I‘VE NOT FELT AS GOOD AS THIS FOR YEARS
RESTART FIRES UP REBORN NOWELL
JACK NOWELL went into lockdown with one daughter and no chance of playing in the Six Nations.
When rugby returns this weekend, he will be a father of two with sights set on England’s rescheduled championship decider in Italy in October.
The coronavirus pandemic has been brutal in its treatment of so many, with lives taken and jobs lost. For Nowell, the five-month hiatus has been kinder, gifting him an opportunity to rebuild his battered body and welcome second daughter Zimi into the world.
But the plight of others has left its mark on Exeter’s England star, providing him with a new perspective on life. And the 27-year old Cornishman believes both he and his club, who go into the restart with a five-point lead at the top of the Premiership, will reap the benefits. “Before this crisis I would get myself worked up about being injured or not playing very well,” said a player whose 36 caps have come at a cost of eight operations. “But these past few months have shown us that rugby is very, very small in terms of what’s been going on.
“You realise there’s a lot more out there, that there’s a big world away from rugby.
“I have been lucky, I’ve had another child and I’ve got my body right.
“It’s been great not being so sore on a Monday and Tuesday after playing that you can’t go in a gym, lift or train properly.
“However, I can’t imagine what it has been like for those parents who are cooped up in multi-story buildings in cities with the children not allowed outside.
“This period has reminded me how fortunate I am and not to take it for granted.
“I’m fit, we’re raring to go at Chiefs and I intend to make the best of it.”
Nowell’s body came to a grinding halt shortly before the world did.
Having missed England’s World Cup warm-up matches due to a burst appendix, he played only once in Japan last year before his hamstring went.
He returned home and was quickly back under the knife.
But just when it seemed ankle surgery had cost him his chance of playing in the Six Nations the pandemic struck, buying him precious recovery time. Wing Nowell said: “I had forgotten what it felt like to not be so sore after a game. “This is by far the best I’ve felt in a number of years.” Nowell proved the point by undergoing a rigorous fitness test with his sponsor Red Bull which, true to his family’s seafaring traditions, involved dragging a 70kg anchor and flipping three lifeboats on a Cornish beach. However, the next challenge facing Nowell is a match at home to Leicester tomorrow as Chiefs pick up from where they left off in March in their quest to again become the champions of England.
To learn more about how elite athletes mentally and physically train, watch Nowell’s full video by going to: redbull.com/gb-en/ videos/jack-nowell-never-quit
It’s been great not being so sore on a Monday and Tuesday after playing that you can’t go in a gym, lift or train properly.