Slipper steps up to lead Reds’ juniors
THE 107 steps that climb the Kangaroo Point cliffs were a stairway to hell for Reds prop James Slipper as he built strength in his mending achilles tendon.
Fitness fiends in Lorna Jane tights skipped by him and personal trainers cajoled posses of exercise newbies around him as he marched methodically upwards.
His left calf wasn’t exactly puny by normal standards but the 86-Test prop knew he could forget being a scrum force again if he did not restore the pushing power in his legs.
“There were plenty of ladies in activewear ahead of me and people heading to coffee stops at the top of the cliffs but I just kept my head down,” Slipper said.
“It was very hard in those early stages but just completing those runs up and down the stairs gave me confidence because you never know how an achilles is going to react.”
The Reds may not have been winners in Melbourne last Friday night but the return to Super Rugby for the stalwart forward was a victory 11 months in the making.
He hadn’t packed a Super Rugby scrum since playing the Lions in Johannesburg in March last year when his achilles ruptured.
At the seven-minute mark in Melbourne, Slipper was beaming after the Reds won a scrum penalty and felt they could shunt the Rebels. So much for false dawns. By midway through a crazy half, winger Chris Feauai-Sautia had his boot caught under the prop’s feet while floundering as an emergency flanker because two forwards had been ejected.
Slipper, 28, is again the Reds’ pack figure to drive for a much-needed win over the ACT Brumbies at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
There are five players 23 or younger in the pack and today’s expected selection of Liam Wright, 20, will make it six when he replaces the suspended Scott Higginbotham.
As rattled as the Reds may seem by judiciary issues, Slipper has great faith in the steel of the youth brigade.
“I’ve got to stop calling them kids,” Slipper said.
“I see a guy like Liam as a leader already.”
THERE WERE PLENTY OF LADIES IN ACTIVEWEAR AHEAD OF ME JAMES SLIPPER