Jimmy Gopperth insists surfing will help him ride the rugby wave through to his 40th birthday.
The much-travelled New Zealander makes his home debut at fly-half for champions Leicester today against Newcastle, one of his former clubs.
Only Brad Thorn has played Premiership rugby beyond 40, yet Gopperth thinks nothing of it - claiming his passion for board life has him feeling forever young.
“My body still feels really, really good,” said the chilled-out Kiwi. “Surfing all the time when I was young gave me balance, real core strength and also shoulder stability.
“Obviously, it’s a little harder in the Midlands to find some ocean. But all the little muscles I got from paddling all the time have really helped my body and core strength.”
Gopperth, who made the move up the M69 from Wasps in the summer, lies fourth on the Premiership’s all-time scoring list.
He believes he has much to offer the English champions and that experience rather than age is what counts.
“Firstly, I’m a young Tiger – I’ve only played one game!” said the man Newcastle chose to replace Jonny Wilkinson back in 2009.
“I honestly feel age is just a number. I drive down to Wales or North Devon to surf. I’ve also invested in a hot tub at home.
“The cold is not good for my old joints so I’m always in the tub stretching and making sure my body’s ready to go for the next day.
“If I can still put performances in to help the team then I’ll keep going until the wheels fall off!”
As coincidence would have it the first person Gopperth walked into on his first day at Leicester was Richard Wigglesworth, the one current player in the Premiership with more miles on the clock.
“Jimmy turned up and I said, ‘Oh, you’re a couple of weeks younger than me, aren’t you?’” recalled Wigglesworth, Tigers’ player-coach.
‘Yeah, 20 days.’
‘Ah, so you’ve looked it up then!’
“Honestly, he’s so happy not to be the oldest.”
Leicester went unbeaten through until mid-January last season but lost their opening game at Exeter last weekend.
They recall England quartet Ollie Chessum, Joe Heyes, Jack van Poortvliet and Guy Porter into their 23 and will look to Gopperth for direction.
“I still really want to win things,” said the 39-year old. “I still wake up every morning wanting to train and play. I’ve still got the desire to succeed.
“My mentality is that I want to be the best and the young guys here are pushing me. That burning desire to win and perform keeps you young.”
Steve Diamond’s Worcester live to fight another day after unpaid staff agreed to put on tomorrow’s Premiership match with Exeter.
Warriors’ staff gave the Sixways clash the green light but made no attempt to mask their fury at the club hierarchy - issuing a statement which last night led to the owners threatening them with the sack.
"We remain angry at the continual broken promises and lack of communication from those above,” read the staff statement.“We hope for new ownership to come in with a clean break from those currently in position.”
They had been told on Tuesday that agreement had been reached for the sale of the cash-strapped club and that unpaid wages and bills would be met.
Nothing has come of that but staff have decided to get this game on with the warning that “we cannot promise this goodwill will continue indefinitely”.
Their agreement enabled the local authority to issue a general safety certificate and the RFU to okay not only tomorrow’s game but today’s Allianz Cup clash with Harlequins women.
"Despite not receiving our remaining 35% salary for August - and some players and staff from both teams nothing at all - we have chosen to do whatever we can to make sure the two games at the weekend can go ahead,” they added.
"Our motivations are entirely for the Warriors family, the continuation of top flight rugby at Sixways and to show our support for the playing staff."
The crowd limit for the Premiership clash has been capped at 4,999 due to health and safety regs.
OLDEST ALL-TIME PREMIERSHIP PLAYERS
40 - Brad Thorn
39 - Paul Turner
Peter Stringer
Chris Budgen
Richard Wigglesworth
Jimmy Gopperth
Donncha O’Callaghan
Graham Dawe
Tony Windo
Gareth Llewellyn
38 - Victor Matfield
