“I’m ready to crack on,” Henry Slade says as he looks forward to escaping English rugby’s extended lockdown when the season resumes in mid-August. “I’m pretty fed up with all this corona stuff. We’ve been training in groups of five or 10 but there’s been lots of socially distant running and weights – which is better than nothing. But it’s still pretty crap. If I get started on coronavirus we’ll be talking for ages.”
Eight months ago Slade came on in a World Cup final, as England lost against South Africa, and his season since then has been blighted by injury and a global pandemic. His club Exeter Chiefs, however, are five points clear at the top of the Premiership and ready for a serious tilt at the European Champions Cup when rugby restarts behind closed doors.
“It’s been very disappointing,” Slade says of the lockdown. “We were really excited about what we could, and still can, achieve this year. When so many competitions were cancelled it seemed pretty ominous. But now I want to get started because we’re in a real good spot domestically and in Europe.”
Exeter are at home against Northampton in the European quarter-finals in September but, in less than a month, they resume their Premiership campaign against Leicester. That game will be played at Sandy Park in Exeter but Slade pulls a face at a reminder that Leicester is the only city in England forced back into lockdown. The likelihood is the game will proceed – as long as there is not an outbreak of the virus within the clubs.
Slade’s frustration is not expressed lightly. He has overcome diabetes his entire career and so he is acutely aware of health issues. But he shakes his head when asked if his condition has been of concern during the Covid-19 pandemic. “I texted the club doctor as soon as I read that people with diabetes are more at risk. He said: ‘You’re absolutely fine as Type 1 because you’re well controlled and you’re young.’”
Slade discovered he had diabetes aged 18 – but he has won 26 caps so far for England as a gifted centre. “My dad helped a lot, because I grew up with him having diabetes. I saw him do everything to control it while playing sport. So that was my automatic response when I got diagnosed just before joining Exeter Chiefs. There was never any thought I wouldn’t keep playing.”
Controlling his diabetes has improved as he now wears a device to check his blood sugar levels. “Before this, I was doing the finger-prick test 12 times a day. But this thing I wear now tells me what my blood sugars are every five minutes. I used to finger-prick test my blood five or six times before kick-off. Then a couple of times at half-time and straight after the game. Now it’s updating all the time and tells you which direction your bloods are going. So you can inject accordingly, or have food to keep you in the right spot.”
Has he had games when his blood sugar levels have been impacted? “Plenty. I didn’t realise the effects of adrenaline and so after a game I would be feeling awful. So drained and tired, everything hurting. Since changing my monitoring I’ve got way more energy at the end of a game.”
At the World Cup in Japan last autumn Slade replaced George Ford, who had often been England’s best player, for the quarter-final against Australia. It was one of many occasions when Eddie Jones surprised everyone, including Slade. “Sometimes in training you can read into the selection a little but I didn’t know and he only announced the team on Thursday. We heard at the same time the media guys released the news. I was happy but everyone bought into the belief we were a squad of 33. Everyone would rather not have played, and won the World Cup, than played every game and lost.”
England defeated Australia comprehensively and Slade’s excellence was illustrated when he snaffled the ball on his own 22 and burst into space before, while running hard, using his weaker foot to produce a sublime grubber kick to set up a Jonny May try. Shane Williams, offering analysis on television, said: “That’s absolute genius.”
Jones has long admired Slade but that did not prevent him from recalling Ford for the semi-final. “I played well against Australia,” Slade recalls. “I was rusty as it was basically my first game of the season. But at our individual review Eddie said I did very well and he was very happy. When the team to play New Zealand was announced he explained it was just a change of tactics.”
Slade came on five minutes into the second half and played his part in that memorable victory. “We had pushed them close a year earlier [when New Zealand won 16-15]. I played that game and we felt we could have won. So going into the World Cup we felt very confident. We respected New Zealand as the No 1 side but we beat them pretty well [winning 19-7].”
New Zealand are famous for turning on the power and winning games from losing positions but they had no answer against an authoritative England. “You sometimes get feelings in games,” Slade says, “and we just felt we weren’t going to lose. New Zealand had a lot of ball but we have so many players who make dominant tackles. Billy Vunipola, Sam Underhill, Tom Curry, Joe Marler put in massive hits.”
For the final Jones opted to keep Ford and Owen Farrell at fly-half and inside centre, with Slade on the bench. I worked with Jones on his autobiography for three years and, while writing the last chapter, we met on the Monday night after England lost the final. Jones told me he had been wrong not to start Slade.
“Someone read the book and told me,” Slade says with a rueful smile. “It’s nice to hear but I never had any hard feelings. In pre-season camp I was going well but I got injured and missed all the warm-up matches. I then missed the first two games of the tournament and played just 10 minutes against Argentina. The French game [England’s last group match] was cancelled. So I thought there’s no chance I’m getting any game time. But Eddie picked me to start the quarter-final.
“When I think about how well the boys played in the New Zealand game can you imagine the shellacking he would have got if he’d made changes and we still lost? I also put myself in those other boys’ shoes. If I’d got dropped after playing that well in the semi-final I’d have been so pissed off. I had no leg to stand on in terms of wanting to start the final.”
Slade, at 27, must be optimistic that England can win the 2023 World Cup – and that he can play a significant role? “You have to think that. But three years is a long way away. I’m just worried about next week’s training and how our first game for Exeter goes against Leicester. You can only control what’s in front of you.”
During the lockdown Slade had time to reflect. Did he feel angry that Exeter might have been cheated out of other trophies because of the way Saracens broke salary cap rules? “I’m not going to give you a headline like that,” he says dryly. “I don’t actually know the ins and outs of their situation but we’ve played them in a few finals and it’s pretty frustrating to come out on the wrong side.”
It’s understandable that Slade should be reticent because many of his England teammates play for Saracens. “We don’t know what other players are getting paid, so you’ve got to look above that to see where the fault lies.”
When looking at administrators who run the game what is Slade’s preference in regard to a global calendar? “I like it how it is. I like a summer break and pre-season being in nice weather. I like the start of the season being good, the middle patch being crap and then coming good toward the end again. A team that has to win in the dry and the wet are the real deal.
“Obviously there are international windows, Six Nations and then a summer tour. But I don’t fancy club rugby in the summer. Playing the Premiership final at Twickenham often sees it up to 30 degrees and that’s bloody hot. Imagine playing every game like that? I know it’s probably not going to stay the same, but I like it as it is.”
Player welfare, surely, must be considered above all else? “I hope so. To play more games than we do is ridiculous. It would be quite dangerous. I hope that is taken into consideration.”
During lockdown there has also been time to consider the troubling backdrop to Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. His England teammate Maro Itoje rightly voiced concern but Slade admits he has limited understanding of the controversy. “I had no idea the song had anything to do with slavery. I thought it was a song to cheer on the boys. I’m sure the vast majority of people singing that song had no idea where it originated from.”
England’s players will hopefully educate themselves before the next international. Slade has the intelligence and resolve to do so – as he has shown when overcoming other issues. He suffered badly from OCD but finally broke the pattern.
“I used to think I had to do things and, if I didn’t, there would be bad news for myself, friends or family. Injury or illness. I’d got it in my head, since I was a little kid, that if I didn’t turn the light switch off the right way, or didn’t put my left sock on before my right sock, or if I put my glass down wrong, it would have a massive effect on the universe.
“I had a few sessions with a psychologist and he spoke plainly. Why would me not putting my glass down mean someone’s going to get ill? Why would me not tying my shoelaces right mean someone’s going to get injured? I stopped doing it. Nothing bad happened at training and that weekend I played well. But the worst was playing Wasps away. I didn’t tie my shoelaces how I normally tie them. I went out and broke my leg. That messed me up for a couple of years. But I’ve got used to it and nothing else bad happened. I just tell myself: ‘Look, that’s ridiculous. You’ve been doing it for 20 years but it has no effect on greater things.”
Perspective has also been added by the fact that he and his girlfriend are about to become parents. “Megan’s due around 9 August and she’s doing well. But there’s not a lot of space for the baby to go so we’re looking forward to the birth.”
Do they know if they are having a boy or girl? “Not yet. There are not many nice surprises in life these days – so this will be a good one.”
Henry Slade uses Dexcom’s G6 Continuous Glucose Monitoring System to help manage his diabetes. dexcom.com/en-GB
