The Scrum
4 1GG Saturday November 14 2020 | the times
The England players have nominated
songs to be played at Twickenham
this afternoon, the idea being that the
stadium soundtrack would be more
reflective of the personalities and
diversity of the team. Jonny May
chose The Greatest Show.
“I like the film The Greatest
Showman,” the Gloucester wing said.
“I like the songs. I wonder if I’ll hear
it when I’m on the pitch.”
The wing is the Hollywood movie
star of a rugby team; scoring the tries,
making the breaks, grabbing the
spotlight. Ten years ago this week
Chris Ashton, one of England’s
biggest showmen, ran the length of
the field against Australia to score
one of the great Twickenham tries,
which he finished with his trademark
“Ash Splash”.
May has scored 29 tries in 57 Tests
but he has not touched down since
England’s defeat by France in the
opening game of the Six Nations, way
back in February. “Of course you are
aware of it,” he said. “When you are a
May will sing
back-up to help
England shine
wing you are under pressure to score
tries, people expect it.”
However, May has learnt to judge
the quality of his performances by
different criteria. It is not always
about being the leading man —
sometimes it is more important to
be the best supporting actor.
“The reality is you
can have a very good
game without scoring a
try. If the opportunities
come, brilliant. That’s
my job, to take them,”
he said.
“But the more
games I play the
more I realise rugby is
actually not about the big
plays, the line-breaks, the
open field running and the tries.
“That’s what everybody wants to
draw you into and talk about but the
game is about being brilliant at the
basics consistently. If you can have a
brilliant game on the wing without
having much ball that’s a much
harder challenge than playing a great
game when you get the ball in open
space and score a few tries.“People who play
on the wing are good
with the ball in space.
I think to become a
great player you need to
be brilliant at the basics —
when the ball is put in behind
you, when you’re on the back foot in
defence, under the high ball — so you
can have a very good game no matter
what the circumstances are.
“My role within England is very
much my high-ball work, how I chase
kicks, how I lead the line in defence.”
May grew up in a musical family.
He wrote England’s post-matchvictory song, leads the team in its
rendition and should be singing in the
changing room after the game today.
England are expected to win well
against Georgia and to put on a
show, but that is not part of their
motivation. Eddie Jones, the head
coach, said entertainment was a
narrative for the media and the
public to discuss; the team’s
responsibility was only ever to win.
With rain forecast at Twickenham
and Georgia a physical, set-piece
focused team, May warned it could
once again take England time to
break down a dogged, if limited,opposition. To expect anything else,
he said, was dangerous.
“The challenge this week is the
expectation. We’re backed to win and
win well. That is the reality of it. How
can we still play our game, play the
moment and be the best we can be
when we are expected to score the
tries and win well?” May said.
“What you can expect the game to
be like can be a trap. You need to go
in there with a clear head and play
the game for what it is. We are going
to respect Georgia a lot. They are
banana skins, potentially. So it is not
a case of going off script.”May has not scored a try for England in his past four appearances, after scoring five in five caps before thatALEX LOWE
GREGORIO BORGIA/AP29
May’s tries — fourth on the list
for England behind Jeremy
Guscott (30), Ben Cohen (31),
and Rory Underwood (49)