Kyle Sinckler has been called up by the Lions for the tour of South Africa with Warren Gatland contacting him this morning following an injury to Andrew Porter.
Following his omission, Sinckler opened up in a raw and emotional interview with the Mail Online.
Having featured on the 2017 tour of New Zealand, the Bristol Bears omission was one of the biggest surprises in Gatland’s 36-man squad announcement.
Sinckler said at the time: “I’m not going to lie, I’m quite emotional right now. It’s been tough.
“It means so much to me. I’m just lucky I’ve got my mentor at Saviour World and we broke it down. I kind of understand the reasons why. I think, in a year or two, I’ll look back and it’ll all make sense. Right now, it doesn’t make sense
“But what I wanted to do was lead by example and show the kids. How easy would it have been for me to play the victim, say ‘sorry me’ and throw my toys out of the pram.
“It’s been so tough. I’ve never experienced anything like this in my whole life.
“I’m just lucky I’ve got a good support team around me. I wanted to show the kids and everyone at home how much it means to me. Do the tough stuff, get on with it, use that anger.
“I’ve got so much anger in me right now but actually use it in a positive way and do what’s best for the team. I think I did that today.”
10 things you didn’t know about Kyle Sinckler
1. Starting out
The tighthead prop states that it was his mother, Donna, who instigated his rugby career. According to Sinckler, he was a keen footballer though his physical nature resulted in him dropping the sport. After his mother, who works in the police, became aware of Kyle’s physicality on the football pitch, she took him to local rugby union side Battersea Ironsides in Earlsfield, a long-established club, with a growing youth and junior section.
2. Setting up his own club
At 13, Sinckler and some of his friends approached a PE teacher, Anastacia Long, to ask if she would help them set up a club. For the first few years, Graveney school had only one set of rugby kits, which were circulated between players across the school aged from 11 to 18. Lacking its own pitch, all matches were away games and training took place in local parks or at Old Rutlishians rugby club, which allowed them to play for free. Find out more here.
3. He’s never met his Dad
“I have never met my dad and he has never tried to contact me. I always asked myself a lot of questions: was I not good enough for him? I could walk past my dad in the street tomorrow and I wouldn’t know what he looks like. But you know what, I’m cool with that now. My mum would work 12-hour shifts for the police and take me to rugby after no sleep. I’m so lucky to have that kind of parent. I don’t have any grudges any more. Dealing with that helped me a huge amount.”