Jonny May is on a resolute mission to exit his England career in a spectacular blaze of glory, following his recent revelation that the upcoming World Cup will serve as his final appearance on the global stage.
Despite ranking as England’s second-highest try-scorer, second only to Rory Underwood, May initially found himself excluded from Steve Borthwick’s original squad for the 2023 France tournament.
However, fate took an unexpected turn when Anthony Watson suffered a calf injury in August, offering May a last-minute reprieve to rejoin the squad.
“This will definitely be my last World Cup and most likely my last time playing for England.” May said.
“Never say never, but probably. I’m incredibly grateful to be here and I told Steve in January that I’m all in, I’m all in. That’s the sort of guy I am.
“I certainly don’t want to play to a point where I can’t be delivering or performing to a standard that I’m happy with. I want to rip in and give everything I can for this last period of time.
“I still feel I’m pushing on my best and I can contribute and the full package that I can bring is as good as anyone – on my day. That’s what motivates me to still be here.
“But I’m definitely on bonus time. I’ve played for England in every year for 11 calendar years now. I never thought that would be possible for me.
“So this is bonus time but serious time as well because we’ve got an opportunity to win a World Cup and I want to do my team-mates, my family, and my country proud.”
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Ranked! The 50 Best British Rugby Players Of All-Time
#50. Mike Tindall (England)
#49. Scott Quinnell (Wales)
#48. Matt Dawson (England)
#47. Will Carling (England)
#46. Scott Hastings (Scotland)
#45. Jonny May (England)
#44. Finlay Calder (Scotland)
#43. Maro Itoje (England)
#42. Rob Howley (Wales)
#41. Adam Jones (Wales)
#40. Peter Winterbottom (England)