‘Slade’s form is the spur for me to regain England place’

After injury cost him his Test berth, Jonathan Joseph tells Tom Cary he is determined to return

As much as Jonny May’s hat-trick against France last Sunday has elevated the Leicester winger to cult hero status this week, his performance hailed as a masterclass in devastating efficiency – four touches, three tries, in 29 minutes – it was also a reminder of how quickly things can change. The previous man to score a hat-trick for England could only watch on ruefully.

“Yeah I’m a bit gutted Jonny’s taken that away from me, it was the one thing I had left,” admits Jonathan Joseph, whose three scores in the 61-21 victory over Scotland at Twickenham two years ago appeared at the time to have cemented his status as the prince of England centres.

Back then, Joseph was Eddie Jones’s weapon of choice at outside centre, having appeared in 24 of the Australian’s 28 Tests in charge (a run which included an 18-minute hat-trick against Italy in 2016).

But after going on the 2017 Lions tour, and scoring again in that autumn’s victory over Australia, reality bit for Joseph last April. An ankle injury suffered in Bath’s defeat by Saracens at Allianz Park required surgery. Joseph was out for nine months and on his return he has found England in rampant form. And with a new darling at 13.

Henry Slade’s all-court game was deployed to stunning effect in England’s wins over Ireland and France. As much as his handling, finishing and footwork, it is the former No 10’s ability as a playmaker, his kicks in behind the opposition defence, which have caught the eye.

If it was a bittersweet experience watching England hit such heights, Joseph hides it well. “I’m happy for England,” he says. “The way they’re playing, like, obviously the results are great, but we’re actually looking absolutely class. Attack, defence, strategically. We are on the money.

“If anything it just spurs you on more. It will come down to Eddie, and who he wants to go with. But you can only focus on yourself.”

What about Slade specifically? Is he happy for him? “Yeah I am. I think he’s a great guy. He deserves nothing less. He’s performed consistently now for Exeter at the highest level and it’s good to see him translating that to the international game.”

It is a generous appraisal, but then Joseph is adamant he has nothing to be bitter about. He is just grateful to be back playing.

And his calmness is probably at least partly attributable to the fact that he knows he remains very much in Jones’s thoughts. After his comeback match – a 50-minute cameo against Toulouse last month – Jones called Joseph straight in to England’s pre-tournament camp in Portugal.

“He told me right away, ‘Look, realistically you’re not going to be playing against Ireland’. And I said, ‘I completely understand’. But I think it was just a case of getting me back in the group, to see how things worked. And because he probably sees me as part of the bigger picture stuff.”

Joseph says he has no qualms about fitting into this new-look England team, saying the kicking strategy – a department in which Slade is clearly superior – has been based more on the way Ireland and France were set up than anything else. “I think anyone would be putting the ball in behind if they were presented with the same picture,” he says. “So no, Eddie hasn’t said to go and become a fly-half or anything like that. He has just backed me in terms of he knows what I’m about.”

For now, Joseph says he just wants to get his head down for Bath. Having signed a new two-year contract in January, the 27-year-old believes Bath are “starting to peak again” after a tough few years. “This place is pretty special to me,” says Joseph, who joined from London Irish in 2013. “I have been here for five years now, so to win something with them would mean so much more than going off and winning with some other boys.”

This afternoon Bath face a Newcastle team desperate for a win which could lift them off the bottom of the Premiership. Joseph insists England will be far from his thoughts as he focuses on helping to continue the West Country club’s recent improved form, which saw them hammer Gloucester 52-0 in a Premiership Rugby Cup game last time out. Newcastle, he says, will be “very dangerous. I’ve watched them and they don’t deserve to be relegated.”

At the very least he expects to be back at Twickenham on April 6 to face Bristol in “The Clash”. But is he expecting a call from Jones in the meantime? “I just want to be back playing my best,” he says. “If Eddie feels I can come in and do a job then great. But I would completely understand if he doesn’t, seeing as the boys who are there are doing such a good job.

“Hopefully once I’m back fully fit we [he and Slade] can go head to head at it for that 13 shirt.”

See Bath Rugby take on rivals Bristol Bears in The Clash at Twickenham Stadium on April 6.