JOSH BEAUMONT wasn't quite jumping for joy after scoring last week's match-winner against Gloucester, as that's not his laidback style.
But the fit-again lock is loving being back in the thick of lineouts and mauls following his lengthy layoff due to knee surgery.
Beaumont badly ruptured his patella tendon when competing for a lineout against Wasps in November 2019 and it took two major operations and further clear-out surgery to get it right. Back then, his world and the world in general was a very different place.
“To get back on the field playing again and to score that try to win the game – it's a feeling that you really miss; being part of that team environment and that buzz you get after a win,” he said.
“When I scored, I knew it was late in the game but I knew they would have the kick-off. My dad talks about kick-offs a lot and he does tell me to work on them, so that was the next thought in my mind.
“I think it was the final whistle when you could see the emotion. I never really celebrate but I gave it a little fist bump. I know there was no crowd, but Kingsholm is a ground I love playing at.
“Just to get the win, because it was much needed, was pleasing on a personal level but also from a team perspective.” Beaumont confessed to having some nerves when coming on for Jean-Pierre du Preez in the 58th minute of the tense 22-19 victory at Kingsholm, which gave interim boss Paul Deacon his first win at the fourth attempt.
“You try to picture it in your head before you go out. I just wanted to get into the action straight away. My knee had been tested for the previous two weeks in training so I was pretty confident and raring to go. All the boxes had been ticked.”
‘The game was a bit of an arm-wrestle and it was quite a pressurised situation to come into, so I couldn't let the team down which meant there were some nerves.
“But there was a lot of excitement too about getting back in the mix and trying to make a difference.” Beaumont, 28, had hoped to be back for the start of the 2020/21 Premiership season in November but complications around scar tissue led to a delay, and some self-doubt.
The Blackpool-born loose forward admits he feared his career might have come to a premature end – like his father, Bill, the World Rugby chairman. “When you're in pain just doing regular exercise or generally jogging around, it does cross your mind, ‘is this not going to get right?'
“But I was reassured and the physio staff were very confident that once I had that clear-out I'd be completely fine.
“Each week got easier because I was ticking more boxes in things I could do, rehab, getting back to more jumping – jumping was the main one, psychologically, once I could get back in lineouts because that's how I did my injury. That was a big step.”
The support of his nearest and dearest, including Bill, plus various off-field ventures, including an MBA in sports business and a commercial role at local club Fylde, helped him through those dark times.
Beaumont says the family support he received was “massive” in keeping his spirits up. “It was more to keep reminding me of what I'm capable of as a player, they believed in me.
“My fiancée, Ailsa, probably had the worst of it, but their support was great and they were delighted when they saw me get back on the pitch.”
Since Beaumont's injury, Sale Sharks have bolstered their second row resources, bringing in two veritable giants from South Africa in multi-capped Springbok Lood de Jager and 6ft 9ins JP du Preez, the tallest player to ever play Super Rugby. De Jager is due to return from his own injury problems in March but Beaumont welcomes the competition.
“I think Lood de Jager has brought a great deal of experience,” he said. “He's got great technical understanding of forward play.
“We discuss various aspects of forward play and I think having that great squad depth is something which will really help me in the first couple of weeks. “Maybe how much game time I have is something I need to look at as I'm getting a bit older now. I think having that squad depth is a great thing.”
