‘Student of speed’ Jonny May back with England and raring to go

Jonny May is in high spirits, the sun is out and he is back in the England fold after nearly five months on the injury list after knee surgery. He is sanguine about his spell on the sidelines, something he sees as an occupational hazard, and considers himself fortunate to have had so few in his career.

He remains as amiable as ever – Eddie Jones, the England coach, no doubt whisked him back into the camp after 25 minutes of rugby under his belt for Gloucester for what he brings off the field as well as on it – and his trademark tendency to go off on engrossing tangents when reliving his layoff gives a rounded picture of how a professional athlete so obsessed with honing their craft copes with being unable to do so.

It is easy view rugby players as being hardwired differently. No doubt the average threshold for pain is considerably higher than the rest of us and clearly the medical support on offer is a significant help. Equally, the nature of the sport means there will be those for whom showing, or talking about, pain is a sign of weakness so it is refreshing to hear May detail his suffering.

“The reason I’m in good spirits now is because I wouldn’t have thought I’d be here six weeks ago,” he says. “I was getting through my bits, running all right and hitting good scores, but it was still so sore. When you break that curve you start feeling a bit happier again because being in pain and chronic discomfort can get you down.”

May has talked at length about how hard he finds it to switch off and that is only heightened when he is out injured. “That’s my work-on,” he says and there are few players more dedicated to self‑improvement. He calls himself a “student of the game, a student of speed” so the idea of forgetting about