SUPERCHARGE HOW TO YOUR BRAIN
RUGBY’S ULTIMATE
“HOW I OVERCAME ADDICTION AFTER YEARS”
BOXING’S NEXT BIG THING
ENGLAND’S MIDFIELD SUPERSTAR… THE MAGIC FORMULA THAT MAKES HIM SO SPECIAL
First, we cherry-pick the world’s best writers in the fields of sport, style, cars, music, comedy, health & fitness, travel, adventure, and more.
Then we let them write the stories they want to tell. The stories that matter.
And finally, we give it all away for free. Because when it’s this good, every man deserves to read it.
The result is the world’s greatest magazine for men who want the best of everything.
This is the important bit. We know that being a man can be tough sometimes. Looking after your mental health, and helping your friends and family do the same, has never been more important. That’s why we work with Mind and CALM, two of the UK’s leading mental health charities. We want to help end the stigma around mental health and ensure that every man gets the support he needs.
Welcome to the Summer 2023 issue of MAN.
Imust admit, having a 19-year-old cover star who has already shone in a World Cup and established himself as one of the world’s most highly rated midfielders, made me feel a bit old.
That feeling wasn’t helped by talking to boxing’s most exciting prospect, Adam Azim, whose goal is to become the youngest ever British-Pakistani world champion (page 46).
Even some of the world’s hottest new car companies, which we look at on page 79, seem to have gone from 0-100 in no time.
But in a world where everything seems to be happening faster and people appear to be doing everything younger, it’s worth remembering that everyone’s timeline is different, your life isn’t a race against anyone else, and it’s never too late to do anything.
Simon Mitchell spent 25 years afflicted by addiction but never gave up the fight and is now six years clean, living a life that at times he never thought possible. He shares his story on page 66.
I hope that – alongside entertainment – this issue gives you a little encouragement to do whatever you want to do, at whatever pace you want to do it.
Thanks to all our contributors and our charity partners who have helped tackle the stigma around gambling (page 54), examined whether gaming could be good for your mental health (page 75), and explored the benefits of mindfulness (page 59).
Enjoy the issue, Rob
COVER CREDITS:
Cover Photographer: Alamy.com
Executive Editor: Lee Gatland
Art Director: Richard Hejsak
Managing Editor: Rob McGarr rob@sevenstarmedia.co.uk
Sales Team: 01959 543 650 sales@sevenstarmedia.co.uk
Published
Disclaimer: Man Magazine is published bi-annually (twice per annum) by Seven Star Media Ltd. No part of Man Magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted to any form without permission. Views expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Seven Star Media Ltd, and are included to provide advice only. No content is a substitute for professional medical advice. During printing, images may be subject to a 15% variation. © Copyright of content belongs to individual contributors with the magazine copyright belonging to Seven Star Media Ltd. All rights reserved. Please either keep this magazine for future reference, pass it on for somebody else to read, or recycle it.
WORDS MICHAEL CATLING PORTRAIT TAYLORMADE
t’s been just over 15 years since a fresh-faced, floppy-haired Rory McIlroy burst onto the scene, taking home the Silver Medal as the leading amateur at the 2007 Open. He was just 18 at the time, living at home and bouncing between fairways like a Duracell Bunny. He turned pro just two months later and became the youngest player ever to earn a European Tour card after finishing third at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on just his second professional start. The records have kept tumbling ever since.he won by eight strokes to claim his maiden Major title. He added three more before his 26th birthday, a feat matched only by Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus. There have been other firsts and accolades too, though few have been quite as impressive as last year when he made history as the first player to end the year as European Tour No.1, World No.1 and FedEx Cup champion.
At the 2011 US Open, he set 11 records on the weekend, including the lowest total 72-hole score, when
MAN MAGAZINE - SUMMER 2023 09 manmagazineuk.co.uk
I
Rory knows he will always be judged to a higher standard, which is why 2023 feels like such a big year.
By his own estimations, his game has never been in a better shape, which is just as well given the Ryder Cup is just around the corner. And while it might sound like a familiar tale, there’s a huge body of evidence to suggest that he’s ready to shoulder the pressure to perform and end a nine-year wait for another Major win.
“If I keep playing like that in Major championships, the law of averages suggests that I’m going to get myself back in the winner’s circle eventually. I played really solid, I shot 18 under par around St Andrews for four days and it wasn’t quite good enough to get the job done. So, if I keep playing the way I’ve been playing in the bigger tournaments, as I said, the law of averages would suggest that I’m going to get myself a trophy at some point.”
“Any time I’ve had a setback in my career, whether it be missing a cut or having a chance to win a tournament and not pulling it off, I always feel like I’ve been able to bounce back a little. Throughout my career, whether it be trying to get my first win on the European Tour in 2008 in Switzerland, losing in a play-off there, I was able to get myself into the top-50 by the end of the year. Trying to win my first Major championship, didn’t win that, and bounced back a couple months after at the US Open.
“I feel like time and time again, I’ve been able to bounce back from some adversity. It’s been a learning curve but
Although McIlroy had won on the European Tour the previous year at the 2009 Dubai Desert Classic, his finalround 62 to win the 2010 Quail Hollow Championship by four shots over Phil Mickelson put his stamp on the game.
I think it’s one of the things that I’ll look back on in 20 years’ time, it’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of. I’ve become more resilient as I’ve gone on in my career. I think once The (150th) Open was done, I just reset my goals on what I thought a successful season would look like, and that’s what I was able to achieve.”
“It feels like playing very negatively, playing away from trouble, not firing at
flagsticks, not being aggressive, it feels like a negative game plan, but it’s not. It’s just a smart game plan. It’s playing the percentages. Sunday, if you need to take risks, you take risks obviously, but for the first 54 holes, you just have to stay as disciplined as possible. To me, that goes against my nature a little bit, so it’s something I have to really work hard on.”
“I’m a self-confessed golf nerd, historian, traditionalist. Most of the oldest events in our game are national Opens. And I’ve been very fortunate to win quite a few. Irish Open, US Open, Australian Open, I was beaten in a play-off in the South African Open. One of the great things about our game is you can in some way compare yourself to historical figures.
Below: Rory with Jack Nicklaus after being named PGA Tour Player of the Year for the third time in 2019.
After gaining his first European Tour card via sponsors’ invites in September and October 2007, McIlroy starts his 2008 season at the Hong Kong Open, but misses the cut. He enters the top 200 of the World Ranking for the first time on January 27.
In September, he takes a four-shot lead into the final round of the European Masters in Switzerland, but finishes in a tie with Frenchman JeanFrancois Lucquin and loses in a play-off.
McIlroy finishes his first full season in November with six top 10s. He ends the year ranked 39th in the World.
After an opening round 64, McIlroy wins for the first time on the European Tour in the Dubai Desert Classic.
Describes the Ryder Cup as an “exhibition” and “not a huge goal of mine.”
Announces he’ll join the PGA Tour in 2010.
Wins for the first time in the States at the Quail Hollow Championship. Becomes first player since Tiger to win a PGA Tour event prior to his 21st birthday.
Shoots the lowest-ever first round in an Open Championship, a nine-under-par 63. Slips away to finish tied third.
Three wins and 12 top-five finishes on the PGA Tour in 2022 only tell half the story. Rory became only the third player in history to have a scoring average lower than 68.7. The only other players to accomplish the feat are Vijay Singh in 2003 and Tiger Woods – eight times!
After watching DJ transform his wedge game, McIlroy has worked hard to dial in his approach shots and capitalise on his long drives. After the Masters last April, he was ranked second from last on the PGA Tour for average proximity to the hole from 50 to 125 yards. By the end of the season, he was 22nd and ranked as the best on tour post-Masters, with
an average of 14 feet, one inch.
Although his performances failed to yield a victory, his shortcomings at St Andrews and Augusta owed more to the brilliance of others than his own mistakes. Not only did he eradicate the poor starts of previous seasons, but his aggregate score to par (-29) across all four Majors was eight shots better than the next best, Will Zalatoris.
After years of struggling for consistency, Rory appears to have found his touch on the greens with the help of putting guru Brad Faxon. Last year he ranked inside the top 20 for strokes gained for the first time, making it statistically one of the strongest parts of his game.
\\ THE LAW OF
THAT I’M GOING TO GET MYSELF BACK IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE EVENTUALLY //Rory produced a miraculous finish at the Masters last April to finish runner-up behind Scottie Scheffler.
I look at a trophy that my name’s on and Walter Hagen’s name is on there or Gene Sarazen or Byron Nelson or Ben Hogan or Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer or whoever it is. And I think that’s one of the coolest things about our sport that not a lot of other sports can sort of tap into. As a golf historian and traditionalist, I like that stuff. I like sitting down with the Claret Jug at home and looking at the names on the trophy. That is so cool.”
“I feel like, with being able to fall back on your putting, it takes pressure off your iron play, it takes
pressure off your short game, it takes pressure off your driving. You know that if you can get it up there within 10 feet, whether it’s for birdie or for par, feeling really comfortable with the flat stick, it makes the rest of the game just that little bit easier.
“I think last year was the first time ever I finished in the top-20 on tour in Strokes Gained: Putting and definitely a big part of it was the work that I’ve done with (coaches) Fax (Brad Faxon) and with (Bob) Rotella. It’s not like I’m handing them the reins of my putting, I’m taking ownership of it, but with their input, and that’s really helped.
After taking a four-shot lead into the final round of the 2011 Masters, McIlroy stumbled to a closing 80. He learned from the mistakes he made at Augusta National to win the very next Major – the US Open at Congressional – by eight shots.
Signs a reported $200m deal with Nike in January, the heir apparent to Tiger Woods, but doesn’t win again until December at the Australian Open.
In February he withdraws from the Honda Classic, citing tooth pain. Critics suggest the real issue is teething problems with his new clubs.
“I regret having to withdraw,” straight bats McIlroy.
Announces his engagement to tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. Admits the year was blighted by “distractions”.
“Fax has been a wonderful asset to me over the last few years. We started working (together) March of 2018. We spent a couple of hours together at The Bear’s Club on a Monday afternoon, and then that same week on a Sunday I had my best-ever performance on the greens in a tour event. What we were talking about worked straight away, and I feel like I’ve become a much more consistent putter since working with Brad. If anything, it’s become almost less practice in a way. Just sort of simplified the whole thing. It doesn’t have to be perfect. All you’re trying to do is get the ball in the hole, and a lot of visualisation,
a lot of hitting putts at different speeds and getting the ball to enter on the high side, on the low side. Just be so visual with it and sort of try to put a lot more feel into it, the way I play the rest of the game. Fax has been a great asset for me but also just a great friend as well, someone to lean on, someone that’s played the tour for a long, long time. I can lean on him if I ever need to.”
“The real low point for me was the Ryder Cup (in 2021), I had a terrible Ryder Cup individually, played poorly, didn’t really help
2016
Wins the Race to Dubai, having been granted special dispensation by the European Tour to play fewer events than the rules require, due to his injury.
Pays an undisclosed fee to extricate himself from his Horizon Sports Management contract, then creates his own management company, Rory McIlroy Inc.
After months of murmurings, Rory rules himself out of the Olympics, citing the threat of the Zika virus. Says he has no responsibility to “grow the game”.
my team that much at all. I think that was like the reset button for me. It’s never fun to feel like you’re not getting the best out of yourself. I sort of had to think about things and ask myself some tough questions, and thankfully I’ve come out the other side of it and I’m better for that experience.”
Withdraws from the Turkish Airlines Open, citing security fears. Admits Zika fears were just an excuse. “A few people used that excuse... I jumped on the bandwagon.”
2017
Plays like a man possessed in Europe’s Ryder Cup defeat. McIlroy has one abusive fan removed from the course.
Loses the South African Open in a play-off and injures his back in the process, requiring an MRI scan.
\\ I HAD A TERRIBLE RYDER CUP – I HAD TO ASK MYSELFAbove: Tiger and Rory playing together in the R&A Celebration of Champions event at the 150th Open. Top left: Signing autographs for the next generation of golfers. Bottom left: Working with former PGA Tour player turned putting coach Brad Faxon. Marries former PGA of America employee Erica Stoll, at Ashford Castle in Co. Mayo.
“I used to look at a lot of different golf swings. I’d look at early 2000s Tiger a lot. But I have to realise that he’s a different body shape to me, he’s got longer arms, everything’s different. I don’t like looking at my swing too much either because I’ll just start picking it apart and I’ll be too perfectionist with it. Honestly, I don’t even like watching my highlights anymore because I’ll start picking my swing apart. I don’t think it does me any good, so I’ve tried to steer away from looking at a lot of swings on video.”
“I’m speaking up for what I believe in. I don’t see how (LIV Golf) having 48 cherry-picked players is growing the game in any way. There has to be pathways. There has to be
meritocracy. You need to give someone the opportunity so if they are playing on the Challenge Tour, in a year’s time, two years’ time or five years they can be challenging for Major championships, which are the pinnacle of our sport.
“There is this pyramid and this funnel that has been so good for golf for so many years, and I don’t think it’s a broken system. So whenever something like this comes along that is incredibly disruptive and they are saying things about how golf needs to change, it doesn’t need to change. Golf is the most wonderful game in the world. Could there be things that we could do to make it more entertaining from a TV product perspective? Of course. That’s something that I think we can do from inside the walls. I don’t think we need to go outside of what we have already to figure that out.”
“Our European Ryder Cup team is going to look very different (in Italy this September). There’s going to be quite a few rookies on the team I would imagine. Europe’s had an unbelievable run in the Ryder Cup for the past couple of decades. This (US) team is very, very strong and not a lot of scar tissue compared to the last few teams. They sort of have their pairings and they get a chance to do it every year (with the Presidents Cup), which I think benefits them.
“I think one of the great achievements in our game nowadays is winning a Ryder Cup away from home. As you’ve seen the last few editions, it’s sort of gone to the home team. The last away win was that Medinah team in 2012, and we had to do something spectacular to be able to win that one.
“It’s getting more and more difficult. I think with the younger guys coming through and the fresh blood, it’s time for a rejuvenation of the European Ryder Cup team. We need to blood some new guys, and a home Ryder Cup is the best way to do that. You’ve got the crowd with you, and if you can introduce some of these new guys in the Ryder Cup team, then it’s the best way to go about it. But, of course, we’ll be the underdogs going into Italy and with how young this American team is, it looks like they will be very strong for a very long time. I’m excited. It’s a new challenge, a fresh challenge, a lot of new faces and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
Contributes one point from four Ryder Cup matches as Europe suffer a recordbreaking 19-9 defeat to the United States at Whistling Straits.
Gains lifetime PGA Tour membership after overturning a nine-shot deficit through 36 holes to win the CJ Cup and claim his 20th PGA Tour title.
McIlroy may have lost his 2016 Ryder Cup singles match against Patrick Reed at Hazeltine, but the passion he showed signalled a turning point in his career and highlighted how important the biennial event has become for him.
Posts his best-ever finish at the Masters after a bogeyfree 64 on Sunday catapults him up to second, three shots behind Scottie Scheffler.
Pockets an $18 million bonus and becomes the first player to win three FedEx Cup titles with victory at the Tour Championship.
In October, McIlroy returns to World No.1 for the first time since July 2020 after successfully defending the CJ Cup.
Ends the Major season with top-10 finishes in all of them, but no trophy.
Partners with Tiger Woods to launch TMRW Sports, a new entertainment venture harnessing technology in sport.
Becomes the second player ever, after Henrik Stenson, to win the FedEx Cup and Race to Dubai in the same calendar year.
“I told (son) Charlie, ‘Don’t copy my swing, copy Rory’s’. Have you ever seen Rory off balance on a shot? No. Not ever. You can swing as hard as you want, but you need to have balance.”
“If Rory was born in the United States, I’d vote him for President because he’s just one of the most intelligent, well spoken, introspective people I’ve ever met. I loved him growing up, watching him play, but now that I’ve got to know him and see how he’s been such a good custodian of the game, it’s so cool. We’re lucky to have a guy like that around.”
McIlroy’s friends, contemporaries and competitors reveal what they really think about him as a golfer and a man...
“There are very few natural talents in the game like Rory. But natural talent doesn’t necessarily make you a complete player. Rory has improved on that score every year. He’s always been a great driver – and that hasn’t changed – but when he is a little off he’s now so much better than he was earlier in his career. That’s down to hard work, improved fitness and his understanding. He has made his ‘bad’ golf better, which is what Tiger did.”
“It’s hard to say enough about Rory. He’s the best player on our tour and maybe the best in the world. But even better is his personality and the camaraderie he shows to everyone else out here. He’s so nice to the other players, he’s so supportive of the younger guys and he supports so many with their charities and foundations. It’s remarkable.”
“Over the last few years, we’ve grown closer than we ever have been. I live 10 minutes from him, our wives are very good friends, we’ve got kids of similar ages. We do hang out a bit, we play practice rounds together. I play quite a bit with him at the club. It’s definitely helped me, over the years, playing golf with him – if you go out for a round on a Tuesday and you don’t shoot -8, you’re losing the money!”
“I get asked about Rory a lot because we come from the same part of the world. All I can say is that he’s a special talent. That is obvious. But more than that, he’s an exceptional human being. During my time as Ryder Cup captain he was a more than useful sounding board, and so an enormous asset to me both on and off the course.”
“Rory is only a couple of years older than me, but he turned pro much earlier than I did so I remember watching him a lot when I was growing up. He always walked around with a swagger that (suggested) he was going to be great, especially the way he just bounded up the fairway. I think he can make the game look extremely easy when he’s playing his best. It looks like he can’t miss a shot.
“My first memory of seeing Rory up close was four years ago at the Bear’s Club, near where we both live in the Jupiter, Florida area. I was just 19 and not even on the PGA Tour at that point. He was already a Major champion and a superstar. I was hitting balls next to him. There aren’t many players I stop to watch hit, but he was one of them. Just seeing him hit long irons and drivers is so impressive.”
“I think he’s the best player in the game. And he has been for the last six or seven years. He has a different gear to everyone else – and when he finds that gear, he wins by a lot of shots. He has such a natural flair. And he’s still getting better. I can see him winning many more Majors.”
“The first time I saw Rory in person was when I played against him in the 2007 Walker Cup at Royal County Down. I’d heard of him and we knew he was their best player and that people were expecting a lot from him. Right away, I could tell he was ultra talented. I was impressed with his game. His talent is top three of our generation and I’d say top 10 of all time.”
“It’s great to see somebody with his platform take a stand (against LIV Golf) as he did, whether you agree with it or not. I think it’s great. He’s had a lot of input. He’s been on the board of the PGA Tour and tried to make a change. To be honest, with how long those meetings are and how much as players we talk to each other, to play as good as he has is pretty remarkable. We are all basically CEOs of our own little golf company, and now he has invested in so much more. The role he’s had in both is quite incredible.”
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English football’s new superstar wooed the world in Qatar and has most of Europe’s biggest clubs clamouring for his signature this summer. But who will win the race to sign him?
And just why is Jude so special? Those who know him best reveal all…
Before Christmas in 2019, Birmingham boss Pep Clotet called his senior players into a meeting. After a promising start to their Championship campaign, the West Midlands side were in the middle of a run of just one win in 12 games, crashing to a 3-0 defeat at mid-table Hull. Their play-off aspirations had all but disappeared as the Blues slid rapidly down the league table.
For a club stuck in the second tier since 2011, the months ahead looked like being another trudge; another potential battle to avoid relegation. Squad morale was beginning to flag. But this season wouldn’t be forgotten as the others were, and Clotet knew it.
“I told the players, ‘Just remember one thing’,” the Catalan coach recalls. “I said, ‘If we stay in the league and what I have in my mind comes true, this is going to be one season that you’ll remember for the rest of your lives. You will be able to tell your grandkids that you played with Jude Bellingham in his first season. You don’t see the meaning of this now, but one day you will understand it’.”
At that moment, Bellingham was 16 years of age and had made only a handful of first-team appearances. Already, though, it was clear he was destined for the very top.
A boyhood Blues fan, Bellingham had been inspired from the start by his dad, Mark, a police officer and – more to the point – a prolific non-league striker with Halesowen, Sutton Coldfield and more. Jude and brother Jobe, two years his junior, would hone their skills on a patch of grass outside their home in the village of Hagley, near Stourbridge, on the southwestern outskirts of Birmingham.
“We’d be out there from morning until night, especially in the summer, when we didn’t have school,” Jude later revealed. “It would always end with us as best mates or the worst enemies ever; the amount of times we came in with tears streaming down our faces are countless!
Every game we played, we said it was the Champions League final.”
Birmingham snapped up Bellingham at just seven years old. “We got a call from a friend of my dad at the club, who said, ‘He’s doing OK –you might as well bring him along to see if he’s any good’,” recalled Jude, self-deprecatingly. “I went, and they saw something in me that they could develop.”
And develop he did, guided by the club and his family, who drove home the importance of attitude. “The message from my parents,” he said, “was: ‘If you’re going to do it, you’re going to do it 100 per cent’. Whenever I had a strop on, my dad would remind me of that. It’s how I’ve been ever since.”
Bellingham kept coaching staff on their toes, largely due to his determination to succeed. “If he wasn’t happy with a session or the route his development was going in, he would be the first person to let me know,” said Mike Dodds, who coached him for close to 10 years and has since been
\\ RETIRING THAT NO.22 SHIRT DOESN’T LOOK QUITE SO DAFT NOW, AFTER ALL //
described by Bellingham as his biggest influence outside of his family. “Jude was always very honest and always very driven. At times he didn’t articulate himself the way you’d want, but that’s just a part of being a teenager. He is a magnificent human being.”
Aged 13, he was an England international, too. Bellingham was introduced for his under-15s debut a year earlier than might have been expected, and 12 months later he was captaining the side, before moving up to the under-16s and starring in 4-0 wins over France and Brazil.
At club level, his display against Liverpool’s under-16s caught the eye as Birmingham won the Blades Cup final 8-4. “He scored four and set up three,” reminisces Dodds, the team’s coach. One goal was a solo run from halfway. Roy of the Rovers was wearing blue.
In the summer of 2019, days after his 16th birthday, Bellingham joined Birmingham’s first-team squad for the start of pre-season – promoted by new manager Pep Clotet, previously the assistant under Garry Monk. Nearly four years later, Clotet is sharing his memories of working with Bellingham, when the conversation turns to the shirt number that the midfielder chose that summer and has kept ever since: No.22. Dodds had once told the youngster that he should aspire not
just to be a four, an eight or a 10, but a 22 – a midfielder who could sit, maraud and create all in the same package.
Clotet knows pretty much everything about Bellingham and remains very close to his former protégé, but he looks puzzled when we mention this fact. To him, 22 had simply been a random number. “I will ask him – I’ll see if he’s not training and I’ll ask him now!” says the smiling former Birmingham boss, surprising us by picking up his phone and calling the player himself. “Hey Jude, just a quick one? Yeah, everything is all right. Just a quick one: why did you pick the 22
and why 10? That’s all the positions you can play? All right! No, it’s because a journalist told me and I said, ‘F**king hell, you know more than me!’ I said, ‘I’ll ask him!’ All right, thanks – that was it. Keep on, I’ll speak to you later!”
The Catalan has been managing in Italy and Russia since leaving Birmingham in 2020, including three spells with Massimo Cellino’s Brescia, where he was sacked in December, reinstated in January and then sacked again in February, in the most Cellino sequence of events it’s possible to imagine. However, Clotet still visits Bellingham at his family home when they are both back in England, and has very fond memories of working with him.
“The year I watched Jude for the first time, I was assistant manager,” the 46-year-old explains. “I was involved in the decision of promoting him from the under-16s to the under-21s, and to make everyone aware that he could even do some training with the first team. He did a couple of sessions, then I was promoted to manager and the club was very keen on promoting young talent. I thought it would be great to have him in the team for pre-season, to see how he managed himself in the first-team environment.
“He was like a professional from day one. We went to Portugal and played against professional teams out there, but he put in a performance like the rest of the team; he was as fit as the rest, and he had a terrific mindset. He would stay on after training to develop his skills – he was really critical of everything he did. I’d say, ‘Don’t put pressure on yourself – you’re not going to get every pass right’. He’d say, ‘Yeah, but I missed that pass and I shouldn’t have missed it’. He was always working to raise his standards. You could see there was no roof to his ability.”
Bellingham’s maiden appearance came in the first round of the League Cup, away to League One Portsmouth in August 2019. Aged 16 years and 38 days, he was the club’s youngest ever player – a record previously held by Trevor Francis. An inexperienced Birmingham side lost 3-0 live on Sky, but Bellingham’s own performance earned him man of the match in the Birmingham Mail. He had shown no nerves whatsoever.
“On the contrary, if you spoke to him, he’d say, ‘I’m ready, I think I should be playing’,” laughs Clotet. “I remember saying before the game, ‘I’m going to play you as an offensive midfielder. Don’t try to do everything on your own – just bed yourself into the game’. He was one of the best players on the pitch. He supported the midfield, he joined the strikers, and he had a brilliant chance to score, and got very angry because he thought that by his standards, he should have scored.
“Seeing him that night, I already thought, ‘Wow, that’s not normal’, because he played like an important player even though he was the
youngest. I thought, ‘This boy is ready’. I spoke to my assistant, Paco Herrera, who worked with Rafa Benitez when Liverpool won the Champions League. He said, ‘I think that boy’s going to be something’.”
Bellingham had to wait a mere 19 days for his league bow, although to him it felt like a lifetime. “After my Birmingham debut,” he later reflected, “I had a two- or three-week gap where I couldn’t get in the team.”
Clotet was waiting patiently for the right moment. First, a late substitute appearance at Swansea. Then, the day that Bellingham has since described as the best of his life. Introduced for his home debut after just half an hour against Stoke – replacing the injured Jefferson Montero – he’d score the winning goal in front of the Tilton End with a quarter of an hour remaining by firing a deflected effort into the net, before an attempted knee slide ended with him nearly face-planting the turf. He didn’t care, springing to his feet and celebrating some more. His boyhood dream had come true.
“That goal felt pre-destined,” says Clotet. “Top players do some incredible things straightaway. His first goal at St Andrew’s – it was an amazing moment. He was really on a high after that game, although he was still complaining that he’d made a couple of silly mistakes! I said, ‘Jude, we won, you made your home debut and you scored – you don’t get it better than that!’ From that day on, he started games for the rest of the season. He played 41 [league] matches.”
In his next outing, Bellingham scored the winner again, away at Charlton. He operated as a wide midfielder in his
early games. “He was always going to be a central midfielder, but I wanted to bed him in,” reveals Clotet. “He could play wide with the freedom to come inside, without the fear that if he made a mistake, we could end up paying for it. I’m not risk-averse but, as a coach, you can end up totally messing up the player. I wanted to make sure he could be a success, then his confidence grew. Later in the campaign, he played more centrally.”
Quickly, a host of clubs began to take an interest in Bellingham, and it was inevitable that Birmingham would receive an offer they couldn’t refuse. “All of the biggest teams in Europe wanted him – Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus...” says Clotet. “I remember having a meeting with the ownership, asking, ‘Can I guarantee he’s still going to be here at the end of the January transfer window?’ They said, ‘You never know, but we hope so’. The club always wanted to do a deal in the summer, unless someone came in really strong in January. They were good with that situation. That was the campaign of the
coronavirus, though: in March there was a big economic crisis in football and the club were nervous, because they had put hope on a transfer for Jude which would be a massive help financially.”
Many feared that the transfer market would crash and fees would plummet as all clubs reduced their spending. Meanwhile, Clotet had to make sure that 16-year-old Bellingham could continue to flourish after restrictions were eased.
“With Jude we had a problem,” explains the manager, “because he was a minor and couldn’t come to training on his own. The rules were strict: no one else was allowed into the training ground. So, I decided to take his brother, Jobe, into training as well. He was 14 and his parents were working, so he couldn’t be left at home on his own. To help Jude so he could train, we brought Jobe with us; they came together and Jobe is a really good player.
“During that period, I also spoke to Jude about interest from other clubs –never to find out where he was heading, because that wasn’t my business; I told him, ‘I’m going to be your fan wherever you go’. But I needed to find out if it was affecting him, because we had some important games to play. I never saw him lose focus, though. It was unbelievable how he managed it. Massive credit to the family: another player would lose their head at that moment. One day, the CEO said, ‘Jude isn’t going to be here today, because we’ve allowed him to go to a meeting with Manchester United’ – but Jude ended up refusing it so that he didn’t miss training!
“He was very clear to me that his priority would be a club who offered him a way to continue his development. He wasn’t thinking about money. Dortmund offered him a way to bed himself into the Bundesliga and play in Europe, our club did a brilliant negotiation, and it was win-win for all parties.”
Xuandong Ren, Blues’ chief executive at the time, later claimed that Manchester United offered Bellingham twice as much money as anyone else, even getting Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona involved to try to persuade him. Two days before the end of the season, however, it was confirmed he’d be joining Dortmund for an initial £25 million.
\\ YOU WILL BE ABLE TO TELL YOUR GRANDKIDS THAT YOU
The midfielder turned out one last time for Birmingham – behind closed doors, sadly denied his chance to say a proper goodbye to the fans – before the club surprisingly retired his shirt number, even though he had played only one season and was still just 17. It drew much mirth from fans of other clubs. “At the time, even I thought the club went a bit ahead of themselves with that!” says Clotet, chuckling. “But they were convinced what Jude would become.”
Dortmund proved to be the perfect fit for the teenager. On his debut in the DFB-Pokal, he needed just half an hour to become the club’s youngest ever goalscorer, then started the opening Bundesliga game of the campaign, laying on a goal for Giovanni Reyna in a 3-0 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach.
Two months after his England Under-21 debut in September 2020, he was a late call-up to Gareth Southgate’s senior squad for a friendly against the Republic of Ireland, for whom Bellingham
also qualified, via a grandparent. “I went to meet up with the under-21s and the manager, Aidy Boothroyd, said, ‘What are you doing here?’” recalled Bellingham.
“I said, ‘What do you mean? Have I not been called up?’ I was so worried! But there was an injury with the senior team and Gareth wanted me with them.”
Days later, he was coming on for his senior debut. He’d already got to know Southgate, who had spent time chatting to Bellingham when he was on England duty in the junior age groups. The squad welcomed him, too.
“The thing I was worried about was that I played in Germany,” he said. “The players were going to be talking about their games and wouldn’t have a clue what we’d done at Dortmund or who I was.” Fat chance. He was already known as a rising superstar, and the players made him feel at home immediately.
By the season’s end, he’d been voted the Bundesliga’s newcomer of the season, won the DFB-Pokal and started seven Champions League matches as Dortmund reached the last eight. After Bellingham placed a curling shot past
Ederson in defeat to Manchester City, Pep Guardiola declared, “I can’t believe he’s 17. Maybe he’s a liar!”
Fitness and conditioning coach Patrick Eibenberger, who arrived with new manager Marco Rose that summer, was thoroughly impressed by Bellingham. “He was 18, but it didn’t seem like I was speaking to someone that age,” says Eibenberger. “He has an aura – you feel he could be 10 years older. Usually, players that age have a different persona around coaches, but he was pretty open. It was refreshing: you could just speak, without having to talk in circles around a topic.
“That’s credit to his parents. Jude doesn’t present himself as the world’s greatest, and he won’t give you the feeling that you’re worthless compared to him. He treats you on eye-level. That maturity got him respect in the dressing room from well-known players such as Mats Hummels and Marco Reus. He wasn’t a guy who simply talked; he backed it up with performances. He was very consistent and could be a leader on the pitch.
“He was always on point with his physical ability. He was playing in a position with a lot of physical output, but he could do it week in, week out, in back-to-back matches. He’s that kind of boy who is really talented in so many sporting activities – he said he could have become a decent cricketer, and I was surprised because it’s such a different sport. His athleticism is fascinating.”
\\ IT’S A CLUB THAT WOULD HELP HIM TO GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL, BECAUSE YOU DON’T GO THERE TO COMPETE – YOU GO TO WIN
Jude isn’t the only England international in the family –brother Jobe, 17, has also represented his country a dozen times. A rangy, highly technical footballer still growing into his frame, Jobe progressed to England’s under-18s this season, having previously lined up for the under-16s and under-17s. He was on Birmingham’s bench last term, aged 15 –even earlier than Jude – and made his debut five months later, becoming the Blues’ second youngest ever player, behind his brother.
This season, Jobe has been a frequent squad presence in the Championship as a substitute and occasional starter. Could both Bellingham brothers play together for England one day? Don’t bet against it.
His work ethic, too. On occasion, the young star had to be convinced not to overdo it. “Jude was constantly working out in the gym every day –he has an insatiable hunger for improvement,” reveals Eibenberger. “My job sometimes was not only to guide him, but also to restrict him from training, because recovery is important. Jude didn’t care much about recovery – he just wanted to train! But he learned over time that he also requires a certain amount of rest.”
Even in the gym, Bellingham was dictating proceedings, adapting the music to his liking. “No matter how packed the gym was, when Jude walked in he made it his living room,” says a smiling Eibenberger. “It was about his music and his exercises. Not in an arrogant manner, but everyone knew Jude needed to be the DJ! He set the vibe, and he was always the one who stayed the longest.”
Early in the 2021-22 campaign, Bellingham scored the finest goal of his career so far, showing neat footwork to slalom through Arminia Bielefeld’s defence and slot home. Yet goals and assists reveal just a scintilla of his scintillating all-round game. The manner in which this teenage midfielder could read the game, win the ball, beat the press and break through the opposition lines – his union of tenacity and technique – won Bellingham no few admirers, and he soon came second only to Barcelona’s Pedri in the voting for the Kopa Trophy, France Football’s award for the world’s best under-21 player.
He did land himself in hot water after a 3-2 defeat to Bayern Munich, in which he deftly set up both Dortmund goals but felt that a number of refereeing decisions had gone against his side.
You give a referee that has match-fixed before, the biggest game in Germany – what do you expect?” declared Bellingham in a rare moment of controversy, even if it was true that Felix Zwayer had been banned for six months for a role in a fixing scandal in 2005. The DFB didn’t take kindly to the midfielder’s unguarded comments, fining him €40,000. “A more experienced version of Jude might handle that situation a bit differently,” admits Eibenberger. “But he meant what he said, actually.”
Fittingly, the No.22’s breakout year at the highest level came in 2022. He already had nine goals for Dortmund when the elite club season paused for the World Cup; four came in as many consecutive Champions League matches, including another strike against Manchester City in another 2-1
defeat, and a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win at Sevilla – as Dortmund’s captain, still just 19 years of age. Naturally, he scored the opener in his first appearance after the World Cup as well.
In an England shirt, he had turned his cameo roles at the European Championship, as a late substitute against Croatia, Czech Republic and Ukraine, into a regular starring role during the Nations League. Bellingham was now ready to shine on the biggest stage of all, in Qatar –and boy, did he do that.
Against Iran, scoring his first Three Lions goal prompted an inevitable rendition of The Beatles’ Hey Jude from the travelling supporters. “I’ve probably heard that song about 10 million times,” joked the midfielder recently. “As
soon as I started playing professionally, people would come up to me and sing it.” Against Senegal, his driving runs helped to set up goals for Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane. All of this was done with one person in mind. “When the anthems play, I think about who I’m playing for,” he said. “My grandad isn’t long passed away, and he loved his country so much.”
Bellingham’s impressive World Cup wasn’t about big moments, but the little things, too: the way he was the only player to console Kane after the striker’s penalty miss against France, and the way he spoke out in support of Henderson completely unprompted during a post-match interview. “I’ve seen some of the rubbish that was said about him playing – honestly, it’s ridiculous,” fumed Bellingham. “He is so underrated. I think it’s time he gets a little respect.” The teenager sounded like an experienced pro.
“He’s compassionate – he’s always been like that,” continues Clotet. “Watching him at the World Cup, I saw that he was ready to become a leader of that England team. I saw him on a different level at that tournament. He always produces his maximum, but in important games, that maximum is doubled. In the Champions League, you see an even better version of Jude than in the Bundesliga. The World Cup was a moment of reality – to see where Jude was at – and we all saw it. He played even better than in the Champions League. Fantastic performances. All of them.”
So, it’s little wonder that Europe’s grandest clubs are queueing up once again. Real Madrid are the bookmakers’ favourites to sign him, ahead of Manchester City, Liverpool, Manchester United. Nothing is certain, as virtually every top club in the world would jump at the chance to bag Bellingham, while Dortmund haven’t given up hope of keeping him. “We will try everything [to keep Jude Bellingham] because we’re very ambitious,” says Dortmund’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl. “We want to keep the best players in our squad in this team and our club to perform. With Jude, there’s nothing to decide at the moment, there’s nothing on the table, no offer, no news.”
Any transfer deal won’t be straightforward. Unlike last summer’s marque transfer, Erling Haaland,
\\ MY GRANDAD ISN’T LONG PASSED AWAY, AND HE LOVED HIS COUNTRY SO MUCH //
reportedly there is no release clause in Bellingham’s contract, so any club will have to pay a significant fee if they’re to persuade Dortmund to sell. Reports suggest BVB rate him at around £130m.
That figure has seemingly proven too rich for Liverpool’s blood, although the Reds’ former midfielder Charlie Adam hasn’t given up hope. “I’d love to see him playing for Liverpool – he’d definitely make them better,” he says. “But with talk of a takeover at Manchester United, they could be a force to be reckoned with as well.”
“When I was at Reading, I sat on the bench watching Jude play for Birmingham and said, ‘This kid is going to be a top player’. It was the way he demanded the ball, drove his team and showed personality. He knows the English game, so he wouldn’t need much time to adapt in the Premier League. I think he might end up at Real Madrid first, though. It’s difficult to turn them down.”
In Spain, the feeling is that this time, unlike with Kylian Mbappe, Florentino Perez could get his man. “Bellingham is Real Madrid’s primary target,” confirms Marca’s Jon Prada. “Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are 37 and 33, and they want a younger player to replace them, to mix with Eduardo Camavinga, Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. They have been in contact in the last year. Their relationship with Dortmund’s board is close and they’re confident that Bellingham wants to play for Real Madrid
– that’s the message they’re receiving from the player’s camp. But clubs like Manchester City and Liverpool will make big offers, too.”
Clotet also wonders if Real may have the edge, although he emphasises that he has no inside information on the matter. “My opinion shouldn’t be listened to, because I would never ask Jude about something like this,” Bellingham’s former Birmingham boss tells us. “However, Real Madrid not only have an excellent team; it’s also the best young team. They’re going in a very good direction.
“It’s a club that would help him to get to the next level, because you don’t go there to compete – you go to win. You really contest every single competition. The Premier League is fantastic because it’s very competitive, but because of that, it’s difficult to pick a team and say, ‘OK, every year from now until the end of my contract, I’m going to compete to win the Champions League’.
“At the same time, though, I would love to see him in England, because I think he could make a difference at any big team in England. Jude fits everywhere.”
Wherever Bellingham ends up, Clotet will be happy that the 16-year-old he introduced in a
Bellingham’s never-to-be-worn-again No.22 at Birmingham puts him in an elite group of players to see their shirt number retired, including Bradley Wright-Phillips and the Pope…
League Cup tie at Fratton Park is turning into one of the world’s best players.
“Even at the time, I felt like we were doing something special,” the Catalan says now. “Everyone helped him out –his family, his team-mates, the directors, all of the staff... I’m so proud of them. OK, we didn’t win the league or get promoted that season, but we did something special, everyone together, with Jude at the centre of it. We were helping someone who’d have a surname that would be recognised all over the world.”
Already, Bellingham has achieved so much that he has a giant mural in his honour in Stourbridge and another outside St Andrew’s, where he returned to a hero’s reception in the days immediately after England’s World Cup elimination. Also in Birmingham, a bridge for the new HS2 rail link is set to be named after the maestro. Retiring that No.22 shirt doesn’t look quite so daft now, after all. Four, plus eight, plus 10... Jude Bellingham equals the
#1 #01 #99 #3 & #6 #10
The Polish club haven’t let anyone wear No.1 since 2005, when the squad visited Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, just three months before his death. God’s emissary –this one, anyway – was a boyhood Cracovia fan and a goalkeeper in his youth, you see.
The Brazilians also retired their No.1 jersey… sort of. Their legendary goalscoring goalkeeper, Rogerio Ceni, actually wore 01, so Sao Paulo just retired that shirt, which no one was going to wear anyway, and handed their new shotstopper the No.1.
Bradley Wright-Phillips didn’t become a legend in England, but he did smash a century of goals in the MLS, so Red Bulls retired his No.99 shirt. After leaving in his mid-thirties for a couple of years elsewhere, he returned to sign a oneday contract last March so that he could retire at the club. Aww.
If you want to wear a No.3 or No.6 for Milan – standard fare for a defender – then tough. Both are retired in honour of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, with No.3 promised to one of Maldini’s sons if they become a Rossoneri regular. It hasn’t happened yet: Daniel Maldini, 21, is now on loan at Spezia.
Lukas Podolski was a hero at Köln, and after he left in 2012 they retired his No.10 shirt for as long as he was an active player. Two years later, they changed their mind, giving it to Patrick Helmes. “I didn’t respect that,” said a miffed Poldi, while Helmes retired at the season’s end anyway.
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Did you know that Damian Penaud is into chess?
In a recent article in L’Equipe, fellow France back-three star Thomas Ramos said: “I started teaching him during last year’s autumn Tests. Very quickly he got better than me. On the other hand, when it comes to ping-pong I’m still the master. He doesn’t have the mindset for it!”
Here’s a guy entrusted with leading an army of young and exciting talent out there in Toulouse. An uncompromising sort who might not like fanfare all that much but cannot help being in the thick of things.
Julien Marchand is an undeniable force from No 2. He’s the guy who leads Antoine Dupont most club weekends. He is a must-pick in a unit that France forwards coach William Servat recently told a crowd at a Midi Olympique event was, in his eyes, still “the best scrum of the moment”. Indeed, after the recent victory over Japan, Midol proclaimed that Marchand was rightly considered the best hooker on the planet.
We certainly know that the Clermont wing has a knack for putting in the killer moves when it counts the most. His lungstretching, last-minute try to earn an unlikely win against the Wallabies in 2022 was, frankly, a farce. And if we are thinking about strategic moves around a board, then you have to give credit for his chip, dribble and score against Scotland in last year’s Six Nations. He may not have scored at the rate – or punched above his weight – as conspicuously as Darcy Graham has done over the past 12 months, but Penaud has done something with enormous national and global resonance: he has won Tests with brilliant plays when his team have needed it most.
Penaud has 26 tries from 42 Tests - a match average of 0.62. This far exceeds French try record holder Serge Blanco with 38 in 93 (average 0.41)
And that’s the mark of great teams, isn’t it? They win even when they aren’t playing exceptionally well. How lucky for France, then, that regularly during a 13-match unbeaten streak they had a not-so-secret weapon on the wing (or maybe the centre if things got wobbly).
In that same L’Equipe piece, the man himself says of his personality: “I’m a really bad loser. Rugby is a team sport but everything else, when it’s individual, you can only blame yourself.” Which is maybe why he goes for the hold-my-beer moments of individual class.
Undroppable in the Grand Slam side. Scorer of eight in nine Tests. Voted Player of the Autumn Nations Series. Clermont’s biggest star is the envy of many nations. Checkmate.
After just six
After a crowd-pleasing display for France against Japan in Toulouse, the club’s forwards coach said of Marchand that while he had already maintained high standards at his club, he had then gone on to raise them again. “Against South Africa,
Stuart Barnes, our regular Rugby World sage, said of Jonathan Dantry in The Times: Dantry is a rock in defence and a target in attack. There are more subtle backs in the French game but the importance of his qualities cannot be overlooked.”
The argument Barnes makes is that at the blunt end of the game (forget ‘sharp’, top Tests are often about withstanding trauma), the guy who does the basics much better than the other blokes is king. Now we know how the French feel about royalty, and the 12 shirt in France was at one time possessed by Virimi Vakatawa, who was capable of some otherworldly things with a rugby ball. But Danty deserves his coronation.
For a start, he is a menace on the floor. Many elite forwards fail to compete with him there. Plus, he annexes opposition space when he has ball in hand. And yet, for some reason, he doesn’t seem to get the same credit for it that many other, more famous back-line mates with les Bleus garner for their adventures.
No back made as many turnovers as Dantry did in last year’s Six Nations, his tally of five matching Tadhg Beirne. Four forwards made six
The rugby talks, though. At the end of 2022, L’Equipe were reporting that Danty could be lured from La Rochelle back to Stade Français for a princely salary (€600k was being quoted in some quarters). And what an asset.
Danty had to wait four years for his fifth cap after four Tests in 2016. Back then he said his goal was simply “to break the line, then send a pass of 15 or 20 metres to my winger, and then watch him touch down over the line”.
In 2023 that objective is perfect for France and bad news for the rest of us.
Are we all just onlookers in the court of king Boff? The Puma had an exceptional 2022, and in November his national boss Michael Cheika said of his time in Edinburgh: “He’s really flourished playing up here.” He later added: “I’m not going to give him too many raps because he’s getting lots of air time.”
The kicking winger scored the winning points in the three-Test series against Scotland in Argentina last summer. Then it was 20 points to his name as Argentina beat the All Blacks on Kiwi soil for the first time. Against England he was peppering the scoreboard again, collecting 25 points in a victory at Twickenham to start the Argentine autumn with a bang.
Boffelli’s 25 in November was the most points scored against England since Bernard Foley at
Of all of those, Boffelli said: “We have started to believe in ourselves. We have trust in the team and that’s important for next year and the World Cup. Those were historic wins and very important for us.”
No big raps there for himself, but his last calendar year deserves a mix tape of its own – ‘parental advisory, expletive content sticker’ included. You cannae stop the Boff, some in Edinburgh say.
It’s 17 years since Johnny Sexton made his Leinster debut and here he still is, captaining the world’s No 1 team and installed as chief orchestrator in our World XV. If he’s a “dinosaur”, as Camille Chat jokingly dubbed him, he is a snarling, jaw-jutting Tyrannosaurus Rex, ready to devour all before him.
To win World Rugby Player of the Year at the age of 33, as Sexton did, is unprecedented. Yet four years on, the Dubliner, fuelled by the hurt of his 2021 Lions snub, has arguably taken his game to an even higher plateau.
Back from suspension, Antoine Dupont was up to his tricks in no time when Toulouse opened their European campaign in Munster. Through the fog it was possible to discern his scorching change of gear when breaking, the physicality of his carrying, the offloads and grubbers, the way he chased and manacled Mike Haley to nip a Munster counter in the bud.
At one point, under fierce pressure and without time to gather a stray ball, he simply kicked it to his second-row, standing at first-receiver, with the accuracy of a surgeon’s scalpel.
He made it look easy – but then he always does. Dupont plays on a different plain to most people.
VITAL STATISTIC
1,050
That omission was based on his age profile and durability, with fears that injuries might prevent him stringing together a run of matches. Ireland have adapted their game plan to protect Sexton, often deploying others at firstreceiver off first phase and in phase play to allow the ten to pick and choose when to step into the front-line.
Yet it is Sexton’s DNA to put himself in harm’s way, to take the ball to the line and delay a pass till the last moment so a team-mate has more space. Such selflessness has brought him untold bruised ribs as defenders clatter into him –but he never flinches.
Number of Test points scored by sexton ahead of his likely swansong at France 2023. He needs 34 more to top Ronan O’Gara’s Ireland record
Sexton’s kicking game is unsurpassed, his wrap-around plays leave defences dizzy. He can see things unfold before they happen.
Rory Best says Sexton knows more about rugby than anyone he’s ever met and that intellectual property transfers to the training pitch, team room, changing shed – he drives the standards.
Is he a better player now than the one who steered Ireland to a Grand Slam and Leinster to all those European Cups? We detect no diminishment of his powers.
VITAL STATISTIC 15
The number of tackles Dupont made against England last yearthe equal highest by a French scrum-half in a Six Nations match
Top 14, European and World Player of the Year in 2021, he can now add a Six Nations Grand Slam to his achievements, a prize he sealed with one of his typical support lines and try-scoring dives. His 12 Test tries is already a France record for a scrum-half.
It’s at the breakdown where Dupont really earns his corn. It’s not just the snap of his pass, with those powerful wrists and little back-lift needed, that separates him from contemporaries. He makes light of difficulties, effortlessly retrieving the ball and giving tempo to the attack. “He adjusts his body into the perfect compact position from which to shift the pass away from the melee, whatever the quality of the presentation,” Stuart Barnes wrote of him.
“If he decides not to pass but dart, he is able to swerve away from and beneath the tackles of the giants. This balance is the priceless asset that combines with his vision to put his teams in space.”
Gareth Edwards is widely hailed as the greatest scrum-half of all time. Will we be anointing Dupont in his place by the time he hangs up his boots?
Eddie Jones made a lot of boo-boos but he should be lauded for introducing Ellis Genge when England were riding high in 2016. Genge is a fiery character from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’ and Jones says coaching him was akin to clinging to the reins whilst training a wild horse. Even now, the prop can struggle to control his emotions.
Not that you would wish to tame him. There is almost a fury to his ball-carrying, which sees him skittle defenders even at Test level, and in the tackle he can hit with bonejuddering savagery. “He’s a monster, absolutely horrible to stop,” said Dave Flatman when Genge blasted through Japan’s defence to score.
It was ever thus, says Alan Martinovic, who coached Genge at Hartpury College. As he told The Sun: “The standout thing about Ellis was his aggression. To say that he used to frighten the other kids is an understatement. When there was an option to run into someone, he’d do that. And he did quite a bit of damage.”
In the tight, Genge has become a top scrummager, relishing the confrontation. If there’s sledging or a scuffle going on, you know he’ll be at the heart of it.
Number of times that Genge has beaten seven or more defenders in a Premiership match - by far the most by any prop
He brings ‘edge’ to his teams but also empathy. Having captained Leicester to the English title last season, he took a big pay cut to return to his home-town club Bristol and invest in the community.
As a world-class player who grew up on a council estate, he is inspiring countless youngsters through both his achievements and his work with the Baby Rhino coaching company that takes its name from his thunderous play.
It takes a special kind of player to successfully transition from world-class winger to standout centre, but Rieko Ioane is no average Joe.
The New Zealander looked set for a long career in the famous All Blacks No 11 jersey after winning the 2017 World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year award, but a loss of form during 2019 saw him engineer a move infield.
Since he was recast in the No 13 jumper, Ioane has never looked back. Many were unconvinced at first and there were still doubters after Ireland handed New Zealand a first home series defeat in 27 years. Since then, however, Ioane has been in imperious form. His stunning break at Ellis Park led to David Havili’s try in the victory over South Africa that snapped New Zealand’s three-game losing streak.
91% Loane’s tackle success rate was the best of any international centre in 2022 - he missed just six tackles across 12 Tests
And he has been equally as good in defence, where his top-end pace enables him to get in the passing lanes and foil many an attack. He pulled off a superb try-saving tackle on Andrew Kellaway in the Rugby Championship victory over Australia in Melbourne.
There was never any doubt about Ioane’s finishing ability, but the Blues star had to play hard ball to get his move into midfield.
“I had to be quite stern with my coaches at Super Rugby,” he told Stuff NZ. “But I knew that playing at No 13 for the Blues wouldn’t mean anything unless I played well and Ian Foster has been a good listener. He’s given me a lot of confidence at centre.”
Lukhanyo Am’s injury issues helped Ioane’s case for our World XV, even if World Rugby still put the Springbok on their Player of the Year shortlist.
Ioane may be a guaranteed All Blacks starter but he needs a regular partner, with Jordie Barrett finishing 2022 as the incumbent No 12. If they both stay fit enough to gel, stay tuned.
Forget the play in 2022, we’ve got a cracker for quote of the year. Upon being named Ireland captain ahead of their match against Fiji, Tadhg Furlong said it wasn’t something he ever dreamed possible. So what did he dream of? “Spuds. Gravy. The mother’s Sunday roast,” came the earnest reply.
Wexford’s finest, the tighthead knows what he likes and his approach to work is just as studious. He talks of doing his best for 50 to 60 minutes in matches and relying on the brilliance of others around him. He’s played with some real legends. On his own kind of leadership style, he’s said: “I wouldn’t be mad emotional, if that makes sense, as a person. It’s nice to have a bit of yin and yang.”
And yet he is vital to the current men’s world No 1 side, and his aw-shucks demeanour belies his physical menace, link play and ability to move the ball into space. If Frans Malherbe is the epitome of scrum excellence in 2023, Furlong is in the mixer with him but brings slick hands. Maybe a sidestep, if the mood takes. There’s a splash of colour in that there gravy.
No front-rower made more passes in the Six Nations last year than Furlong, with 21. England’s Kyle Sinckler was next highest with 19.
Once again he is humble about it all. During last year’s Six Nations, when we were all aflutter about a Furlong offload in the heat of the Test, he replied a few days later: “To be honest, like ‘rugby player passes the ball’. Look, I’ve been playing rugby since I was four or five, so I’d want to be able to pass the ball a metre, wouldn’t I?”
And in the modern game he’s right – all elite-level forwards should be able to do it. But the pressure means that many can’t. They say pressure makes diamonds and while this world-class No 3 is dreaming of spuds, everyone else is watching him sparkle on the big stage.
An image is imprinted in our minds of Eben Etzebeth looming menacingly over Tom Youngs in some long-ago Twickenham Test. Nothing has changed because the 6ft 8in Springbok still towers over opponents today, literally and figuratively. We thought long and hard about selecting him in our World XV ahead of Maro Itoje, another peerless performer in the engine room. Then we concluded that Etzebeth’s remarkable consistency had to be rewarded.
Sean Holley speaks elsewhere of Etzebeth’s lineout work and charge-downs, his passing skills and offloads. His sheer height goes a long way to messing with the heads of hookers as he stands at No 2 in the lineout, something Harlequins struggled to deal with in their Champions Cup opener against the Sharks.
Etzebeth’s No 1 rating score in the URC Top 100 Index - the average score is 80. The Bok lock’s strongest area is the lineout (98.7)
As a ball-carrier, Etzebeth’s loping stride is reminiscent of Andy Ripley while his power in the scrum and maul – like Itoje, he packs down on the tighthead side – contributes to his fearsome reputation.
Yet what also impresses so much is Etzebeth’s work-rate: the way he chases high kicks like a winger, or expends every ounce of effort in trying to block a box kick at the ruck.
It’s unlikely that counts towards the URC Top 100, a statsbased performance chart that measures the impact each player has on his side’s chance of scoring. Regardless, Etzebeth stood top as Christmas neared.
One NZ website declared him their World Player of the Year in 2021 and he topped a SA Rugby magazine poll for that honour when again officially overlooked in 2022. Etzebeth just carries on, the Boks’ youngest centurion and with Alun Wyn Jones’s caps record in his sights.
If all Blacks fans were not familiar with Tadhg Beirne before Ireland’s summer tour to New Zealand, then after it’s conclusion they were lucky if he was not giving them nightmares.
Beirne’s brilliance helped Irish rugby to its proudest moment, a series win in New Zealand, a sporting nirvana that a tearful Peter O’Mahony later revealed he had never even dared to dream of.
Numbers on the back of the jersey can be a big talking point. And so while it gets a little confusing with Kolisi – who captains South Africa from six, but hails from a land where that position anywhere else but France would be the seven – you find yourself making room for him.
Second-row Beirne became a turnover titan in Wellington in the deciding third Test. The Munster man’s ferocious work at the breakdown was the perfect foil to the glorious attacking play that sliced the All Blacks apart in the first 40, handing the hosts a first home series defeat since France prevailed in the amateur era. “It’s just a part of my game that I need to bring to the team,” he said, a contender for understatement of the year.
Beirne’s ability to operate as both a top-rate blindside and in the engine room means he possesses the potent combination of blistering breakdown skills and supreme set-piece nous.
After two matches of the Autumn Nations Series, Beirne had won more lineouts than any Ireland player with 12.
Turnovers won by Beirne during the Autumn Nations series - joint second with Ardie Savea and behind only No 8 Grégory Alldritt
The juggernaut keeps on rolling. Oh and don’t forget that phenomenal 50:22 against France in the last 2022 Six Nations.
A key cog in Ireland’s ascent to the top of the world rankings, he has become indispensable in Andy Farrell’s XV.
It boggles the mind that just seven years ago, Beirne was struggling to convince Leinster to sign him while delivering pizzas. Fittingly, he is now firmly embedded in rugby’s upper crust.
In what we were told was a vulnerable time for the Boks, Kolisi stood up. Or should that be fired forward? He relished the physical challenge. And that’s what is funny too – for years there have been chats about how he’s more of a ball runner and link man than the traditional blood-and-guts six of Springbok fable.
Number of times that kolisi has captained the Springbokssecond in their all-time list behind John Smit (83)
But in the last year he has happily tried to ride the lightning. A vital turnover against England on the way to a first win at Twickenham since 2014? Yes please. Player of the Match after a bullying display against the Wallabies? Uh-huh. A faultless, ten-tackle masterclass when leading the Boks to a 26-10 win over the All Blacks? Well, yeah mate. His leadership has never been in doubt, of course. Ardie Savea recently spoke of his deep friendship and respect for Kolisi – before telling The Times that “the one guy I want to smash on the field is Siya”. At his franchise the Sharks, Kolisi was an important figure after head coach Sean Everitt was sacked.
“He’s such an inspirational man,” said young Edinburgh back-row Ben Muncaster after facing Kolisi recently. “It’s amazing to see what he’s done in the world and how much of an impact he’s had on the sport of rugby.” He is the game’s savage ambassador.
They say it is better to lucky than good. Modestly, Josh van der Flier insists he has both attributes.
World Rugby’s Player of the Year has had a phenomenal 12 months, going from a contender for the Ireland No 7 jersey to an automatic starter in the World XV.
The unassuming flanker is the first to praise others for his success. However, it is van der Flier’s relentless desire to get better coupled with Andy Farrell’s orders to improve his ball-carrying that has helped to invigorate him.
It beggars belief that Ardie Savea was not only snubbed for World Rugby’s Player of the Year shortlist but failed to land a place in their all-star team.
Fear not, however, as here at Rugby World the All Blacks back-rower could not be much more appreciated.
Stephen Jones waxes lyrical about Savea’s sporting grace following the 2019 World Cup semi-final defeat to England, when he was the first player to approach the victors and embraced Tom Curry.
3.3
He was already a demon in defence, tackling anything that came the way of his celebrated red scrum cap, but in an effort to make more metres, van der Flier put his foot to the floor – literally. A return to Leinster to focus on upping his speed into contact and leg drive has paid dividends as he is now undoubtedly a world-class operator on both sides of the ball for Ireland.
And being an eminently good bloke must make it all the more demoralising for opponents who have the misfortune to stand in his way. It is not a stretch to say you have more chance of locating the Loch Ness Monster than a discernible weakness in Savea’s game.
Back to the luck, though, and if it were not for Will Connors’s untimely injury before the final game of the 2021 Six Nations against England, then it is unlikely van der Flier would be taking pride of place in this World XV. Connors had the edge in the battle to be Ireland’s openside but nobody can have seized an opportunity quite like van der Flier did, using that ten-tackle performance as a leg up to deliver his very best form.
Van der Flier’s average number of ‘nuisances’ per 80 minutes - 1.2 higher than the next best across the Premiership, URC and Top 14
While van der Flier admits playing alongside our fly-half in this side, Johnny Sexton, has made him a better player, the veteran No 10 believes his team-mate is utterly deserving of the recognition, saying: “He has really upped his game. He’s made things part of his game that not many other back-rows are doing. He has had an outstanding year and it doesn’t look like he’s going to slow down. He’s hungry.”
Defenders beaten by Savea in 11 Tests in 2022 - the fourth-highest total and as many as Josh van der Flier and Grégory Alldritt combined
Arguably New Zealand’s best fetcher, ball-carrier and tackler, he is also more than handy as a lineout option. The All Blacks may have endured mixed fortunes in 2022 but the same cannot be said for their barnstorming No 8.
When the pressure piled up on Ian Foster after three losses on the spin, Savea came to his aid with an awesome display in the stunning 35-23 win over South Africa at Ellis Park. Two critical turnovers and an assist for David Havili’s try kept the critics at bay.
It is testament to Savea that Grégory Alldritt’s majestic Six Nations, where he helped France to a Grand Slam, could not oust him from our side.
Savea told The Times he was loath to drop the Samoan humility he was raised with when recently representing himself in contract negotiations with the NZRU, saying: “What I found challenging was talking about myself, and having to say, ‘I am the best player’.” No problem, Ardie. We’ll do it for you.
Adam Azim is hotly tipped to take British boxing to the next level. But, as he reveals, he needed the sport even more than it needed him…
20
-year-old Adam Azim is rapidly becoming one of the mustsee fighters in British and world boxing.
If you do want to catch him in action, though, you have to be quick, as most of his fights don’t last very long. A six-bout stretch dating back to 2021 saw the explosive light-welterweight reach the third round just once, dispatching a series of increasingly well-regarded opponents in less time than it takes to make a cup of tea. That run of early stoppages ended in February, with
the steely Nicaraguan Santos Reyes taking Azim the distance, despite the Brit putting him on the canvas in the second round. A unanimous decision saw Azim’s professional record extend to 8-0, with each win looking like a quick step on the fast track to world title fights.
“Rapid” is a fitting word where Azim is concerned. His lightning-fast hands have been compared to his idol Amir Khan’s, and one of Azim’s many goals is to become world champion at a younger age than Khan, who took his first world title belt at 22. But, as he reveals to MAN, he was on the fast track to a very different life before boxing emerged as his saviour…
I was truly happy that my last fight went the distance. The more rounds I have, the more experience I get. I know what a proper fight is like now. That guy was no joke; he was 12-0 before the fight and he came to win.
I’d been blasting people out in one or two rounds but at some point you’re going to have to go the distance. Even legends like Prince Naseem and Amir Khan had moments where they had to go through rounds.
He gave it his all but he couldn’t do anything on the day because I was very sharp. I actually fractured my hand in the second round, when I dropped him. It kept getting worse throughout the fight and I was feeling it really badly, but you have to learn to fight through it, even when you’ve broken something.
I don’t get nervous until I’m walking towards the ring. That’s when a bit of nerves jump in, but I’m quite
used to it now. I like the feeling of pressure because it brings out the best in me. It gets me thriving to push more.
I know if I put on a good performance then everyone is going to enjoy the fight, so that’s my aim. The most important thing in boxing is to entertain people. That’s why I do the backflips and different tricks all the time.
They’re obviously getting a lot of money from it. I do respect them going into the ring and fighting, and some of them are actually doing it full-time now. They’re not joking about; they actually want to train hard to get the win. It’s good to market the sport and get new fans into boxing. If I retired and the offer was there, I would definitely fight a YouTuber.
I want to become European Champion by the end of this year, but my mission is to become the youngest world champion. I want to stay undefeated throughout my career and become multiple world champion. Hopefully the first Asian, British Pakistani undisputed world champion. I want to become a hall of famer one day.
You’ve been working with Shane McGuigan since turning pro… how much has he helped you improve as a boxer?
I’ve improved a lot and he’s helped take me from the amateur game to the professional ranks – the style is very different. I’m learning from the best and training with the best. Obviously I’m still learning the trade but as the fights get harder, I get better.
I need to keep training hard, staying focused, never let anything get to my head. I just want to keep grafting and knocking people out.
I didn’t have too much fun because I was so dedicated and focused on boxing, but I was always happy to make those sacrifices. My dad told me you’ve got to make sacrifices if you want to become world champion.
Even now, I don’t do much outside of boxing. I train Monday to Saturday, so I only have Sunday off, and I’ll just go for a meal or watch a film at the cinema.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was very young. I ended up being home-schooled because I was messing around too much. If I’d
stayed in that school, I don’t know where I’d have ended up. My dad wanted to get me into sport to help drain my energy. I tried cricket and I liked batting and bowling but it was no good when I was fielding. Boxing was the second sport I tried. It helped me get my anger out, whether it was in the ring, on the bags or in sparring, rather than taking it out on everyone else.
It helped my ADHD massively and made me a better person. I was on medication for a while, but the boxing helped me so much I didn’t need it anymore. The ADHD doesn’t affect me at all now.
If they’re good at something and they enjoy something, I’d say use that. Whether it’s boxing, football, cricket – anything. Whatever they like doing, use your ADHD for good.
It’s good to have my brother there and train alongside him. Our aim is for two brothers to become two world champions. We used to spar together when we were younger but not anymore as we’ve got plenty of other sparring partners, but we always push each other in training.
You got into boxing at a very young age – did it mean sacrificing a lot of
Floyd Mayweather. He’s undefeated. No one can do what he can. He’s beaten every single world champion out there. He’s world champion in five different weight classes – it’s mad. No one else can do that.
I met him once. He gave me advice. He said: “I can see that you’re a fighter. Stay focused. Don’t let anything get to your head.”
Definitely Amir Khan and Prince Naseem. They’re both legends in the sport. I got inspired by Amir Khan first because I went to watch him when I was a kid.
I’ve met them both. I watched the AJ versus Jermain Franklin fight with Prince Naseem. Amir Khan is like a big brother to me. It’s good to sit amongst these legends and get their advice.
It’s not a new thing; it’s been happening throughout the years. A lot of people have been doing it throughout their careers. But some people aren’t doing it on purpose – it could be spiked in their drink or their food. There are haters and jealous people trying to tarnish their name.
I want to open a lot of gyms throughout the UK and get a lot of people off the streets. I want to make smart investments and help my family. I want to do charity work and keep active after retirement.
Where I live, in Slough, there’s a lot of knife crime, but it happens in so
many areas – there are so many knife crimes going on and it needs to stop.
They need to get off the streets and do something you’re good at. All you do on the streets is associate with the wrong people and the wrong crowd. You can take a life, just like that. The best thing is to focus on something and accomplish something. The best thing is to put the knives down and pick the gloves up.
It doesn’t have to be sport – it could be selling cars, making a business –there are so many things people can accomplish in life if they stay off the streets and focus on doing something good.
“He’s one of the top fighters coming up. He’s got power, he’s got speed, he’s got movement. He’s got all the tools to make it to the top.”
“We knew he was special from the first time we saw him. We believe he can be one of the biggest stars the country has seen – a household name. I cannot tell you how feared he is; there are world champions right now who would no way take a fight with him, and I know that for a fact. We’re dealing with a freak. Adam is a talent you don’t see very often. I’ve never met someone as focused as he is.”
“It’s about having the whole package. Adam is that guy. He ticks all the boxes. It just reminds me of Naz. If he keeps going the way he is going, he is not just going to become a world champion, he will be the next UK superstar.”
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Fearing judgment and being scared to talk is one of the biggest barriers to people getting the help they need. We’re working with GambleAware to change that.
HAVE YOU EVER FOUND IT HARD TO TALK ABOUT YOUR GAMBLING, OR TO SEEK
If so, you’re not alone – many people feel like this. This is one of the biggest barriers to people seeking help and talking openly about their challenges. People often feel worried they’ll be judged by others about their experiences. This is called stigma.
People sometimes feel judged or discriminated against because of the stigma around gambling harms. This stigma can
stop people affected by gambling harms from getting the right help and being able to talk openly about their challenges.
Sometimes it’s difficult to see the effects of gambling. Knowing the signs of gambling harms can help you understand if gambling is causing difficulties and if you could benefit from help and support. Some of the signs include:
Spending too much time or money on gambling
Keeping gambling a secret
Always having gambling on the mind
Feeling worried or guilty about gambling
Losing interest in other things
It can be difficult to talk about your worries with gambling, but starting a conversation can be the first step towards getting the right support. If you’re worried about your own gambling, it can be difficult to know what to say. Try talking to a trusted friend or family member as a first step. You can also talk with someone confidentially on the free National Gambling Helpline: 0808 8020 133. Helpline advisers are available 24/7 to offer advice, information and emotional support.
These conversation starters can help:
“I feel scared and embarrassed to tell anyone what I’ve been going through.”
“I have bills to pay and it feels as though there is no other way to get more money.”
“I started playing and it drew me in. It was the only escape I had.”
“I started playing this game, and it’s really easy to lose track of everything else. Do you ever get that?”
“These games really follow me around, the adverts and notifications are everywhere. What do you think I should do about that?”
“How would I even know if I’m gambling a bit too much?”
“I’ve not been feeling like myself lately.”
“I’m finding it hard to cope at the moment.”
“I feel as though I’m maybe losing control of how often I’m gambling?”
When talking to someone else about their gambling, let them know you’re concerned because you care about them. This can help them feel safe to speak openly and will allow you to develop and negotiate a plan together.
You can use or adapt the words below to help you open a conversation about gambling worries:
“I can see you’re not happy at the moment. Is there anything you want to talk about?”
“Are you okay, you don’t seem like yourself at the moment?”
“I’ve noticed you’ve been gambling a lot recently and it’s starting to make me worry.”
“Do you feel your gambling might be tipping into something less enjoyable?”
“Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling about your gambling?”
\\ HARMS FROM GAMBLING CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE. 1 IN 4 PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW SOMEONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS WITH GAMBLING //
If you broach the subject and they don’t seem worried about their gambling, here are some possible responses:
“I’ve noticed you’ve been gambling a lot recently, is everything OK? Is there anything I can do to help?
“I’ve noticed you gamble a fair bit; how do you feel when you can’t?”
“I can imagine it feels quite lonely, do you want to talk to a friend?”
“This must be really difficult for you, but you might find it helpful to talk to someone.”
“Are there other friends that you might feel more comfortable talking about this with?”
“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to someone you don’t know about things that are bothering you.”
If they have said they are worried about their gambling, you could say:
“Thank you for being honest and not keeping this a secret.”
“How can I support you?”
“I really appreciate you sharing this with me, that must have been really hard. I hope you know you aren’t on your own.”
“Talking about it is a huge achievement – there are ways to get help.”
If the person you’re speaking to has said they are worried about their gambling, as well as offering support, you can suggest possible solutions that may help them:
“I’ve heard the helpline can be quite useful. It’s not just there for when there is a problem.”
“Have you thought about visiting GambleAware? I know they have tools and advice on their website, I can have a look with you if you think that would help?”
“That must be quite difficult, I’m happy to help you find out what you can do about it.”
\\ SOMETIMES IT’S DIFFICULT TO SEE THE EFFECTS OF GAMBLING //
If you’re worried about how gambling makes you feel, we can help.
What do Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Denzel Washington, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mike Tyson, Oprah Winfrey and Erling Haaland have in common? They’re among the countless successful people who credit mindfulness with being key to their powers. Is it time you joined them?
You’ve probably heard the term “mindfulness” but perhaps dismissed it as being the reserve of woo-woo hippies and Balinese monks. But mindfulness comes in many different forms, most of which aren’t particularly weird or wacky, and can really help people in their day-today lives.
Interested? Good. Let’s start from the beginning.
Mindfulness is a technique you can learn which involves noticing what’s happening in the present moment, without judgement. You might take notice and be aware of your mind, body or surroundings. The technique has roots in Buddhism and meditation, but you don’t have to be spiritual or have any particular beliefs to try it.
Mindfulness aims to help you:
become more self-aware feel calmer and less stressed feel more able to choose how to respond to your thoughts and feelings cope with difficult or unhelpful thoughts
be kinder towards yourself manage your day-to-day wellbeing
Mindfulness works by taking your focus to the present moment and away from other thoughts.
The way we think, and what we think about, can affect how we feel and act. For example, if you think or worry a lot about upsetting past or future events, you might often feel sad or anxious.
It is understandable to want to stop thinking about difficult things. But trying to get rid of upsetting thoughts can often make us think about them even more.
The theory behind mindfulness is that by using various techniques to bring your attention to the present, you can:
Notice how thoughts come and go in your mind. You may learn that they don’t have to define who you are, or your experience of the world, and that you can let go of them. Notice what your body is telling you. For example, you might feel tension or anxiety in your body, such as a fast heartbeat, tense muscles or shallow breathing.
Create space between you and your thoughts. With this space, you can reflect on the situation and react more calmly.
Studies show that practising mindfulness can help to manage common mental health problems like depression, anxiety and feelings of stress.
There is some evidence that mindfulness could help with more complex mental health conditions, such as psychosis and bipolar disorder. But more research is needed in this area.
You might find mindfulness very helpful. Or you might feel like it doesn’t work or makes you feel worse. It’s important to do what works for you and your mental health. You can also talk to your doctor about what kinds of treatments might suit you best. You might find trying mindfulness is useful while waiting to receive other types of treatment.
There are lots of different mindfulness exercises. Here are some of the most common ones, all of which can be done without any equipment:
Mindful eating. This involves paying attention to the taste, sight and textures of what you eat. Try this when drinking a cup of tea or coffee for example. You could focus on the temperature, how the liquid feels on your tongue, how sweet it tastes or watch the steam that it gives off.
\\ WHEN I FEEL ANXIETY BUILDING, MINDFULNESS HELPS ME TO KEEP CALM BY BECOMING MORE IN TOUCH WITH THE SITUATION //
Body scan. This is where you move your attention slowly through different parts of your body. Start from the top of your head and move all the way down to the end of your toes. You could focus on feelings of warmth, tension, tingling or relaxation of different parts of your body. Mindful colouring and drawing. Rather than trying to draw something in particular, focus on the colours and the sensation of your pencil against the paper. You could use a mindfulness colouring book or download mindfulness colouring images.
Mindful meditation. This involves sitting quietly to focus on your breathing, thoughts, sensations in your body or things you can sense around you. Try to bring your attention back to the present if your mind starts to wander. Many people also find that yoga helps them to concentrate on their breathing and focus on the present moment.
The above examples are not the only ways you can practise mindfulness. So many activities can be done mindfully. Different things work for different people, so if you don’t find one exercise useful, try another. You can also try adapting them to suit you and make them easier to fit in with your daily life, such as mindfully cooking dinner or folding laundry.
Pay attention. Focus on things you can see, hear, smell, taste or touch. For example, when you take a shower, make a special effort to really pay attention to how the water feels on your skin.
Take notice. When your mind wanders, which is just what minds do, simply notice where your thoughts have drifted to. Some people find it helpful to name and acknowledge the feelings and thoughts that come up. For example, you could think to yourself ‘this is a feeling of anger’, or ‘here is the thought that I’m not good enough’. Be aware and accepting. Notice and be aware of the emotions you are feeling or sensations in your body. You don’t need to try and get rid of any feelings or thoughts. Try to observe and accept these feelings with friendly curiosity, and without judgement. Choose to return. Choose to bring your attention back to the present moment. You could do this by focusing on your breathing or another sensation in your body. Or you could focus on your surroundings – what you can see, hear, smell, touch or taste.
Be kind to yourself. Remember that mindfulness can be difficult and our minds will always wander. Try not to be critical of yourself. When you notice your mind wandering, you can just gently bring yourself back to the exercise.
\\ MINDFULNESS COLOURING REALLY HELPS ME UNWIND AND RELAX IN THE EVENING. IT PROMOTES BETTER SLEEP AND I GO TO BED FEELING READY TO REST RATHER THAN ANXIOUS AND WIRED //
To get more out of mindfulness exercises, there are some practical things you can try to help improve your experience:
Set aside regular time to practise. Regular, short periods of mindfulness can work better than occasional long ones. If you struggle to find the time, try choosing one or two things you already do daily, and do them mindfully. For example, you could practise mindfulness while doing the washing up or taking a shower.
Make yourself comfortable. It can help to do mindfulness in a space where you feel safe, comfortable and won’t be easily distracted. Some people also find that it helps to be outdoors or surrounded by nature.
Take it slowly. Try to build up your practice bit by bit. You don’t need to set ambitious goals or put pressure on yourself. Remember, you’re learning a new skill that will take time to develop.
Don’t worry about whether you’re doing it right. Try not to worry about doing the exercises correctly. Focus on using them in the ways that are most helpful for you. Many people find it takes a while to feel comfortable doing mindfulness exercises.
For more mindfulness exercises and guidance, visit mind.org.uk
\\ MINDFULNESS MAKES ME FEEL SAFE BECAUSE EVEN WHEN I CAN’T ACCESS MY COUNSELLORS, CARERS, MEDICATION AND RELAPSE PREVENTION PLAN, MINDFULNESS IS STILL THERE. NOTHING CAN TAKE IT AWAY //
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For 25 years, Simon Mitchell’s life was ravaged by addiction, almost costing him everything. Now, six years clean, he reveals how he was finally able to take control and shares advice for anyone battling addiction.
Predominantly alcohol. I also used MDMA and ketamine pretty dysfunctionally, but never to the same level as I used alcohol.
My relationship with alcohol was dysfunctional from the first time I tasted it. I was on a school trip when I was about 12 and all the lads bought a big bottle of cider each. No one else liked theirs and they couldn’t
finish it. I absolutely loved it. I felt like I’d found my missing piece. I finished mine and I finished all of theirs. I drank to blackout, pretty much, in my first ever drink.
I felt like I didn’t fit in in any group. I learnt to suppress who I really was and push down my real self, and develop these socially acceptable false selves that I would present to whatever group I was in.
While I was at school, I would present myself in one way to my mates, which was always ‘jack the lad’, but to my teachers I was the clever kid that always worked hard and did very well. To my parents, I was the good boy, very wellbehaved. I felt as though I would be rejected by everyone if they could see who I really was. There was a deep shame for who I was, so I kept that hidden. And it was hard work, until I found alcohol. As soon as I’d had a good glug, I felt complete. Alcohol made me fearless. It allowed me to be whoever I wanted to be. I felt 10’ tall and like the funniest, sexiest, cleverest, wittiest, most interesting person in the room. All my self-doubt and insecurity just melted away. Alcohol was a solution to my self-doubt, self-loathing, and lack of self-esteem. It enabled me to be the extroverted person I thought I
needed to be to be lovable, acceptable, interesting, desirable, and attractive to my peers. I felt so relaxed and able to connect with people and enjoy whatever I was doing, whereas before everything had seemed so bleak, challenging and anxietyprovoking.
I started drinking really heavily when I went to university at 18. By the time I was 19, I was in prison, having been arrested for fighting. I was found guilty and given a custodial sentence. I had a retrial in the end and was found not guilty, but there were consequences to my drinking. I was kicked off the university course of my choice and had to do a different one.
On a normal weekend there would be fighting, accidents, visits to A&E, lost phones, lost wallets, all manner of interpersonal problems and friendship issues, getting ejected from pubs and clubs and beaten up by bouncers, reputational damage of people thinking I was a lunatic and not wanting to spend time with me.
Over the course of the 25 years, I lost my driving licence, I lost jobs, my parents had incredible ongoing worry, my wife kicked me out, I ended up being taken to hospital at one point after drinking to blackout and falling asleep outside in short sleeves in December. I wasn’t found until the morning and was hyperthermic. They had to revive me and said another hour and I would have been dead.
The first time I really acknowledged I had an issue was in 2006. I’d been drinking all weekend and not returned home. We had a one-year-old son. My wife had suffered enough and kicked me out. I drank vodka all day and was arrested for drink driving.
I remember sitting in the cell that night and it was a rock bottom moment for me, but the great thing about rock bottoms is there’s only one way to go – and that’s up. There was something about the fact I had lost my wife, lost my child, lost my home, lost my driving licence and therefore probably lost my job, my livelihood and my career – there was a moment of peace because all these plates I had been spinning for so long suddenly just crashed to the floor in that cell. I just thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore.
I need help’. That was back in 2006 and it was the beginning of my recovery journey, but it was a long time before I got into long-term recovery. 2017 was the last time I drank, so I had another 11 years of failed attempts to get sober.
I tried everything. I tried only drinking after I’d eaten. I tried only drinking beer, not wine or spirits. I tried drinking and taking certain drugs at the same time. I tried only drinking at parties and weddings. I tried not drinking in the week. I tried drinking water between each drink. It didn’t matter. Every single strategy failed. As soon as I’d taken that first drink, the person who intended not to drink disappeared and a new person emerged who just wanted to keep drinking until I dropped.
In 2006, when I first acknowledged I had an addiction problem, I went to an AA meeting. But I walked in and saw god stuff and thought ‘This is some sort of religious cult’ so I left and decided that wasn’t for me.
I ended up in a day rehab and learnt about the psychology of addiction. I thought, ‘That’s it. Now I understand why I drink, I’ll be able to drink functionally’. I didn’t drink for a year after that, but when I started again it very quickly became dysfunctional again.
At that point, I thought the problem was physical and psychological. I was running, going to the gym, I had lost my licence so I was cycling everywhere; I got myself into peak physical fitness and thought that would offer me some defence against alcoholism. But once I picked up a drink, I was immediately back to square one.
I was on holiday in Spain with my young family and I’d ended up drinking to such an extent I’d lost contact with them. I went to the darkest place and broke down. I stopped drinking and went into horrendous withdrawals. I had this vision of what alcoholism really was. I realised that, at least in part, it was a spiritual sickness. I realised I had lost touch with the deepest part of me and that to recover I was going to have to reconnect with who I really was.
I knew I needed some sort of spiritual
medicine, but I didn’t want to go to church or get into anything religious. I was into Russell Brand at the time and I remember him talking about the 12 Steps and raving on about how amazing transcendental meditation was. I’d already determined that the 12 Steps was religious so I wasn’t going to do that, but I decided to learn how to meditate.
I learnt transcendental meditation and I’ve been practising that now every day for 10 years, 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes at night. It transformed my life. My social anxiety was reduced, I started to reconnect with my deepest self, I started to feel more connected with other people and with life. It was incredible.
I thought, ‘That’s it, I’ve fixed it’. But again, after about a year of not drinking, I drank again. It was a Christmas party and that was the time I passed out outside and nearly died.
\\ I HAD LOST MY WIFE, MY CHILD, MY HOME, MY DRIVING LICENCE AND MY CAREER //
I realised that physical, psychological, and spiritual solutions were incredibly helpful, but as soon as I picked up that first drink, all bets were off – the person who intended not to drink disappeared and a new person emerged who just wanted to keep drinking until I dropped.
The only thing that has enabled me to enjoy this level of sobriety – and I say “enjoy” because I enjoy a lot of my life now – is the 12 Steps. I have developed the ability to cope with what life throws at me without having to resort to substances or certain behaviours thanks to the tools provided by the 12 Steps.
Like I said, I thought it was a religious program, but it’s a spiritual program, not a religious one. It aligns with the deepest wisdom from the all the spiritual traditions but also supports the scientific addiction literature and the psychotherapeutic literature. The program is nearly 100 years old and has rescued millions of people from addictions of all types. It’s a simple program, but it’s not easy. But, if it’s thoroughly followed, it works. It has provided me with a life beyond anything I ever could have expected.
I felt as though I was going to have to endure life without substances. I imagined life without alcohol being boring, dull, and blunt. I thought I would have no enjoyment and would just have to suffer life. But nothing could be further from the truth. I now look back on my addicted years as the years that were unenjoyable and painful, whereas life now is incredible.
So many opportunities have opened up with the way I’m able to connect with people and with myself. I feel authentic. I feel real.
Life can still be challenging, and I can still feel afraid or overwhelmed at times, but I have a program that enables me to cope and doesn’t involve hiding in addictive behaviours. One day at a time, it has been the most incredible, magical solution.
I got sober in 2017. My children were 11 and eight; they had started to notice my behaviours and it had started to affect them. I found my son at the end of my
bed one morning, after a binge, crying and asking me why I’d behaved the way that I had. I had deeply upset him and I was just broken by that. I love my children more than anything and I could see the image they had of me was severely tarnished. I knew that ahead of me lay incredible harm to my children and wife.
I knew that I was going to lose everything. I was going to lose them, which was the most important thing. I’d lose my wealth, my health, I’d lose all meaning and self-respect – not that I had much at that point anyway. I knew I was going to end up in a hostel and eventually in the gutter, alone, with nothing but my bottle. And eventually I would die the most painful, lonely death, which many addicts do.
I sold the IT company that I built with colleagues and relocated to Devon. I’ve done a psychology masters and I’m now a trainee counsellor, helping people recover from addiction. I have an enormous group of friends in the local area as well as deepened relationships with my lifelong friends and family. I have the closest, most beautiful relationship with my wife and children. They’re proud of me, I’m close to them, I’m able to support them and be an example to them. I’m proud of who I am today.
I still make mistakes and need to make amends for those when I hurt other people or act in ways that are not aligned with my values, but I typically sleep easy and wake easy without fear of what I might have done the night before. Life is peaceful, serene and fulfilling. Life is full of opportunity, beauty, awe, closeness, love, and intimacy. I would have none of those things had it not been for my recovery.
I can only speak for myself but I don’t believe I will ever be ‘cured’ of addiction. I always refer to myself as a recovering addict, rather than a recovered addict, because I never want to assume I am beyond the reach of alcohol. I know that all I have to do is pick up one drink and I can go right back to square one, so it is something I am working on on a daily basis.
I very rarely think about having a drink, even when I’m around other people that are drinking, which is a miracle because I never used to think about anything but drink.
I think it’s important to remind myself daily that I’m only one drink away from returning to that horror. I purposely keep it alive in that respect. I attend 12 Steps meetings and am reminded by newcomers of the consequences of drinking, and that I can have that life back at any moment if I pick up that first drink.
I don’t wish I’d done anything different. I needed to do absolutely everything I’ve done to get to where I am today. Without every drink, drug and drama I’ve had in my life, I would not have what I have now to offer the world.
I’m sorry I hurt people and for the harm I’ve caused. The harm I caused myself and those around me from every domain of my life is virtually incalculable. But I don’t look back in regret. I’ve attempted to make amends to those people that I’ve harmed as part of my process of recovery, but I recognise now that those difficult experiences can form part of my toolkit for helping others, because most people suffering with addiction are racked with shame for the things they’ve done to harm the people closest to them. I’m able to identify with them in my capacity as an addiction recovery worker and they with me, and that allows them to open up and be more vulnerable because we have a shared experience.
I have sought to make amends but I hope that my life now is a living amends and I’m able to give back and contribute to society in a positive way. Hopefully, by the time I pop my mortal coil, I will have repaid my debt.
Addiction is a progressive illness. It doesn’t get better, it only gets worse. The medicine, be it alcohol, drugs or something else, increasingly becomes a poison. The relief it used to give diminishes, while the pain it provides continues to increase. It returns very little and it takes everything.
It needs to be confronted, but I realise that is very difficult. The only point I was prepared to confront it and do the necessary work was when I had the gift of desperation, having hit rock bottom and about to lose everything. I see lots of people who have to actually lose everything before they’re prepared to do anything about it, and in fact lots of people, even when they’ve lost everything, continue to rely on a substance or addictive behaviour of choice until eventually it takes their life.
There is another way, and this other way does not rely on willpower. It relies on getting to a 12 Steps meeting for whatever addiction you’re afflicted with and following the suggestions they give you. One day at a time, that program and that fellowship has the power to heal. It is magical, in my experience.
Let go of the preconceptions that you have around that 12 Steps solution and what you may have heard in the media or the popular idea that it’s only park bench drunks that go to these things – it’s not true. There is a diversity of people in those 12 Steps rooms. We’re all represented there, united with the same problem and presented with the same solution.
I think it can be more difficult for highfunctioning addicts because the level of denial is higher. “How can I be an addict when I’ve got all of this?” I was a CEO of a company, I had two cars on the drive of a very nice house, I had lots of friends, I still had my wife, still had my children. To the outside world I looked successful.
When people got a bit closer they could see how dysfunctional my behaviours were and they could see some of the dramas, but I became very good at tidying up the shit I left behind and rebuilding things I’d broken. That allowed me to deny the fact it was a real problem for many years.
When I first stopped drinking, I noticed that alcohol is so embedded in our culture. I used to listen to Radio 1 and as you approached the weekend it was all about drinking and partying, and as you came out of the weekend it was all about great times and hangovers and crazy things that had happened.
Drink is central in Western culture. To celebrate, commiserate – whatever the occasion – you have a drink. I think that might be changing a bit and I think addiction has lost a lot of its stigma. I think that, particularly for men, we are opening up a discourse around mental health and around seeking help.
I think we live in a time that is more amenable to seeking help. I also think that 12 Steps has been normalised by people speaking out, particularly famous people, talking about their recovery using 12 Steps.
But society can’t heal addiction. This is an inside out job. The problem needs to be healed at an individual level from the inside out. We can improve the conditions for that to happen and reduce the stigma attached to people seeking help, but it’s not something that can be fixed from the outside.
Need help? Visit www.alcoholicsanonymous.org.uk
\\ THE GREAT THING ABOUT ROCK BOTTOMS IS THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO GO –AND THAT’S UP //
Choose your challenge - and raise money to help prevent suicide.
Often maligned by the media, could gaming actually offer a boost to mental wellbeing? The experts at CALM certainly think so. Here’s why…
Gaming. It’s all about share-size bags of Doritos and playing alone in a darkened bedroom in the middle of the night, right? Wrong.
As well as being a £7.1 billion industry with around 3 billion gamers across the globe, modern gaming and streaming are chances to get together with mates, relax, and even discover new interests. Who says so? Gamers and streamers themselves.
Research shows that 50% of gamers and streamers say it’s a great way to relax, while 42% say switching on a stream or a game is a way to escape from daily life. 17% say gaming or watching live streams has helped them discover new interests, 15% say it’s a way to socialise and 10% say it provides a supportive community.
So why the old negative stereotype of gaming? The media has a lot to answer for – regularly portraying gaming and gamers as fringe, childish or anti-social. Which is probably why around a quarter of the public still consider gamers and streamers unhealthy (24%) or lonely (25%).
So long as you’re not harming anyone (including yourself), doing things that make you feel good is never a bad idea. And gaming does that for a lot of people. That’s why we believe stereotypes around gaming belong in the bin, alongside all the other unhelpful stereotypes that stop us from looking after and talking about our mental wellbeing.
Harry Marshall, Head of Network at gaming content producer The Yogscast, says he has seen the gaming and streaming world go from strength to strength in the last decade: “Listening to a stream is like having a friend in the room with you while playing a game.
For lots of gamers, this gives them somewhere to check in every day — a community to talk to or a place to share how you feel.
“I remember being 12 when I made my first online friend, another teenage boy from America. The idea that you can connect with anybody in the world, share your passion with them and make friends, is inconceivable to those who haven’t been able to experience it. But it’s happening all over the world, every moment of every day.”
Gaming and streaming has become a way to connect and that can improve mental wellbeing.
Ukie is the trade body for the UK games and interactive entertainment industry. They say: “Games play an important and positive role in the lives of players. But persistent, inaccurate and negative stereotypes around games mean many miss the benefits they can offer or inadvertently discourage play that could be having a positive impact on people’s lives.”
Simon Gunning is CEO of the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). He says: “Technology allows us to connect and socialise – and creators like The Yogscast, charity streaming events like The Jingle Jam, and a myriad of other platforms, are also helping normalise conversations about mental health. If we want the devastating suicide rate to decrease, we need to work with communities to tackle the stigma that stops us from opening up and look after each other.”
Visit www.thecalmzone.net/ category/gaming for more on gaming and mental wellbeing.
\\ LISTENING TO A STREAM IS LIKE HAVING A FRIEND IN THE ROOM WITH YOU WHILE PLAYING A GAME //
With new car brands popping up quicker than potholes on a poorly maintained B-road, we highlight the manufacturers you could be buying your next ride from and their hottest models to watch out for…
Chemical engineering firm turned car company when the boss spotted an opportunity after Land Rover replaced its long-lived Defender with a more sedate, luxurious model.
The Grenadier is a no-nonsense off-road workhorse that looks like a cross between an old Defender and a Mercedes G-Wagon. Petrol and diesel models are available, with electric on the way.
Faraday has been around since 2014 but not managed to release a production car yet, which isn’t a great sign, but they promise to be a “disruptor of the traditional ultraluxury car civilization epitomized by Ferrari and Maybach”.
The FF91, Faraday’s first production vehicle, offers ultimate luxury, 1,050BHP, 381 miles per charge, and a 0-60 of just 2.39 seconds.
A small US firm focused on building the most capable electric trucks, lorries and SUVs from the ground up.
The Bollinger B1 SUV is an allelectric four-wheel-drive SUV, built to handle anything. Expect to see a few on the school run in southwest London, then.
Chinese firm Nio has established itself as a serious rival to Tesla, selling over 36,000 cars in China last year. There’s a range of vehicles to pick from, including sportscars, SUVs and luxury saloons.
The Nio EP9, a £2.5m hypercar that flew round the Nurburgring in 6:52:01 and boasts a range of 265 miles (not at that speed, obviously).
A part of Chinese motoring giant Geely, who also own Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, Smart, and many others.
The Lynk & Co 01 is a compact SUV where everything you could ever want comes as standard. Expect no shortage of clever tech and connectivity in a plug-in hybrid capable of driving fully electric. You can subscribe monthto-month, borrow the car, or buy it and let Lynk & Co handle insurance, maintenance, and more.
American all-electric vehicle pioneers with British engineer Peter Rawlinson (formerly of Jaguar and Lotus) at the helm.
The Lucid Air is the longest range, fastest charging luxury electric car in the world. It boasts over 1,2000BHP, a range of 516 miles, can charge to 200 miles in 12 minutes, and 0-60 in under two seconds.
Porsche recently increased its stake in the Croatian electric supercar manufacturer from 15.5% to 24%, which shows they are doing something right.
The Rimac Nevera hit 412kph last year, setting a new speed record as the world’s fastest electric production car.
Founded by a 37-year-old entrepreneur and engineer (he’s only 40 now) who managed to secure $1.7bn in funding from Amazon and $500m from Ford to create an all-electric pickup truck and an SUV.
The R1S, an all-electric SUV that can handle any offroad situation and go 0-60 in three seconds.
There are four main face shapes, and each suits a different type of sunglasses.
Oval
Your face is longer than it is wide, with relatively rounded jawline and cheekbones.
Suitable shapes: You’re lucky in that most sunglasses will suit you. Squarer shapes will create sharper angles, while rounder rims will give a gentler look. The choice is yours.
You have soft features with a curved jawline and brow.
Suitable shapes: Avoid anything round. Rectangular frames will make your face look more angular, thinner and longer, which is what you want.
Triangle
Your forehead and brow are wider than your cheekbones and jawline.
Suitable shapes: A rounder lens is a good shout as they offset the geometry of your face. Aviators work well as their broader bottom half balances out the narrower chin.
Your forehead, cheeks and jaw are all roughly the same width.
Suitable shapes: Avoid anything too square. A rounder shape is a good way to soften your face’s natural straight lines.
Persol, £234 persol.com/uk
Oliver Goldsmith, £325 olivergoldsmith.com
Brady
Tom Ford, £330 tomford.co.uk
Rorke
Oliver Peoples, £337 oliverpeoples.com/uk
New Wayfarer Classic Ray-Ban, £185 ray-ban.com/uk
Cubitts, £125 cubitts.com
1007 Round Cutler & Gross, £340 cutlerandgross.com
Horizon
Man Police, £219 policelifestyle.com
Gracemania Pilot Versace, £204 versace.com/gb
Runway Dark Sicily
Prada, £450 Dolce & Gabbana, £321
Gucci, £450 gucci.com/uk prada.com/gb dolcegabbana.com/en
I always advise to use a scalp scrub on your hair once a week to get rid of any build-up on the scalp and to help avoid a dry, flaky scalp. This can be used before your shampoo to give your hair a deep and thorough cleanse. Always use a good quality shampoo and conditioner (your shower gel won’t cut it) to ensure your hair stays soft and shiny.
When it comes to your beard, a beard wash is essential for giving your beard a good cleanse, getting rid of dirt and oil build up, and keeping the skin underneath your beard clean. This should be used 1-2 times per week, and you will quickly see your beard feeling softer and better conditioned, as opposed to dry and bristly.
The sun and dry air can zap moisture out of your hair, so it’s important to replace that moisture to keep your locks looking their best. Using a hair mask every one or two weeks is extremely beneficial for adding moisture and nourishment, helping keep it free from frizz and split ends.
Beard oil is a great option to keep your facial hair feeling soft and supple; it will also hydrate the skin underneath your beard, preventing dry skin and dandruff.
Combing both your hair and beard is hugely important to distribute natural oils, which helps avoid dry hair, breakage and split ends, while giving your hair a healthy shine.
When applying products such as serums or oils to your hair or beard, it’s particularly beneficial to use a comb afterwards to ensure all the hair is coated in the product.
One of the most important steps in keeping your hair and beard healthy is a regular trim. This will keep split ends at bay, prevent breakage and instantly make your hair feel thicker, fresher and healthier.
If you invest in any product for your hair during summer, make it a heat protection spray. This will ensure your hair is protected from the harsh UV rays.
Summer can be tough on your hair and beard. Keep yours looking fresh with this easy routine from awardwinning men’s hairdresser and director of Toni&Guy Billericay, Jim Shaw.
