WE WERE KICKED OFF OUR FARM BY MUGABE’S THUGS England new boy Don Armand can handle a challenge
DON ARMAND is set to be given the job of solving England’s back- row crisis against Ireland, with Eddie Jones ready to make the Exeter forward his No 8.
With Nathan Hughes, Zach Mercer and Billy Vunipola all out and England so poor around the rucks against Scotland and France, Armand is now a contender for the final NatWest 6 Nations match.
Calls for his selection from former players have been growing. Armand has been the best back-rower in the Premiership for a year but Jones has ignored him while England fumble at the breakdown — until now.
Helping England renew their World Cup quest will not be the toughest challenge Armand has faced. The 18st 2lb Zimbabweborn forward is used to starting again. He was 13 years old when Robert Mugabe’s forces came to steal his family farm.
Luckily, back in 2002, the Armands escaped their plot near Harare before the land invasions turned violent.
‘They did not hit our farm first, we knew it was going around. All they did was start sitting on the field you drive past,’ said Armand. ‘ Then they beat up the workers and told us we could not carry on doing certain things. My mum and dad were very good shielding us from it. We did not see any of the violence.
‘ The roads became too dangerous to pass, so eventually we had to pack up and leave.’
Apart from one visit to Victoria Falls for a wedding, Armand has not returned.
His parents Adele and Wade tried to start a new life in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, but within five years diseased crops meant their flower-growing business had gone under and they had divorced.
‘They had to go through a lot,’ he added. ‘ You learn that you have to carry on going, there’s nothing you can do. We had to start again, that didn’t work, so we had to start again from that.
‘It really shows the strength of some people, like my mum and what she has been through. I would love to go back to Zim. It is too tricky.’
Now, having taken the road less travelled to the England squad via the University of Cape Town where he studied psychology and human resources, the Stormers Super Rugby team and Rob Baxter’s Exeter Chiefs, Armand is national charged side back with on putting track. the
Conspicuous on the field with strapping round the ‘fin’ haircut he describes as ‘business at the front, party at the back’, he is a force of nature at Sandy Park. But brilliant club performances have only afforded him nine minutes of Test rugby, as a substitute on last June’s Argentina tour. Jones told him to work harder and the comment surprised many, but not Armand. ‘Everyone else was kicking off about it,’ he said. ‘My mum was up in arms — “Why is he saying this?” — but I knew already and was not too bothered. What I like about him is that he is honest, he tells you what he wants. ‘If you work with him and go in with an open mind he will make you a better player. If you fight against what he says you might not have such a good time.’ Armand’s mum, who now lives in Devon, has form in this regard. When her son represented the England Saxons in 2016, a South African website claimed he had played a month before qualifying on residency. ‘My mum posted in the comments — “He is actually here on ancestral grounds, he qualifies through his grandmother, please get your facts right before writing this stuff”,’ laughed Armand.
‘She signed off as “his mum” which was funny! I told her not to but I love the fact she did.’
Family is important to him but solving England’s miseries at the ruck is suddenly a priority. If he plays No 8 against Ireland, all eyes will be on his contribution at the breakdown.
‘ It has to be one of your strengths,’ he said. ‘If you can’t hit a breakdown, the fundamentals of rugby are things that you’ll struggle with.’