Sinckler ‘thankful’ for nadir in Cardiff
Flashpoint was ‘catalyst’ to lose ego and improve England No3 working to help inner-city talent
Kyle Sinckler speaks with an honesty that is blistering to behold. In assessing his performance against Wales 12 months ago, the England prop provides no excuses or extenuating circumstances for his ill-discipline. The only finger he points is at himself.
“I cost the team a Grand Slam and at the time I was in denial,” Sinckler said. “I never took responsibility for what happened. I was saying life is hard, it wasn’t my fault, the referee doesn’t like me, in Cardiff you’re never going to get the rub of the green. But when you strip it back and look at it, it was just ego.
“At that time, my ego was bigger than this room. If I’m looking back on it, I really enjoyed being that villain – the bad boy of English rugby. I was just very angry. Very, very angry. I had to harness that and do something positive and understand why I was angry and kept making the same mistake. I needed to become a better person.”
In the build-up to last year’s match at the Principality Stadium, the trap had been laid by then Wales head coach Warren Gatland, who described Sinckler, a player he coached on the Lions tour, as an “emotional time bomb”. If Gatland identified the fuse then it was captain Alun Wyn Jones who lit the spark, expertly targeting Sinckler with a series of micro-aggressions. That resulted in Sinckler conceding two costly penalties before his eventual replacement in the 56th minute, as England let slip a 10-3 half-time lead and lost 21-13.
Yet Sinckler’s nadir became a turning point. “It was perfect,” he said. “It was exactly what I needed. It was sink or swim because if I didn’t change then I wouldn’t have played for England anymore. It was ego trying to get in with Alun Wyn Jones, trying to be that bad boy, which cost the team. Now, hopefully, everyone can see, and I know myself, I am a different person.
“I thank Gats, I thank Alun Wyn Jones because I feel I have grown from it.
I’m thankful for what happened in Cardiff because without that I’d probably have kept costing the team. That gave me the catalyst to change.”
Further proof of that transformation came on Saturday as England sealed the Triple Crown in a 33-30 win over Wales at Twickenham. Sinckler, 26, was a key component of their victory, ensuring England’s scrum was dominant throughout. He also let Welsh attempts to needle him by dragging him into rucks, led by his bete noire Jones, wash over him.
“It was funny, actually, because the same kind of situations were happening today in terms of holding me down and someone stamping on me when I was getting up, or certain things said, but it had no effect,” Sinckler said.
“I always had to get one up on people or confront people, but now if you target me; that is wasting energy on me. If two players are on top of me, that’s sweet, because then there will be two fewer guys in the defensive line.”
So, what changed? Sinckler discovered Saviour World, a Newage men’s well-being organisation which helps athletes, and started channelling much of his energy into setting up his own foundation, R3cusants, to provide grants to inner-city children in London to help start their own rugby careers. Similar schemes have been set up, but Sinckler, who will personally review all the applications, feels they have not scratched the surface of the potential out there.
“It’s an untapped reservoir,” Sinckler said. “I want to give those kids an opportunity in sport, steer them in the right direction and try to use that as a positive influence. I am from that area, I know people in south London and I don’t see really anything. So you have to grab the bull by the horns and use your platform for something very positive.”
Reflecting on his own upbringing in south London, Sinckler recalls being targeted for his skin colour when he was just 12.
“My mum got really badly racially abused, which was an anomaly because you don’t associate rugby with that,” Sinckler said. “I think the kid was trying to get under my skin.”
His coaches at Battersea Ironsides, Glen Petit and Graham Beech, reacted by marching the team off the field. Sinckler struggled with a lack of male role models in his life, with his father absent and his grandfather passing away when Sinckler was 16. Now he wants to be that inspiration for the next generation, through his actions on the field and through his foundation.
“The aim for me is in 10 years’ time, if I am not playing, I will be sitting on the sofa and I can say, ‘That kid came from my foundation and he is doing really well now’.” If he is successful in that mission, then the “villain” of English rugby will have been transformed into its biggest hero.