Rugby Union: 'i Want to Enjoy My Rugby'

It is just as well Josh Lewsey enjoys keeping busy. Today is the official start of the endless rugby season which, for men like him, seems to stretch into the distance like the vast Himalayan mountain range where he spent his summer holiday. With a theoretical 21 Test matches, a World Cup and two intensely demanding Premiership and Heineken Cup campaigns to survive before his next complete break, digging in for the long haul will be the former soldier's only option.

Having just experienced the pleasures of altitude sickness at 17,000 feet on his recent trek up K2, one of the world's most dangerous mountains, there is no point asking Lewsey whether rugby players operate in too demanding an environment. What people desperately want to know, though, is whether he and England can rise again after a year which, confirmed by his body language, was among the most frustrating of his life.

It may be unintentional but no one symbolises England's current situation more visibly than the 29-year-old Wasp. He ended the Six Nations out of the starting line-up for the first time in three years, missed the tour to Australia and chose to head up the Karakoram Highway between Pakistan and China in search of a complete sabbatical from the sport he has loved since boyhood. His unhappiness about certain aspects of England's recent approach was common knowledge and he needed to get away. "I'll be honest with you; I found last year enormously frustrating and it's been the same, on and off, for the last 18 months to two years. I want to enjoy my rugby. You want to be challenged in terms of your ability and have an element of ownership in a stimulating environment."

On a bright morning in Acton, though, he sounds more like his old self: still brusque but brimful of purpose, enthused by the introduction of Brian Ashton, Mike Ford and John Wells to the England coaching panel. In his view, this is a critical season for English rugby; too important to be ruined by unburied hatchets.

"I don't want to dwell on the past. Things weren't right for quite a while but I think the players feel enormously positive about the [England coaching] changes that have occurred. There was an air of negativity in the previous set-up and we have to move on.

"New Zealand, to my mind, are ahead of everyone else and have the right blueprint. They blend the physicality and pragmatism, which English rugby has traditionally been very good at, with creativity, guile and finishing ability. If you can do that you're a very dangerous outfit. The key for us is simple: every player in the country now has to raise the bar and deliver that same blend."

At his best an in-form Lewsey will surely help England pursue that mission statement, assuming Andy Robinson lets him. Following the Paris match in March, even 40 caps and 21 tries for England were not enough to persuade the head coach to hold back the axe. Injuries also disrupted his season - "Although the mind was there, I think the body was saying: 'You need a bit of a break . . . '" - and the manner of Lewsey's response this autumn will be closely monitored.

In the past he has thrived on precisely that sort of challenge. "It's easy to get very cheesy but I haven't got anything to prove to myself. I know what I'm capable of and I always want to play for England, regardless of whatever issues there might be. You're representing 60 million people, that's more important than one or two people or your own frustrations.

"No one could ever claim I've not worn the English rose with passion and pride. But when you can see how things can be rectified very easily then frustration kicks in. I feel much more positive now."

But what position does he covet, particularly with Jason Robinson back in the frame? "I genuinely don't care. All I ask for is a little continuity between club and country over the next 18 months."

Following his first protracted break in seven years, Lewsey will start on the left wing today in the London double-header against Saracens at Twickenham, which may - or may not - be significant. Regardless of the number on his back, he predicts a furious launch to the domestic season. "With the World Cup on the horizon I think you'll see all the leading individuals in the country trying to step up a level. That's only good for English rugby. People talk about a week being a long time in sport; well, a year is a hell of a long time. If we have the right sort of stimulating environment with England I think that'll filter down to the clubs and the standard of Premiership rugby will improve.

"Let's face it, the standard wasn't very high last year until the dry weather arrived but I could reel off 20 to 30 names of players who, to my mind, are potentially world class. People feel a bit down about English rugby at the moment but I think it's a very exciting period. People have written us off for the World Cup but there's an enormous amount of talent."

Nor is there any shortage of ambition at Wasps - "We realise coming third or second isn't good enough, we want to be right there challenging for trophies" - but even Lewsey is wary. "The competition is fierce . . . there's not one side who couldn't beat another one. It's quite healthy in some ways but it's also scary. Playing in the Middlesex Sevens the other day the size of some of the younger lads was frightening."

In other words, it will be the survival of the fittest once again. As the apparent owner of several bulging bags of walnuts beneath his skin, Lewsey has no worries in that regard. He has also completed a law qualification - he now has three degrees - and is looking to establish a company offering leadership development courses.

Rugby, though, remains his overriding priority. "I'm just concentrating on the next two years. Once all that's done I might have a sit down and think where my life's going." If anyone is mentally strong enough to survive the forthcoming oval-ball avalanche, it is surely Josh Lewsey.