Mermoz harbours hopes of Test recall
MAXIME MERMOZ is hoping to play a big part in Newcastle’s exciting end to the season as he slowly comes to grips with an inner ear problem that has dogged his first season at the club.
While Newcastle narrowly lost out to Exeter for a place in today’s AngloWelsh final, they are still in contention for silverware in both the Premiership and Challenge Cup with next Saturday’s ‘Big Game’ against Northampton at St James’ Park thrown in for good measure.
Featuring more prominently in recent weeks, Mermoz, right, wore the No.13 jersey at Sandy Park last Sunday, having got an hour under his belt as a replacement for Sinoti Sinoti eight days earlier in the tense Premiership win against Gloucester at Kingsholm, and is now in contention for a first Premiership start of the season as Falcons prepare to play in front of a record 20,000 plus crowd.
“Things are improving with my ear week by week and I’m really happy to be back on the pitch,” he said.
“I’ve played four or five games in the last month and I hope to play more and more and finish the season well because it didn’t start the way I’d hoped. I know I can do so much more for my team-mates and for the club so that’s why I am giving it my all to get things fixed and be 100 per cent.”
Mermoz, who won the last of his 35 caps for France in 2016, first detected that something was not quite right health-wise when he started to have balance issues in September.
He added: “It’s not like an injury that you can fix with surgery, nothing shows up on scans. I’m having physio and taking medication for it. Chiropractic treatment can help too, because there are a lot of bones around the jaw and with rugby being a contact sport, those bones can sometimes move and need to be realigned.” No stranger to silverware after winning two European Cups and three French league titles during an illustrious playing career, the 31-year-old is delighted to be at another club going places, in every sense of the word. “When I signed for Newcastle I didn’t know that we’d play in the USA (v Saracens) and at St James’ Park. It is really exciting for the players to experience playing in such a big stadium.” If Mermoz can create some of the David Ginola-style magic that thrilled soccer crowds at St James, he really will be the talk of the Toon.
“David spends his time living between London and the South of France, not far from us, and I talk with him about his experiences. He was a very good player and is a very good man.”
Meanwhile, Mermoz says he still harbours hopes of an international recall and a place in Les Bleus’ midfield alongside former Toulon team-mate Mathieu Bastareaud.
“When you play, you want to win games and trophies and to represent your country. If I manage to sort out my health problem, 100 per cent I would never lose hope of doing that again.”