Rugby League: First Cap for 'mashed Up' Sykes

Paul Sykes will crown a remarkable comeback when he becomes the first Harlequin to play for Great Britain, against France at Headingley tonight. It is little more than a year since Sykes thought his career was over after an accidental clash with Hull's Sid Domic last March ruptured a kidney.

"They told us his kidney was mashed, and I guess that's as dramatic as it gets," said Harlequins' director of rugby, Tony Rea. "He was in a very bad way, they kept him in hospital for a real long time, and he's lost a fair bit of usage from part of the kidney forever. To even play again from there is a big effort, so to get to the point where he's got a shot for GB shows what a brave kid he is."

"It didn't seem too bad at first," Sykes said yesterday. "Sid had made a pretty big impact on me and when I got up I thought it was probably a broken rib. But I think getting up made it worse, because then I lost my breath and they took me straight to Hull Royal Infirmary. I had a scan and they were going to take the kidney out, and that would have been it for my rugby. But fortunately for me they took me to see a specialist and he said we could sit tight and hope the blood would clot. It was probably about a month before I knew for sure that they weren't going to take it out so I could think about playing again."

He returned to Super League action against Bradford on August 12, only five months after the incident. Rea was not surprised by the toughness shown by a young Yorkshireman who blazed the trail for a growing number of talented northerners moving to London. "It's been one of the biggest problems we've had down here, persuading northern kids that they can make a go of it with us in London," Rea said. "Paul's the first one who has shown it can be a very good career move."

Chris Melling is another. He has made such an impression at full-back that he was also set for his Test debut tonight, only to be ruled out by a groin strain. That will allow Sykes to revert to the position he used to play at Bradford before joining Quins in 2002, with Huddersfield's Kevin Brown expected to come in at center.