Front-row colossus Sinckler can shine against All Blacks
a lot,” said Sinckler, who had to be substituted after conceding a key penalty. “I let the team down, I let my country down – if we had won that game we would have been Grand Slam champions.
“Rugby for me is my canvas. So I will always express myself through it. I had to deal with a lot of things I was frustrated about in my life and address them… things off the field that happened in my childhood. And then once I got a better understanding of that stuff I had no frustrations. I could just go out and play and try to be a role model for a lot of people back home.”
Sinckler, who grew up in Tooting, south London, where his mother worked all hours in a police call centre, has been consulting Ollie Prycetidd, whose company Saviour World has assisted several sportsmen including rugby players Danny Cipriani and James O’connor.
“I was born in a single-parent home, I was always looking for that male father figure,” Sinckler said. “Subconsciously, I put people in that position, and put my trust in certain people that betrayed me. It was just me taking control of my life and teaching me how to be an actual man. A man is in control of his emotions, a man looks after his family, he does the right things. He doesn’t let anything that frustrates him show; he just gets on with it. A man isn’t losing your rag, your emotions, showing your opposition how you really feel. It’s about being calm, being disciplined, putting the team first, doing your job and not allowing your ego to take control. That is something I’ve really tried to work on because I know my behaviour in the past has cost the team and I didn’t want to feel like that again. I feel like it’s working for me.”
It was noticeable how England team-mates including Maro Itoje and Jamie George rallied round Sinckler in what might have been trigger moments. “I love the boys,” he said. “They’ve got my back and I think they know I’ve got theirs.”
As for England coach Eddie Jones, he described Sinckler’s try as the act of a “runaway rhino” and added: “Everyone wears their heart on their sleeve, they just show it in different ways and the rugby field exposes it. You can’t teach boys that, you’ve got to learn that. If they don’t learn then you don’t see him at the World Cup. I remember I saw this little chubby prop that could do things that other props couldn’t do, and we took him [on tour] to Australia in 2016 and he had a bit of an apprenticeship, couldn’t get a game, trained hard, discovered what he needed to work on.
“One of the best things was that on Saturday night we had a dinner together and he’s up there with his mum, who is as proud as punch.”
“The Wales game taught m ea lot.i let my country down. I know my behaviour in the past has cost the team and I didn’t want to feel like that again”
KYLE SINCKLER