Kyle Sinckler has been handed a job few every thought he would ever receive – captaining a team.
The tighthead has often been dismissed as a bit of a hothead on the pitch, with particular criticism arising following England’s Six Nations defeat last February by Wales in Cardiff.
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Warren Gatland, the Welsh coach at the time, described Sinckler as “an emotional time bomb” in the lead-up to that pivotal fixture, a description fastened onto by RugbyPass columnist Andy Goode in the aftermath of the defeat.
“England had the game won in Cardiff but ill-discipline cost them once more and Kyle Sinckler was the biggest culprit,” wrote Goode.
“He played really well but him losing his head swung the momentum Wales’ way massively. Warren Gatland described him as an “emotional time bomb” in the build-up to the game and he was proved right.”
(Continue reading below…)
Ten months later, following an enterprising World Cup in the England shirt, Sinckler’s now burgeoning reputation as someone to rely on has been endorsed by his club Harlequins.
The Londoners face Ulster on Friday night in a must-win Heineken Champions Cup encounter and with club skipper Chris Robshaw not in the mix following last Saturday’s defeat in Belfast, boss Paul Gustard has handed the captaincy for the game to Sinckler on his first home appearance of the season.
How he reacts to the responsibility will be intriguing, especially with a French referee set to take charge of the all-important tie that Quins have to win to stay alive in the competition.
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In the latest instalment of the popular RugbyPass 15 for 10 series, @alexshawsport runs the rule over the last decade at @Harlequinshttps://t.co/dGQ131yibb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 12, 2019
Sinckler’s inter-action with Alexandre Ruiz will be interesting, particularly if he himself is the player penalised for the concession of a penalty at some stage of the Twickenham Stoop encounter.
In other selection changes, Santiago Garcia Botta returns at loosehead prop following his recent wedding. Will Evans is also back after being rested for the last two weeks, Brett Herron makes his first European appearance for the club with Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva also starting his first game.
Harlequins boss Gustard said: “The players have taken good ownership of the week and driven the detail and energy. It is a great opportunity for a couple of our players who are returning from injury to move the jersey forward in what is a must-win game.”
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HARLEQUINS: 15. Ross Chisholm; 14. Vereniki Goneva, 13. James Lang, 12. Francis Saili, 11. Cadan Murley; 10. Brett Herron, 9. Martin Landajo; 1. Santiago Garcia Botta, 2. Elia Elia, 3. Kyle Sinckler (capt), 4. Stephan Lewies, 5. Tex Cavubati, 6. Will Evans, 7. Semi Kunatani, 8. Alex Dombrandt. Reps: 16. Jack Musk, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Simon Kerrod, 19. Dino Lamb, 20. James Chisholm, 21. Niall Saunders, 22. Paul Lasike, 23. Travis Ismaiel.
ULSTER: 15. Jacob Stockdale; 14. Matt Faddes, 13. Luke Marshall, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Louis Ludik; 10. Billy Burns, 9. John Cooney; 1. Eric O’Sullivan, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Marty Moore, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Iain Henderson (capt), 6. Sean Reidy, 7. Jordi Murphy, 8. Marcell Coetzee. Reps: 16. Adam McBurney, 17. Andy Warwick, 18. Tom O’Toole, 19. Alan O’Connor, 20. Matt Rea, 21. David Shanahan, 22. Bill Johnston, 23. Craig Gilroy.
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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