HOW ARE YOU AND HOW HAS THE RECOVERY BEEN?
“Good. The good thing about sport and rugby is there is always something next to go after. Personally and as a team really disappointed (with the end to last season) but right now there is a feeling of excitement. I started running two weeks ago. From a team perspective we are back into a game week with Bedford this weekend. What has gone on has gone on and I am really excited right now.
“Hopefully I will be fit for the start of the Premiership but to be honest I am not putting any pressure on myself. With what I have learnt from past injuries and this one it is all well and good giving yourself time and dates but these things sort themselves out. If it is a day to push it I will push it but if it is a day to hold back you have got to listen to your body. That is how we are right now.”
WHAT AREAS DID YOU WORK ON DURING THE RECOVERY?
“Trying to run again! There are always positives to it. You don’t get these chances very often. For me right now it is an extended pre-season where, as tough as it is, I am able to spend a lot of time in the gym, increase strength, size and come back a better athlete.”
THE INFLUENCE OF JONO ROSS
“Jono was a tough player and probably what you saw on the pitch he is very similar off it. He was great for us. But for me it is about being myself. I have been in a few different environments and been under a few different captains now. You do see how other people do it but for me it is being myself. At the end of the day you have got to do what you think is right. You have got the armband so it is for you to do what you feel is right. So long as it is in the best interest of the team you can’t really go wrong there. I have the title but for me it’s not about myself. We have a good group of senior players; right now George (Ford), Tom (Curry), Jonny (Hill), Bevan (Rodd) and Manu (Tuilagi) are all away (with England). That’s just five names, not mentioning the guys who are injured. We then have Ross (Harrison), Josh (Beaumont) and Ernst (van Rhyn) who are all training. We have got a lot of good, experienced senior players here and it is about channelling all of that. It is not just about me. It is about bringing that group together and us all channelling it in the right direction.”
TREND OF BACK-ROW CAPTAINS AT SALE
“I think it is the nature of the position. I believe a lot of leadership isn’t actually what you are saying. 99% of it is what you do. The nature of the back-row position is you get through a hell of a lot of work and you have to be at the front of everything in terms of physicality, number of involvements. That speaks for itself in terms of leadership.”
“Everyone talks about born leaders. I don’t think you think you get born leaders. I think environment is massive. I am very lucky that under the scheme that Alex Sanderson has implemented I was given a lot of room to grow. I have been working towards it for two or three years. I have been given room to grown into this role. I have been fortunate with the people above me. Yes, it is about captaining the team but it is also giving other people room to grow as well.”
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OFFICIALS
“I think it is not just the referee, it is everyone involved in rugby in terms of linesmen, fourth official. It is about being respectful. At the end of the day they have a job to do. Rugby is an emotional sport but I think it is important that not to use that as an excuse. You have to be respectful to everyone around you including the opposition. That is something I judge myself on.”
IMPACT OF THE NEW ARRIVALS
“Really good. There have been a few experienced guys who have left but it feels like the team has grown with the players we have brought in. To be honest I haven’t seen much of the on-field stuff. I am in the gym twice a day so at the end of my second session I try and nip out for the last 10 minutes. All reports are good. Luke Cowan-Dickie is a class lad. I am really looking forward to playing with all of them. Good people as well.”
BYRON MCGUIGAN GOING FROM BEING A TEAM-MATE TO A COACH
“I thought it was going to be weird. It’s not at all. It is really strange how normal it has been. It feels like he has always been a coach. Towards the back end of last year he wasn’t involved that much in games due to the performances of Tom Roebuck, Arron Reed and Tom O’Flaherty. So he took a step back in terms of actually playing and led a lot more on the off-field stuff in meetings. It has been very seamless and I am really looking forward to working with him. I think he is going to be a great coach and we are really lucky to have him.”
JAMIE LANGLEY REPLACING MIKE FORSHAW AS DEFENCE COACH MIDWAY THROUGH LAST SEASON
“That was probably quite a difficult one, especially as it all happened pretty quickly. One week we saw it in the paper and the rumours were around and the next week he announced he was leaving. Not so much from the rugby side of things but from an emotional relationship perspective. That hit me and a lot of the other lads. First of all he is a great bloke but he is also mad as anything. You never know what is going to come out of a meeting. One thing you know for sure is you will come out of the meeting laughing. So going from that to Jamie Langley especially mid-season was a bit of a weird transition but I thought we adapted well to it and Jamie took to the job really well.”
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PREMIERSHIP RUGBY CUP
“It is probably one of the longest playing periods in the build-up to a season I have had. We definitely benefitted from having three pre-season games last year so with five Premiership Rugby Cup games we should be flying. For us it is about making sure each game we keep improving. I don’t think we will see the finished product against Bedford this weekend but every time we play we want to see improvements. So that by the time we play Northampton on the opening weekend of the Premiership season we are flying and the feeling that we have grown. Also feeling confident in each other and our ability to execute what we have spoken about for two months.”
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