Heinz: We’ve identified our kryptonites
AFTER what he describes as an “unbelievable nine months”, spring-heeled No.9 veteran Willi Heinz has no intention of surrendering his England spot and insists hard lessons have been learnt since that World Cup heartache.
Heinz, whose calm, controlling influence has been missed by Gloucester during his Test absences this season, made his England debut only last August before being selected as Ben Youngs’ understudy at the World Cup.
He has quickly amassed 13 caps and while young guns like Alex Mitchell and Jack Maunder are on his tail, along with established Premiership stars Dan Robson and Ben Spencer, Heinz is thirsty for more.
“In terms of younger scrum-halves, there’s real talent throughout the Premiership,” Heinz, below, said. “It was cool to get to know Alex Mitchell more during the Six Nations and he looks like he’s got a real bright future ahead of him. He’s a really switched-on young guy with a nice skillset and he’s a really good find for English rugby going forward.
“But I’m just going to do everything I can to stay here for as long as I can. I know there are good players out there snapping at my heels but that’s healthy competition and I quite enjoy that.”
Heinz, 33, added: “It’s been an awesome journey to get this far and once you get a taste of international rugby, it makes you thirstier. I get asked a lot about my age but I’m feeling the best I’ve ever felt in my career, and the older you get, the more diligent you are about your professionalism.”
After starring for the Crusaders in Super Rugby without being able to break into New Zealand’s squad, Christchurch-born Heinz joined Gloucester in 2015, knowing that courtesy of an English grandmother he might have a chance of playing Test rugby.
That has come late in his career, but Heinz said: “It’s been an unbelievable nine months. When I initially got the message from Eddie Jones at the end of last season that I might be in their thoughts, it lit a fire for me that it was probably my last chance of international rugby.
“When that first cap came against Wales last August it was a dream come true to run out at Twickenham. Since then it’s been awesome to go to a World Cup, play well, get to a final and be part of such an awesome group of players.”
While Heinz missed England’s heavy World Cup final defeat to South Africa due to a hamstring injury and was also disappointed by the opening Six Nations loss to France, he believes the Red Rose future remains bright.
He said: “There was obvious disappointment around getting injured in the semifinal against New Zealand and it was real mixed emotions afterwards.
“Beating the All Blacks was bloody awesome and I was so proud of the team, but that was tempered a bit by knowing I’d be missing the final. Such is life, but the bigger disappointment was how we lost the final.
“It would probably have been easier to have lost to South Africa by a closer margin but to not even get into the game as we’d have liked, impose our game plan or fire many shots, was what hurt everyone most.”
In looking for hard answers, Heinz added: “We had a chat before the Six Nations and people had different ideas about what happened.
“The big ones were being able to adapt in games when things don’t go well; we’ve looked at our preparation leading into games and never assuming anything or thinking you’ve done enough; and it’s about understanding where teams might attack us.
“Those were the messages that came through and it’s about knowing your own kryptonites and trying to make yourself as bullet-proof as possible.
“We didn’t get out of the blocks quickly enough against France and that cost us the game in Paris, but what we’ve prided ourselves on since then has been the response and if we are able to win the title in Italy, we’ll make sure we finish things off.”