Joe Heyes has used the hurt of missing out on a place in England’s Autumn Nations Series squad to drive him on to bigger and better things.
The 25-year-old Leicester Tigers tighthead went on the summer tour to New Zealand and Japan but didn’t feature in any of the three Tests and then sat out the November campaign.
Mindful that there is strong competition for places in the England set-up with a number of young, hungry props starting to emerge such as Gloucester’s U20 World Cup winner Afolabi Fasogbon, Heyes has worked hard on his all-round game in a bid to shift the dial and win over head coach Steve Borthwick.
Conversations with coaches
“At the end of the summer tour in New Zealand I had a very honest conversation with a lot of the England coaches and there were elements of the game that I just needed to improve on,” Heyes told The Rugby Paper.
“That was around my tackle, just becoming more dominant, and becoming more of a force.
“So instead of just getting by in games I wanted to actually go out there and put a marker down – in the scrum, maul defence and the ruck – the things that I want to go out and do.
“Maybe that was a wake-up call. This season I have been trying to hammer down the basics and lay those foundations.
“A lot of it has been strength work in the gym mostly and I am doing a lot of work with Neil Fowkes on the scrum fundamentals.”
Heyes is hardly the forgotten man of the England front row – he played and scored for England A against Australia A the day after the Ella-Mobbs match.
But 30 England games have passed since he won the last of his seven caps in November 2022.
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Itching to get back
“Obviously it comes with a lot of hurt because that’s where I want to be,” he said, referencing his autumn rejection.
“So it’s obviously been tough but I have tried to turn on its head and make the best of it, do more training and stuff like that.
“I stayed at Leicester, and I was training for those four weeks. I could focus on myself, get a couple more gym sessions in after the Saracens match, and get myself ready for the next block.
“I’ve got targets and focuses going into games. For me, it is about putting my best foot forward and putting my hand up. At the end of the day, it is one man’s decision.”
