Hard work is set to pay off for Joe

Joe Cokanasiga has admitted having to rediscover his true rugby identity when battling past his year-long knee injury absence, writes NICK PUREWAL.

The Bath wing will make his first Test start in 22 months when England host the USA at Twickenham today.

The 23-year-old suffered a serious knee injury during England’s 45-7 win over the USA at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and only now feels back to his very best.

The powerhouse finisher revealed he had to rebuild his confidence and mindset as he worked back to top shape, but now feels back to his old self.

“I think I’ve worked really hard, just to try to sort not only my knee, but also my confidence,” said Cokanasiga.

“I’d been out for a whole year and I didn’t have the best of seasons at the start.

“My form wasn’t great. I was just forcing stuff, I wasn’t playing the rugby I play.

“So I took a bit of time off and sorted everything out physically and mentally, gained trust back in the knee, and in myself.

“And towards the end I think I was starting to hit back my form. And now I’ve got an opportunity to do it again.

“I think it’s natural to need to work on confidence after an injury like that.

“When you’ve been out for so long, I was out for a year and a couple of weeks, you kind of forget, not how to play rugby, but the feeling of playing rugby.

“So just when you’re out there, looking back at it now, it wasn’t me playing.

“So I did a lot of work with (Bath sports psychologist) Katie Warriner, just to back myself again.

“I kind of lost the reason why I play rugby.

“So now I just need to back myself, and just believe in myself.

“It’s really exciting, I feel like for me it’s been a long time.

“The last time I played was against the USA, so that feels a bit weird but it’s an exciting group. I’ve been thinking about it all a lot this week.”