Kyle Sinckler on letting down Eddie Jones and why England are tired of losing
Pennyhill Park, where England are preparing to face Scotland, has been infiltrated by a Netflix crew this week. If producers capture the charisma of Kyle Sinckler, rugby union will earn new fans. It is that simple.
Over a half-hour conversation, the tighthead prop meets various topics – scrummaging struggles, Finn Russell’s magic, modern-day masculinity, a trip to personally thank Eddie Jones and more. On each, he is eloquent and thoughtful. One leaves his company impressed, and more confident of England’s prospects.
Sinckler, like many front-rowers, can recall subtle idiosyncrasies of certain scrums and use them to tell stories. He remembers the formative experience of being knocked out by his opposite number – “massive, with this curly hair like Duncan Jones [the ex-Wales prop]” – while on loan at Richmond in a National League meeting with Cornish outfit Launceston.
There was the time Sinckler managed to force a penalty try for Harlequins against Leicester Tigers, then coached by Richard Cockerill. Marcos Ayerza, George Chuter and Dan Cole would have their revenge over the course of a tough afternoon. The first scrum of November’s chastening loss to South Africa has clearly irked Sinckler for two months. To him, it offered an unforgiving gauge of how far England’s set-piece reputation has fallen.
“A lot of it is perception,” he says of scrummaging, an area where England “haven’t been up to standard” for the last year. As a mark of that, the 35-year-old Cole is back in the squad and could even start ahead of Sinckler. Matt Proudfoot has lost his job as scrum coach, with Cockerill taking over.
“But as we all know, perception is reality,” Sinckler continues. “I'll give you an example. First scrum of the game against South Africa, we hit, Frans Malherbe [the Springboks tighthead] turns in. It’s a collapse. If you’re playing any other country, England probably get a penalty.
“Obviously, you're up against South Africa, who have an unbelievable pack. They get the penalty and it’s like: ‘We understand where we're at’. I don't think our egos were ever too big, but it’s a reality check in that: ‘We’re here’.
“We’re all peed off about where we are. Everyone in the room knows that with players that we have in the front row, we're a lot better than where we currently sit. But that's the reality of the situation, so we need to get to work here instead of sulking and saying ‘the referees don’t like us’ or ‘we've been unlucky with a few calls’.
“No. We need to be a pack where, when those 50-50s do come along, it's like: ‘There's no way England gave away that penalty because they're so dominant’. That's when we're at our best. When we have been successful, that's where our pack has been.”
Sinckler has welcomed the return of Cole, as a sounding board among other things. “It’s hard to explain but [scrummaging] is so fine in terms of the technique,” he says. “It’s literally millimetres sometimes; the placement of your right foot, your binding with the hooker, where you’re binding [on the opposition], before you set up, are you too square, do you need a step to the left? It’s just nice to have a different perspective and have that quality of someone like Dan around.”
Candidly, there is an acknowledgment that England were not training consistently when it came to scrummaging. Sinckler admits that “because we’re such a talented group, most of the time, we were able to pull it out of hat on the weekend, and get very good results. In the last year, they've kind of slowly declined.”
Scrummaging lapses were not Jones’ sole problem, yet they crippled England at crucial junctures over the autumn, profoundly against South Africa but also against Argentina and New Zealand. Although it must be stressed that Stuart Lancaster brought him on the 2014 tour to New Zealand, two years before the trip to Australia that is touted as the making of Ellis Genge and Sinckler, those props are held up as a success story of the Jones era. Sinckler feels palpable responsibility for his mentor’s dismissal.
Jones is described as a “good man” and “a big part of my life” who mind the potential of a player when Sinckler “couldn’t buy a game for Harlequins”. Steve Borthwick’s tenure has begun with a promise.
“The coaches aren't the ones on the field,” Sinckler says. “They can only do so much. One of the first things we kind of set as a playing group [last week] is that we're tired of losing. We're tired. We've had enough. We're too good a group to be losing games, we should easily be winning. And we kind of made a commitment to each other and ourselves, [to do] whatever it takes to win and enjoy the experience.”
Upon learning of Jones being sacked, Sinckler travelled to Pennyhill Park to bid farewell and say thank you.
“I guess, in my life, I've understood the importance of opportunity,” he says. “Coming from an area in South London where there is endless talent, but no real opportunity. That was one of my biggest gripes growing up. I understood the importance of opportunity and I guess – well, I know – that without Eddie, I wouldn't be playing for England.
“There's a lot of gratitude and appreciation,” Sinckler adds. “And I thought it was important, for me anyway, to have those conversations face-to-face, to look him in the eye and just let them know that I'm very grateful and I'm very thankful for the opportunity.”
Talk of role models and inspiring youngsters can seem insincere. Not with Sinckler. “If we’re honest, there wasn’t much inspiration going on in the last campaign,” is his reflection on November. “When a 12-year old boy or girl watches the England rugby team, they should be getting inspired. It’s our duty to inspire the next generation because without Jason Leonard, Phil Vickery, Jason Robinson, Jonny Wilkinson, Lawrence Dallaglio, those guys, who knows if I would be here?”
When it is put like that, especially when one considers the delicate state of the sport, the point hits home. Sinckler does not shy away from a question on male role models in wider society, either. His tone is slightly more earnest, but still engaging.
“If we’re being honest, it is hard being a man in the modern day,” he says. “We have to take a lot of responsibility. We are providers, we are protectors.” Sinckler glances around the room at four journalists older than him. “I don’t have a family. I’m guessing a lot of you guys in this room do, and our job is to provide and protect for our families. It is very important for young boys to have good role models and I think social media can blur the line.
“It is a weird one because, as a young kid, when you’re looking up to certain people when you’re growing up, it’s like, ‘what do you want?’. ‘Ok, I want all the money, all the girls, the nice car, the nice watch’ but you have to experience that to understand that all of that stuff is fake and the main thing, speaking from personal experience, in a man’s life that fulfils him is purpose.”
“That can be anything. For me it’s my rugby platform and my career where I can influence young people, the next generation in a positive manner. But if you’re a 35-year-old man and you’ve got three kids, it’s being the best dad you can.”
Sinckler spent his childhood “yearning” for “a male role model” so much that he “probably looked the wrong way at times”. He laughs as he bemoans how his younger siblings gorge on social media and suggests that sportspeople can “reach out” in a different way. “It’s about wanting to be the good guy,” Sinckler says. “Because in the world we live in today it’s very easy to be the bad guy and get instant gratification. If you want to be the good guy you’ve got to take the long road but it’s much more fulfilling.”
Back to the pitch and to the future. Immediately, England are desperate to improve a sequence of one win in five Tests against Scotland. Sinckler cites Finn Russell – “he’s a nightmare to play against” – and “unsung hero” Steve Tandy, Gregor Townsend’s defence coach, as chief protagonists. “Phenomenal. Really, really phenomenal” is how Sinckler found Tandy on the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa. Do not refer to Scotland as “a surprise package” with Sinckler in earshot. He might wince.
As for his career trajectory, Sinckler, who turns 30 on March 30, feels primed for the next stage.
“I feel like I’m ready to kick on. But it's easy to say that when sitting in front of the fire when we're all feeling good about ourselves. It's a different story doing it in the trenches when you're when your backs are against the wall. But I do feel, deep inside my soul, that I'm ready to kick onto the next level now. I can feel it in my body as well. I feel really robust. I feel strong. People always joke and talk about your man-strength and when it kind of kicks in… I feel like, you know, it's coming!”
Sinckler is laughing again. Should he manage to get the best out of himself, it will be a huge boost for Borthwick’s England. There appears to be a strategy to achieve as much.
“I think the main thing is just taking a holistic approach to your life, not just your game, and having your mind, body and soul in check,” Sinckler finishes. “The biggest thing for me is just going out there and enjoying it, trying to express myself on the field and as my mum would always say, when she messages me before a game, ‘do you thing’. It's about me going out there, expressing myself and just doing my thing.”
