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6ft 7 inch, 120kg Nick Isiekwe aims to bulk-up on 'special' diet

Nick Isiekwe

Nick Isiekwe is already one of England’s biggest forwards but the young Saracens lock, who will face the might of the South African pack at Ellis Park on Saturday, intends to become an even more formidable physical threat thanks to a special diet of chicken and milk.

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Isiekwe has been given the daunting task of replacing the injured Joe Launchbury who is England’s most effective maul destroyer and the Saracens forward will be an obvious target for the Springboks as he only has two caps going into the first of three tests in South Africa.

His form for Saracens as they surged to another Premiership title was consistently eye-catching and at 6ft 7ins and 18st 12lbs, he has all the physical attributes England head coach Eddie Jones wants for this series and next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. What excites the Saracens coaching staff and Jones is that Isiekwe is not the finished article, something he is quick to acknowledge.

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His physique is being changed thanks to regular chicken meals washed down with milk, a diet aimed at increasing his weight while also maintaining the mobility that has allowed him to operate at blindside flanker as well as lock.

Mentally, he already shows the kind of single-minded focus needed to succeed at the very top of a sport that is becoming increasingly demanding, which is why the 20-year-old is taking nothing for granted.

Isiekwe is now the second heaviest lock at Saracens behind the gargantuan Wallaby Will Skelton (22st) with fellow England forwards Maro Itoje at 18st 4lbs and George Kruis hitting the scales at 18st 2lbs. Isiekwe said: “I am not going to come off the chicken and milk diet until I finish playing because I love them. Chicken is one of my favourites foods and a nice glass of milk is always good. I don’t know if I have stopped growing because I have been 6ft 7ins for the last year or so and my ideal weight would be 122 kgs (19st 2lbs) and I am 120kgs at the moment, having put on a bit of weight this season.

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“Will is a massive guy and it is about me finding my own ideal playing weight – the one I feel I can best operate at. There is a balancing act and as long as I can get around as quickly as I need to on the pitch then it’s not a problem and that is why I believe I can still put on weight. It will be a case of trying it out and seeing how I go. After a match you can indulge in the odd bad meal and my choice would be a visit to the Pudding Stop in St Albans!”

Isiekwe’s favourite player was Springbok flyer Bryan Habana when he was starting out in rugby and also tips his hat to Martin Johnson because “ he looked so hard and tough on the pitch” and admired the uncompromising nature of the World Cup winning captain’s play. Isiekwe has already shown he can handle himself at international, European and Premiership level although it has all been a bit of blur for a player who only said goodbye to his teenage years in April.

He explained: “I haven’t really had a chance to think about what I have been fortunate to achieve so far in my career and I like to live the moment and focus on the next challenge.

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“I do like to run into a challenge and maybe I can get overeager at times, but I would prefer to be like that rather than someone who wants to test out the water first.”

“I try not to think too far ahead and I understand that you have to improve every time you play and I need to put in consistent performances that my family can be proud of. My first England jersey is on the wall of the hallway at the family home near the front door. I think Mum likes to look at it a lot and it is cool to go back and see it.”

Not everything has gone smoothly for Isiekwe with England head coach Jones revealing during the January Portugal squad session that the Sarries lock has failed his driving test five times.

“Unfortunately I haven’t passed my driving theory test and the next date is undisclosed!”

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R
RedWarriors 22 minutes ago
The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

SA won two world cups but since 1987 there have been major issues with the draw and scheduling.


Lets look at Scotland and England. Scotland were ranked #9 immediately after RWC 2019.

They were ranked #7 a few months after and by 2023 they were ranked #5 in the world.

England were ranked #3 after RWC 2019 but by 2023 were #7 a full 3 ranking points behind Scotland.

There are 4 Pools. Because World Rugby used rankings from 2019, England were ranked #1 in their pool in with Argentina and Japan and Scotland were ranked #3 in their pool in with South Africa and Ireland. The pools went as youd expect: Scotland were eliminated and England got through to a QF where they got to play Fiji and scraped through to a semi.

At the end of that tournament England were now a full 3 ranking points ahead of Scotland. This wasn’t due to better rugby. It was entirely due to the draw.

Now England are in #6, Scotland are in #7 and England are favourites to be #1 Pool seeds (6 pool) in 2027 and Scotland will end up as #2 seeds.

In effect Scotland are still reeling from the draw in 2023 which was based on the rankings in 2027.

Considering the amount of admirable effort, money etc that Scotland have put into improving this is an utterly unforgivable outcome from World Rugby.

This isnt new Draw disasters and scheduling bias has been going on since the start.

The ONLY reason it is being dealt with now is because NZ and SA were affected and the world could see how ridiculous it was having the QFs with opponents that should be in SFs, and having great teams like Scotland not even qualify from their Pool.


(I don’t have beef with SA beyond their (and the Kiwis) high proportion of arrogant, brash supporters (see abuse directed at me above) and in the case of the NZ team, lack of respect for other teams.)

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R
RedWarriors 44 minutes ago
The Springbok selection experiment is far from over

Everyone agreed that the draw was absurd. NZ and SA were the most vocal in criticism before the Pool stages, but then the narrative changed after their squeeked through the QFs.

The reason you had to play France and England was because you lost to Ireland.

The draw helped you in that you got to play France in a QF where none of their players had knock-out winning experience. You play England first and then France, and your task becomes significantly harder. If you are also scheduled to play #5 ranked Scotland the week before France then you lose.


I thought Ireland did rise for the NZ match. Inside a week after Scotland and with resultant fatigue and injury. NZ prepared for a year for that match including identifying a potential infringemnt in Porters scrummaging which yielded 4 penalties. The NZ scrum coach remarked that the ref spent every scrum looking at Porter and not at NZ front row. Kudos, thats clever.


The fact we got within one score and went out attacking in their 22 shows we were right up for it. Particularly given NZ were so much better than SA in the final (except for the red).


Hats off to SA. But the idea that SA are a match for the great NZ team of the 2010s is ludicrous. SA were not the best team in there pool in both 2029 and 2023. They are average in between world cups. They have lost in 4 out of 5 matches against one opponent. Sorry but there it is.


(Anyone can spot a troll, using personal abuse against a person’s opinion being a pretty reliable indicator.)

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