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Hero Sinfield inspires Leicester's next England generation

Dan Kelly made his England debut in the summer (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

England centre Dan Kelly is taking inspiration from Leicester defence coach Kevin Sinfield, describing the rugby league great as having the “heart of a Lion” and is constantly asking him for advice.

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Kelly, who is still only 20, made his debut for England in the summer victory over Canada, and admits he is a regular visitor to Sinfield’s office at the Leicester training ground to question the rugby league legend who spent the club’s Premiership bye week running 101 miles in 24 hours to raise money to support his former Leeds team mate Rob Burrow who is battling MND.

Kelly, who will face reigning champions Harlequins on Sunday, and the rest of the Leicester club are in awe of Sinfield’s mental and physical strength and the centre said: “I have taken so much from Kev in the four or five months he has been with us and the list of things would be so long.

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Antoine Dupont

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Antoine Dupont

“We all play for him in defence and it’s massive to have him in the meeting each day with the respect we have for what he does off the pitch for his mates and his career and everything he has achieved in his life.

“You want to go and tackle for the bloke and to come in and see the smile in his face when you have had a good defensive performance. He played rugby league how I want to play union in that he could pass, kick and go through the line and put people away and he had the heart of a Lion.

“He would tackle anything and he has all the tips and the little details that for a 20-year-old will only push me on. I am being a sponge and he is getting sick of me asking him questions and he does say that because I am coming into his office every two minutes. He has been an awesome addition to the team.”

Kelly shares a house with full back Freddie Steward who has been outstanding having broken into the Leicester and England team, making the No15 jersey his own at club and international level.

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“Freddie is smashing it:” added Kelly. “He has got safe hands but can’t play golf! He hasn’t dropped anything ever and as long as he keeps doing that it will keep a smile on my face. I don’t know what South Africa were thinking kicking the ball to the best in the world under the high ball. He is grounded and so humble and the sky is the limit for that kid.”

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S
SK 25 minutes ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.

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J
JW 5 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

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