Jonny May: I’m ripping into my last Rugby World Cup, but I’ll be relieved to retire

Jonny May has promised to “rip” into the remainder of the World Cup in what the wing accepts will almost certainly be his last hurrah as an England player.

The 33-year-old was left out of Steve Borthwick’s original World Cup squad but made the most of his second chance when Anthony Watson suffered a calf injury to establish himself as a first-choice winger.

On Saturday, he starts the final Pool D match against Samoa, but he fully accepts he can only hold off the younger generation, led by Henry Arundell who scored five tries against Chile, for so much longer.

“This will definitely be my last World Cup, most likely my last time playing for England, at this World Cup,” May said. “Never say never but probably, most likely, this will be the last campaign I’ll have with England. And I’m incredibly grateful to be here.

“I told Steve, in January, ‘I’m all in, I’m all in’, and 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.

“Although I can work as hard as I can with the time that I’ve got, which I have done – I’ve diligently worked on keeping fresh, being a student of recovery and of longevity – I’m also realistic in [having] probably a couple more years to play and compete and be hitting the sort of scores I still am, I think is realistic, but beyond that it’s probably not going to happen. So just rip in and give everything I can for this last period of time.”

May has no intention of hanging up his boots for Gloucester but is currently studying for a PGCert in Strategic Business as he faces up to the “scary reality” of life after rugby. After missing out on selection for the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa, playing in this World Cup was May’s final major target and reaching it has provided a certain sense of liberation for an individual who readily admits that he is “fear driven”.

“I won’t get as bent out of shape about certain things,” May said. “I’ve just got to do the best I can, keep my head down and the limelight isn’t on me as much. I prefer that, I can just go about my business. But there is also that pressure that it’s my last time and God, I want to do as well as I possibly can.

“A big goal of mine was the 2021 Lions tour. It’s just a life lesson that sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to, and sometimes life can be a bit s----y and unfair. And that’s made me the guy I am now. It’s matured my soul, if that makes sense?

“Beyond that Lions tour, internationally I saw as bonus time to be quite honest with you. 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. So that’s what motivates me to still be here.”

Asked to describe his point of difference as a winger, May identifies his ability to chase and retrieve high balls as well as his edge defence. This would seem to be a far less glamorous skillset than the one demonstrated by Arundell’s five tries against Chile, but May argues that scoring tries in space is the easy part of Test rugby for a winger.

“Of course I’d love to get the ball in space, I’d love to be scoring tries, I’d love to be doing all those things, that’s the stuff that comes naturally to any winger,” May said. “There’s probably 15 wingers in the Premiership that if you give them space they’ll finish it, you give them loose ball in the backfield and they scoop it up and off they go. That’s the stuff that we do, and that’s why we play the position we do.

“But there’s probably only a small percentage of people who can do all the other stuff as well, and play a game, a proper Test match where you’re not going to touch the ball.

“You might not touch the ball for 30 minutes, and then you’re required to deal with a ball in the backfield, then you’re required to draw width from your forwards, then you’re required to take a high ball. That’s when it’s a lonely place out there and it is very challenging.”

May readily admits he is obsessive about his rugby. Asked about a match against Samoa in 2014 which was the first time that George Ford and Owen Farrell played together, May can instantly recall the two tries he scored that day. No player is more fastidious in their preparation and recovery. Yet when retirement does come, May thinks his future will lie outside the sport.

“There will be quite a relief I think,” May said. “There will be relief when this comes to an end, as as much as it is a blessing to play for your country it also is a weight you carry. You carry it with your club, at Christmas you think, ‘I’ve got to be on it, I’ve got to be on it’ and that’s what drives me. But there will be relief with knowing I’ve done the best I can when club and international rugby comes to an end.”