‘I refused to let injuries ruin the career I loved’
The former Wales A, Neath, Swansea, Ospreys, Sale Sharks and London Welsh back row
THE thing I took most pleasure from in my playing days, apart from obviously all the friendships I made, was being part of the Sale Sharks squad that won the Premiership in 2006. To be honest, I didn't have a clue where Sale was when my agent told me they were interested in signing me after Ospreys had let me go. I knew it was in England, that was about it. So when I checked on the map and found it was in Manchester, being a massive Man Utd fan, I was made up.
Philippe (Saint-Andre) and Kingsley (Jones) offered me a contract and it was a no-brainer to take them up on it with the star-studded squad they'd put together. With Sebastien Chabal there as the No.8, I knew my role would be as a squad player and I was happy with that. One of my overriding memories of Seabass, as Seb was known, was his high-pitched laugh. If you weren't aware of who was behind you and you heard the laugh, you would swear down it was a three-year-old girl not this hulk of a bloke. It was hilarious. He was great with me.
Moving to England, I felt, would give me a chance to develop my game as well as experience a different rugby culture. In Wales, after a game, it was all boys, boys, boys, you never got to meet anyone's partner or wife. But it was very different at Sale, families were involved in most events and that helped me and my girlfriend Charlotte, who is now my wife, to settle in. She is still good friends with Jason White's wife and Chris Jones' wife.
Within six months, they offered me a new contract so things went well in that first season and I felt like I made a good contribution to us winning the league even if I didn't get to play in the final. I pulled my calf late on in the season and had to settle for being a travelling reserve. Even so, it was brilliant to be there and celebrate with the lads.
I was blighted by injuries during my career, I had 10 operations in total. While playing at Neath, I had a real bad problem with my pelvis. I'd play a few games and then have a few weeks out. I still managed to make it into a Wales squad and remember speaking to Graham (Henry) and he said, ‘if the World Cup was tomorrow, you'd be on the plane, you just need to get fit'. I had to have major surgery in the end, it involved having a plate put in, and I never reached those heights again. But at least I played through the age groups for Wales – captaining the U18s, coming third with the U19s at the FIRA Championships in Argentina and winning the U21s Grand Slam – and played for Wales A.
I think I had every major joint in my body operated on, and when I was at Neath, the season when I was playing really well and was in the Wales conversation, I got a really bad bout of a flu-like illness at the worst possible time. It was the week leading up to the Celtic League final in 2003. I'd scored the try against Cardiff that had got us there and had played really well against Munster, our opponents, earlier on in the season, so Lyn (Jones) was keen for me to be involved. I was running a fever so I rang him on the Tuesday to tell him I was struggling.
The doctor's orders were that, in no way, should I play. However, Lyn wasn't having any of it, and he told me to stay in bed all week and to be on the bus that was taking us to Cardiff at 10 o'clock on matchday. Sure enough I made it and I managed to get through the game but “Seb's laugh was more like a threeyear-old girl's than this hulk of a bloke. It was hilarious” that was about it, I wasn't very good, and neither were we. Barry Williams' knee blew up early on and that set the tone for a disappointing day.
Lyn, who also coached me at Ospreys, was a real character, him and Rowland Phillips are two of the funniest guys I've ever met; they were both off their heads. I remember when I went down to The Gnoll to sign my Neath contract and Lyn was there, in the changing room with just a top on, rubbing his private parts. He stuck his hand out to shake mine to kind of seal the deal and I said, ‘are you serious, wash your hands first'!'
Sale was no different on the injury front. In my second season, I snapped my ACL after landing awkwardly in a lineout. I trained so hard to come back and was really proud of recovering in six months, obviously with the help of the medical team. I would be in at Carrington at 6am and was doing three sessions every day. Doug Jones, the physio did a lot of work with me. Nick Johnston was Head of Performance.
I remember one time in the gym he was moaning about how boys had been leaving weights lying around on the floor instead of racking them and how he couldn't lift them to put them back himself. I was sat around the corner – it was an L-shaped gym – and I did this meow noise. We used to do it if someone was acting like a lightweight.
He marched around the corner to see who it was and gave Cuets a real earful, calling him all the names under the sun thinking it was him. It was hilarious. Those silly little moments with the boys are the things you miss when you retire.
As a player, I prided myself on my work-rate, I was happy to let others do the flash stuff. If it meant running a dummy line to help out someone else in space or hitting rucks all game, that was fine by me. Don't get me wrong, it would have been nice to have scored a try for Sale, or at least be credited with the one I did score but it wasn't given, I think it was against Gloucester. I came off the back of a driving maul and everything collapsed around me and the referee said, ‘no try'. At half-time, Philippe was going off his head at me for not scoring it. But the ref went up to him after the match to apologise to him for not awarding it and then Philippe had to eat humble pie and apologise to me in training a few days later!
When I left Sale Sharks, it was a bit of a bad time. Sale offered me a tw0year deal once Magnus Lund had finally committed to going to France but then withdrew it on medical grounds. The doctor told me one of the scans showed a bulging disc and warned me I could end up in a wheelchair if I carried on. I didn't think it was right so I got in touch with the RPA, and they were great. They got me a second opinion, and sorted me out with a PT course whilst I waited to hear back. When I did, I got the all-clear to carry on.
I ended up having a few games for Macclesfield, and after I got through those okay, Danny Wilson at London Welsh got in touch. What a top coach and bloke he is. He made me captain in my first full season and I enjoyed being part of a close-kit squad with quite a few familiar Welsh faces in it. He also gave me a head with coaching letting me get involved when I was rehabbing from a Lisfranc's joint injury.
When the club's financial problems came to light, it was a tough time for everyone. London Welsh offered me to stay on as the new forwards coach when Danny left, with Phil Greening in overall charge. But I'd made my mind up at that point that I wanted to go back to Wales.
With the injuries and the turmoil around the Neil Hollinshead saga, it made sense for me to accept Neath's player-coach offer instead. Plus moving back to Wales meant I would see more of my daughter from my first marriage.
Talk about jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire; Neath were in real money trouble, too. I stopped playing in 2012 after a back operation, but carried on coaching at Neath for a while before eventually leaving. After a good few years out of the game, I was offered the Swansea forwards' coaching job. Hugh Gustafson and I hit it off straight away and I had a brilliant time there until covid hit.
I caught covid a couple of times and it has hit me hard and I haven't able to work since October 2021. I am still struggling with it, unfortunately. Hopefully, I can get back to fit and full health and get back involved in coaching again because rugby is my passion.
