New England rugby sevens captain Phil Burgess knows about ploughing on through pain and is determined to usher in a new era of gritty and hard-nosed play.
Starting at this weekend’s European Rugby Sevens Grand Prix Series in Manchester, Burgess will officially skipper England for the first time as they seek to stay top of the standings in the third of four legs culminating in next weekend’s Bucharest finale.
STAND UP AND BE COUNTED: Burgess (back left) faces some fearsome opponents in Manchester
Former Cornish Pirates captain Burgess, who once broke his jaw and played the following game thinking he’d merely broken a tooth, says the tough edge he has brought to the paciest form of rugby is vital to success.
“Gritty, determined and hard-nosed rugby is something that is forming within England rugby,” the ex-England students captain told MM at the launch of the event in Manchester’s Town Hall.
“The way that everything’s combining into one pathway in the sevens, hopefully the Saxons and the 20s, I think is being drip-fed down to us.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a bit more resilient but sevens attunes to that. If you put the effort in when you get back from a tour then you’ve got four-five weeks to get yourself into that perfect position for the first game.
“In sevens if you get a little niggle, second day you’re struggling. But if you can get a group of guys who are mentally and physically resilient and you go into the second day with 12 players, you stand a greater chance than a team going in with nine or ten and a half players.
“That’s something I bring to the team. I was fortunate to be top trainer for the second half of last season and the only reason I missed a session was because I was stung by a bug in Portugal and had an allergic reaction. That was frustrating.”
A scar is all Burgess bears on his repaired elbow after an operation six weeks ago to get him in shape, post Commonwealth Games heartbreak in the quarter-finals when England lost to Samoa by a point.
So bad was the damage after years of hard knocks to his arm that the doctor and consultant told Burgess his injuries could have been much worse.
Follow Burgess’ example and England, bracing themselves for the nine-leg HSBC World Sevens Series starting next month in Australia, could yet reach the stellar standards of their illustrious southern hemisphere rivals.
“They’ve got some fantastic rugby talent and here in the UK, we’ve got some fantastic rugby talent,” said Burgess, who like 2003 World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson was born in Frimley.
“Something I know the senior team work on a lot is that they’ve got the capability, it’s just the belief and with grit and determination they can compete.
“Sometimes you can be beaten before you go out there.”
SITTING PRETTY: The 12 captains for this weekend at Manchester’s Town Hall
Catch them if you can! European Manchester Sevens, September 13 & 14th, AJ Bell Stadium. Tickets available now from £10. Visit www.ticketmaster.co.uk
Body images courtesy of RFU, with thanks.
