A chicken sandwich put me in hospital
BRAD SHIELDS REVEALS ORDEAL ON ENGLAND TOUR
FOR Brad Shields, this was one of the more topsy- turvy summers — one week he was making his England debut, the next he was hooked up to a drip in hospital.
The 27-year- old flanker from Wellington in New Zealand was a controversial pick by Eddie Jones for the South Africa tour.
Shields had not played a minute of rugby on these shores. And he only met the rest of the national squad days before replacing Nick Isiekwe after 35 minutes against the Springboks in Johannesburg for his first cap — angering some.
He started the next week at No 6 in place of the dropped Chris Robshaw but then illness struck.
Speaking at his new club Wasps, Shields described how bad his food poisoning was in Cape Town. ‘I lost about eight kilos (1st 3lbs) — mainly in fluid,’ he said. ‘Although I didn’t think I was too bad, they took me to hospital and put me on a drip once they realised how much I’d lost.
‘It was the worst I have been sick in my life. I had a chicken sandwich with my parents which looked pretty good to me — but then it went from there.
‘Usually it lasts for a couple of days but this was about 10 days by the time I got back to New Zealand, started putting some weight back on and started to feel normal again. I’m still sort of bouncing back from that now.’ Despite holding a British passport — both his parents were born in England — Shields’s selection was slammed by New Zealand Rugby, who suggested he had been nicked from under their noses, although they had consistently ignored him for All Black selection.
World Rugby vice- chairman Agustin Pichot also waded in, saying that rugby was ‘ losing something’ with players switching allegiance.
When asked if he would be boosting the Kiwi influence at Wasps, alongside Jimmy Gopperth, Lima Sopoaga and Ambrose Curtis, Shields laughed and said: ‘I’m supposed to be English now! We will make sure we bring what we can but will try not to step on anyone’s toes. You’ve got to earn people’s respect.’
Having played with Beauden Barrett and a host of other All Blacks, fans might hope Shields will come armed with ways to down the Kiwis ahead of England’s November Test against the world champions.
But he said: ‘There might be a few subtleties I can help out with but what matters is how you play and trying not to get spooked by the shadow that’s cast by another team,’ he said.