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'Size 15 feet, I don't need to grow more. Hopefully, I've stopped'
England prospect Joe Heyes reckons he has now filled out as best he can and is ready to accelerate his promising career at Leicester. Capped twice last summer at Test level, the recently turned 23-year-old is poised to make his 100th appearance for the Tigers in this Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership game at home to Wasps.
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It has been a gradual build so far for the tighthead who has Dan Cole, the 2019 World Cup final sub, keeping him company at Welford Road. Heyes has started in just 19 of his 69 games in the Premiership – six starts in 19 matches this season – but he was more prominent at European level, starting in the Champions Cup five times during the Leicester run to the quarter-finals.
What you see now is what you get with Heyes in terms of his size, the front-rower figuring his girth is perfect for him to get even more exposure as time goes on. “Sometimes if I have a good weekend I put an extra couple of kilos on but no, I tend to stay at this weight and I have stopped growing hopefully,” he told RugbyPass.
“Size 15 feet, I don’t need to grow anymore. Hopefully, I have stopped there and everything like that. Hopefully, I am done now and I can build on this. I’m 122kgs. I’d say I’m happy with that.”
It was September 2018 at Wasps when Heyes made his Leicester debut off the bench in Coventry. At the time, the 2017 Lions pick Cole would have been a regular pick in Eddie Jones’ England matchday squad so what was it like for the then 19-year-old prop to initially get the attention of his way more experienced senior colleague?
“The best thing as a young fella coming in is actually playing with these guys and training with these guys, but it’s hard to speak to people and just automatically get their respect or their attention. It actually took me a couple of games playing with Coley and training with Coley to actually break the ice there. It’s the same anywhere, you have got to do something to earn the respect of your peers and it took time but that is just the way it works really, especially in a professional sport.
“It was good,” he added when that ice had at last broken. “I had finally spoken to Coley. I remember speaking to my dad as well that I struggled to speak to him [Cole] to start off with because I was almost in awe of him but it was like a really good moment, I finally got some information out of him and now I could try and build a relationship with him. I would say we are good mates now and we constantly learn from each other, which is great.”
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Heyes doesn’t have to look far for the props that now most inspire him. “I’d say the guys I play with, Coley and Ellis (Genge). They are brilliant. Growing up it was Cian Healy because I just enjoyed watching him play and Logo (Logovi’i Mulipola) because of the way he looked. He was a big scary Samoan and he played for Tigers and that was what I just loved about him really. Now it would be my peers, so Ellis Genge and Coley, they are prime examples of the best props.
“Ellis has done a great job in taking that leadership role and sometimes it comes to you without even expecting it,” continued Heyes. “We are learning and doing stuff like that to be ready if the opportunity comes because there is a lot of opportunity for the young lads in our squad. It’s all very exciting.”
Leicester gunning to win the Premiership title is a very different situation compared to those underwhelming back-to-back eleventh place finishes not so long ago. “Yeah, it taught us what rugby is like and how important it is as a team to stick together. If you are a tightly knit bunch, as we are now, that is how you do good things and it puts further emphasis on being a team player and working together and stuff like that. It [that experience] has been very helpful.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Absolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
5 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
14 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
14 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
5 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to comments