England prop Matt Mullan on head coach Eddie Jones, the emerging Ellis Genge and injuries in rugby

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  • A blast of winter sun will be met with mixed feelings by waylaid Wasps prop Matt Mullan this Saturday. Instead of running out at Twickenham amid plunging temperatures as England welcome Argentina for the first of three – Australia and Samoa are to follow – autumn internationals, he will be in Dubai’s The Warehouse combining recuperation from an untimely tricep injury and providing expert analysis of the action more than 7,000 kilometres away.

    Sport360° caught up with the 17-cap forward to discuss rugby’s plague of injuries, maverick head coach Eddie Jones’ penchant for “chaos” and the emerging Ellis Genge.

    You picked up this latest injury a day before meeting up with England. What are your feelings about the situation?

    The timing is the most disappointing, if anything. Injuries are part and parcel of what we do, but the day before you fly off to England camp [in Portugal] is particularly gutting. I had an operation on Monday, which was the first step to getting the recovery done. You work so hard and we had a good time in Argentina [Mullan came off the bench in both Test wins], having a successful tour.

    Particularly, I was part of a young group. I missed out on the British & Irish Lions, but it was nice to be part of that [England tour]. I was getting back into some form and being recognised for that, so it’s not ideal [the injury]. I think it’ll be about a threemonth lay-off, so the end of January. The Six Nations starts a week after I’m due to be back, so I’m not looking at that.

    Wasps have endured a crippling injury list this term. How much do players think about the long term impact of rugby union’s heavy knocks?

    You don’t think about that day in, day out. The game is getting quicker and the players are getting bigger and stronger. That is just a fact of life and it will continue that way. As players, you just have to try and adapt. If the club decides they need you to be bigger and quicker to win matches, you just buy into it.

    In terms of the period later in life, you see people who have retired and they are aching. But I don’t think you sit there and think about it, day to day. You might joke after a tough game, saying ‘how will we get up when we are 40?’ But, you are just there to enjoy the moment.

    What has Eddie Jones been like since you were pulled out of the squad at the last minute?

    His main focus was getting the team ready for Portugal, but he text me the day it happened to wish me luck. He is normally good at keeping in contact, whether it is good or bad he lets you know what he is thinking. He is considerate in that way, letting you know what he is thinking and is always really honest about it. You cannot have any complaints about not knowing what he is thinking.

    Mullan was forthcoming in his views on head coach Eddie Jones.

    England head coach Eddie Jones.

    Is there any trepidation when his name pops up on your phone? Sometimes it is nerve-wracking, because you think ‘what is he ringing about?’

    The only thing you want is honest, open communication. It is up to you then to work on it. If you are not showing any signs of listening, you can’t sit there and moan about not getting picked.

    Jones has novelly talked about creating “chaos in the house” before the 2019 Rugby World Cup. What does that mean?

    It is different to any other type of practice I’ve done, but it makes a lot of sense when you are doing it. He wants to make training challenging, replicating game scenarios. He makes it hard physically and mentally, so when you are in the heat of the battle on a Saturday afternoon you can almost take a deep breath and think ‘this is easier than what I did in the week’. You feel so well prepared and that is the bottom line.

    All eyes will be on emerging Leicester prop Ellis Genge. How important are the autumn internationals for him?

    It is a good opportunity for him, especially with Joe Marler missing the first game because of his ban. If he can reproduce some of his early-season form for Leicester in an England shirt, he’ll definitely be pushing his case forward to being involved in this group for the next few years. Anybody that is in the 33-man squad will be doing whatever they can to be in Japan.

    Mullan sees a bright future for the emerging Ellis Genge.

    Mullan sees a bright future for the emerging Ellis Genge.

    Argentina and Australia are the standout games. What do you expect to happen?

    Any England v Australia game will be tough, they’ll always be up for that game. Eddie sees it that you’ve got to beat everybody. If we can get a 3-0 outcome in this series, then it’ll be objective achieved. As for Argentina, they are on the back of the Rugby Championship so they’ll be battle hardened.

    They’ve been together for several weeks and most of the players play for the same club team [Jaguares] in Super Rugby. For England, they’ll have been together for a week. New combinations because of injuries. It’ll be a challenge. Argentina will be determined to rectify the summer results, where we beat them twice. (38-34 in San Juan and 35-25 in Santa Fe).

    Mullan will be appearing at The Warehouse, Le Meridian Dubai Hotel and Conference Centre for Saturday’s coverage of the autumn internationals.

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