I refused to let injuries ruin the career I loved

THE thing I took most pleasure from in my playing days, apart from obviously all the friendships I made, was being part of the Sale Sharks squad that won the Premiership in 2006. To be honest, I didn’t have a clue where Sale was when my agent told me they were interested in signing me after Ospreys had let me go. I knew it was in England, that was about it. So when I checked on the map and found it was in Manchester, being a massive Man Utd fan, I was made up.

- NATHAN BONNER-EVANS

Philippe (Saint-Andre) and Kingsley (Jones) offered me a contract and it was a no-brainer to take them up on it with the star-studded squad they’d put together. With Sebastien Chabal there as the No.8, I knew my role would be as a squad player and I was happy with that. One of my overriding memories of Seabass, as Seb was known, was his high-pitched laugh. If you weren’t aware of who was behind you and you heard the laugh, you would swear down it was a three-year-old girl not this hulk of a bloke. It was hilarious. He was great with me.

Moving to England, I felt, would give me a chance to develop my game as well as experience a different rugby culture. In Wales, after a game, it was all boys, boys, boys, you never got to meet anyone’s partner or wife. But it was very different at Sale, families were involved in most events and that helped me and my girlfriend Charlotte, who is now my wife, to settle in. She is still good friends with Jason White’s wife and Chris Jones’ wife.

Within six months, they offered me a new contract so things went well in that first season and I felt like I made a good contribution to us winning the league even if I didn’t get to play in the final. I pulled my calf late on in the season and had to settle for being a travelling reserve. Even so, it was brilliant to be there and celebrate with the lads.