MY LIFE IN RUGBY
THE FORMER CARDIFF BLUES, SALE SHARKS AND NEWPORT GWENT DRAGONS FLY-HALF
Whenever I found myself in pressure situations, and there were plenty when Sale were fighting for survival in the Premiership, the advice that Neil Jenkins gave to me as a youngster at Cardiff Blues served me well. He said if you made a mistake or missed a shot at goal, let it pass, and move on. Dwelling on a negative does no good and I like to think that having such a mindset helped me keep cool when the heat was on.
The basement battle against London Welsh at the Kassam Stadium in the 2012/13 season was a case in point. I think (former owner) Brian Kennedy had billed the game as the most important in Sale’s history. We were losing with ten minutes to go when we won a penalty and I did my job and put the ball through the poles. Kickers tend to get the praise when things go right and get the blame when things don’t, but rugby is a team game and most of the points I scored throughout my career were off the back of hard work from those around me.
Jenks was one of my boyhood heroes and I used to spend hours with a bag of balls and a bucket of sand – there were no tees back in those days – practicing my kicking and wanting to be like him. So to be able to call him a team-mate and then learn from him in his later role as skills and kicking coach was brilliant.
Graduating into the Blues’ first team squad alongside fellow New College pupils, Robin Sowden-Taylor and Lee Thomas, made the transition easier and I went on to enjoy five seasons with my home region. Making my debut aged 17 against Cambridge University under the floodlights was an amazing experience.
Unfortunately, I never properly nailed down a first-team spot at the Blues, flitting between 10, 12 and full-back, which is where I played at first for Sale after Rory Lamont suffered a season-ending injury. On joining Sale, I never imagined that my wife and I would spend the next eight years in Manchester and have two children born there.
My first season at Sale was one of the highlights of my career because of the superstars I was playing with, people like Charlie Hodgson, Luke McAlister, Dwayne Peel and Sebastian Chabal. Partnering Peely at halfback was phenomenal. It was nice to be out playing every Friday night amid the old-school atmosphere at Edgeley Park.
From a stats point of view, there is no doubt the 2011/12 season was my most successful. I was full of confidence and scored over 300 points. Scotland, who I qualified for through my grandfather, showed some interest and I’d have loved to have taken that further, but a couple of appearances for Wales Sevens on the World Series made me ineligible. Not that I have any regrets.
Danny Cipriani arrived at Sale the following season and we alternated for most of that campaign, but from then on in he was pretty much number one and first-team opportunities became limited. With two young children in tow, an offer from Newport Gwent Dragons came at just the right time. Moving back to Wales enabled us to be closer to our wider family support network while also enhancing my gametime prospects.
I did pre-season and felt as good as I had done for a long time, physically and mentally. But half-adozen games into the season I got my foot caught in a tackle against Ospreys. It turned out that I’d ruptured the ligaments around my big toe and after two operations the surgeon told me I’d have to call it a day.
Coming from a family of foodies, I’ve always enjoyed cooking and I’ve now got my own bakery business, One Mile Bakery. - as told to Jon Newcombe