Section:GDN 1N PaGe:37 Edition Date:190821 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 20/8/2019 21:36 cYanmaGentaYellowb
Wednesday 21 Au g u st 2019 The Guardian •
Sport^37
but this is possibly even greater in
terms of how it aff ects players,” said
the former Wasps and England centre.
“We need to collaborate through-
out the game to get more investment
into this area and support for the play-
ers. When you talk to players there
are those who will just get on with it
because that’s their DNA. There are
others who feel diff erently. We can’t
aff ord to second-guess that. We’ve got
to look at the entire picture.”
The RPA has raised awareness via its
“Lift the Weight” campaign and is also
awaiting fi gures from research into the
psychological load on players.
Hopley said: “Every four years
around the World Cup the game ramps
up in terms of what is demanded. Test
players talk to us about being ribbed
at their clubs for being well-paid inter-
nationals. The response is often: ‘Well
you come and spend a week with us
and see how hard we work.’”
Among Myall’s revelations was that
several current England squad mem-
bers dreaded going to training camp
because of the workload and scrutiny.
The England assistant coach, Scott
Wisemantel, denied Eddie Jones’s
regime is too intense, insisting the
management have received no formal
adverse feedback.
“In the current environment there
have been no complaints,” Wisemantel
said. “The programme Eddie runs
is intense but it’s well-structured.
There is time for players to refresh, to
get their heads right and to recover.I think it’s a very well-balanced
programme.”
The growth of social media and
increased training demands and data
analysis ha ve contributed to a relent-
less 24 /7 working environment. Simon
Kemp, the RFU’s medical services
director, says “mental health and
wellbeing ... is something we take seri-
ously” but Wisemantel admits there is
no easy fi x.
“Look at sport in general: the
stakes are high, the pressure is high
at the pointy end of the stick,” said
the attack coach, confi rming several
players are choosing to practi se yoga
and meditation on their days off as a
coping mechanism. Meetings have
also been held on the subject of social
media criticism.
“If a player is under pressure or some-
thing has been said, it is important to
address it rather than leave it as an ele-
phant in the room,” Wisemantel said.
Myall’s former club Wasps said they
were “shocked” by the player’s revela-
tions that he came close to taking his
own life while on a mid-season break
with teammates in Dubai. Myall has
since been deluged with supportive
messages and hopes his story will
prove a force for change.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can
be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@
samaritans.org or [email protected].The Kearnan Myall interview
can still be read online
theguardian.com/
sport/rugby-unionMental health
Union demands
action after
Myall interview
Andy Murray is considering drop-
ping down a level to help his singles
comeback after a fi rst-round defeat
at the Winston-Salem Open. The
former world No 1 lost 7-6 (8), 7-5 to
the American Tennys Sandgren in a
promising display in his second singles
match since career-saving hip surgery
in January.
Murray has already confi rmed he
will not play in the US Open, which
starts in New York next week, and will
now ponder the possibility of playing
games at Challenger level – one below
the ATP Tour – to get as many matches
as he can.
Among several other tournaments it
means he could play at the Murray Tro-
phy – a new addition to the calendar,
named after the Scot and his brother
Jamie. It runs in Glasgow between 16
and 22 September, a week before Mur-
ray is due in Asia to resume his ATP
Continued from back pageRugby unionLean Vunipola hungry
to be back for England
Robert Kitson
No England player is keener to run
around a rugby fi eld this bank holi-
day weekend than Mako Vunipola,
who is set to make his long-awaited
comeback from injury against Ireland
on Saturday.
The Saracens prop has not been
available to Eddie Jones since the
Champions Cup fi nal in mid-May but
is now ready to resume national ser-
vice. It has been a long, eventful slog
for the loose head who tore the tendon
at the top of his hamstring so badly
the muscle became detached from
the bone. An operation was required
and only now can he joke about how
he was transported in a wheelchair
across Los Angeles airport en route to
Tonga where he was the best man at
his brother Billy’s wedding.
“A poor lady had to push me,” said
the 19st (122kg) Vunipola. “It’s the big-
gest airport I’ve been to in my life and
she was struggling a bit. I asked her:
‘Are you OK?’ I owe her a thank you
for that.”
The 28-year-old also ended up hav-
ing to spend two weeks in bed which,
initially, was not a problem. “For me it
was pretty much heaven. I was in bed
constantly, apart from when I needed
to go to the bathroom or the kitchen.
I don’t need much excuse to stay in
bed.”
By the end of the fortnight, though,
even a constant diet of television and
his PlayStation was wearing thin. “I
needed to move and get the hamstring
moving but I also felt very sloppy by
the end of those two weeks. You get
bigger and you lose muscle – not
that, with me, you can really tell the
diff erence.”
Precisely what he weighed at
the most inactive point of his rehab
remains a secret – “I don’t want Eddiefi nding out” – but weeks of subse-
quent hard work have left him at his
lowest fi ghting weight since the tour
of Australia in 2016.
“In terms of body weight I’m near
enough the lightest I’ve ever been. I
feel good about that but match fi tness
is something diff erent. We’ll see how
I go the weekend, if I get the chance.
It’s not Ireland I’m excited about, it’s
being back playing. It’s been tough the
last four weeks, training by yourself
and then watching.”
At his best a fully-fi t Vunipola will be
a key member of England’s World Cup
squad and he is vowing to make the
most of his latest opportunity on the
global stage, having seen his cousin,
Wales’s Taulupe Faletau, ruled out of
the tournament through injury.
“Toby has had some terrible luck
and I’m gutted for him. It reinforces
the fact that any day could be your last,
so you have to try to enjoy it as much
as you can.
“At the last World Cup I had only
just started my international career.
When you are that age you think you
have loads more World Cups coming
round. Now I’m 28, with a few more
injuries under my belt. As a team we
have talked about not taking anything
for granted.
“If we want to do what we set out
to do and win the World Cup, we need
to use every day to get better. That is
what we’re trying to do. If I do get the
opportunity to play this weekend, I’ll
be very excited to get a ball in my hand
and do the thing I love.”
England should be able to welcome
back the fl ankers Tom Curry and Sam
Underhill at Twi ckenham but Exeter’s
Henry Slade and Jack Nowell and Bath’s
Ruaridh McConnochie are targeting
the fi nal warm-up game against Italy
in Newcastle on 6 September.
Northampton’s Lewis Ludl am has
also been given this week off because
he has not yet had his full mandatory
allocation of summer rest.TennisMurray may
drop down as
Dart makes
US Open bid
Tour schedule. “I’m quite aware of
where I’m at just now and what my
level is,” he told the ATP Tour web-
site. “It’s competitive at this level but
it needs to be better. Maybe I need to
play a level down to get some matches
and build my game up a little bit before
I start playing on the Tour again.”
Murray was much improved from
his comeback defeat by Richard
Gasquet in Cincinnati and felt no pain
in his hip after a gruelling match.
“Some things were a bit better I
think,” he said.
“I was hitting the ball a bit cleaner
than I did in Cincinnati. I feel like I
moved fairly well to some drop shots,
which maybe last week I wasn’t run-
ning to. So there’s some good things
but also some stuff I would like to do
better. Physically I feel OK consider-
ing, no pain, no discomfort. Just a little
bit more tired than usual.”
Hundreds turned out to see him
in North Carolina, with many stay-
ing after play was delayed for several
hours owing to rain. There were some
fl ashes of form from Murray, who
accepted a wild card to the ATP 250
event, but Sandgren, the world No 73,
proved too strong.
Britain’s Harriet Dart progressed to
the second round of US Open qualify-
ing after defeating Jamie Loeb 6-2, 7-6.
Dart will now play another wild card- the 17-year-old Hailey Baptiste – in
the next round.
▲ Harriet Dart battled through to the second round of US Open qualifying with a 6-2, 7-6 win over Jamie Loeb
GRAHAM DENHOLM/GETTY IMAGESProp is in excellent shape as
he looks to return from injur y
against Ireland on Saturday
remains a secret – “I don’t want EddiejbbMako Vunipola
has been injured
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