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Jonny May fears the all-consuming commitment to training that has shaped him into one of the greatest England wings could lead to burnout. May continued to chase down Rory Underwood’s record as his nation’s leading try-scorer by crossing twice in Saturday’s 69-3 victory over Tonga and it is the thrill of occasions such as an autumn Test at Twickenham that has inspired an agreement made with himself.
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The 31-year-old, who last week was described by Eddie Jones to RugbyPass as the most professional player he has ever encountered, is known for an extraordinary level of dedication to preparation that is held up as an example to any newcomers to the squad. May wears this single-minded approach like armour, drawing strength from knowing he has done everything possible to be ready for matchday, but it also comes at a price that he is willing to pay. “I call it my loop because it doesn’t stop. It’s the little extras that keep me resilient,” said England winger May.
“It’s the boring stuff, it’s the loading the dishwasher, the chores of rugby that I probably am just quite good at. Probably where my head is on a spectrum, I’m very good at repeating, repeating every single day those nibbly bits. That is something I have always been able to do and it has been trained to the point now that I really don’t know what else to do with myself. If I have a day off I can’t do nothing. At the forefront of my mind every day is, ‘What do I need to be doing now?’
“The nature of this mindset is that I could burn out with it, I’m fully aware of that. Is it sustainable? Can I hang on? Can I keep going with it? I don’t know. It’s burnout in terms of the demands I put on myself and the pressure I put myself under. The process I have to go through to get ready for a game is taxing and a double-edged sword. So I have to find the balance.
“I can’t burn out or put myself under too much pressure or get to a point where I can’t keep doing it. That is the risk I run doing it the way I do it, but I want to keep fighting for it as long as I can and I am comfortable being uncomfortable. In fact, I don’t even know how to be comfy anymore. I’m getting better at accepting that. That is the price I’m willing to pay for special moments like the weekend. It’s a bargain that I have made with myself. For now, I’ll keep going for as long as I can.”
"The consummate professional…"#AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTONhttps://t.co/VMlDzvGoFL
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 4, 2021
Beyond ensuring he is ready for Tests such as next Saturday’s England collision with Australia, the ceaseless May treadmill of micro-dosing extra conditioning – stretching, loading specific muscle groups, plyometrics, ice baths, saunas – has developed an extensive bank of knowledge that could provide the foundations for a career when playing is no longer viable. “I might be sick of rugby and will probably want a complete break and rest, but I’m good at the puzzle of performance, working out what is needed, where it is needed, how can you improve,” May said.
“The medical and strength conditioning are parts of a puzzle for the body and for the athlete. I feel like I have a good understanding of that and have the mind for performance, but whether I want to go into that is another question. I’d be happy to go back to school and learn, but I have already picked up a lot of knowledge from my own experience after working in this elite environment for quite a long time.”
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Even an enjoyable distraction away from rugby offers parallels for events on the England pitch as May battles Manu Tuilagi at chess. Since gathering for the Autumn Nations Series, Tuilagi has built a five-and-a-half to two-and-a-half lead after maturing from pupil to master.
May said: “Me and Manu go at it. At the World Cup, I was teaching him but he has gone away and played a lot of chess. I’m very much a rugby player first and spend a lot of time doing that, Manu will say it himself – he is a barista, a snooker player, a carpenter and a chess player, and then a rugby player!
“We have had some good games. At the moment I call him Bobby Fischer. He calls me Bobby Fischer as well. He is the grandmaster at the moment. I draw a lot of similarities between rugby and chess. Chess players aren’t necessarily thinking moves ahead, it’s about pattern recognition.
“It’s like the backfield in rugby, if the ball is there where will it go in the backfield next? That is why I love chess. It’s through pattern recognition that you can anticipate what happens next.”
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“To be honest I messaged him to say, ‘Well done, mate, well deserved and good luck on the tour’ and I haven’t spoken to him yet." @J0nnyMay on Leicester, Gloucester, Lions, competing for his England place and being challenged by LRZ, writes @heagneyl ???https://t.co/aMh2omsROj
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe 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
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments