Jonny May inspired by sprinter English Gardner’s return from nightmare injury on quest to become world’s fastest wing

Olympic gold medallist suffered the same ACL injury that struck down May two years ago, but after picking hers brains in America the England wing is ready to take the next step

It can be argued that England could take three positives out of their summer tour of South Africa. The first was that the three Tests formed a hugely competitive series, the second being that they finally snapped their losing streak that was threatening to spiral out of control, and the third was that Jonny May finally showed why he can be among the best wings in the world.

That final point was not the most important, but definitely the most prominent. The Leicester Tigers wing scored a try in all three Tests, including the match-winner in the Cape Town finale, as well as pulling off one of the most breath-taking phases of defensive rugby we’ve seen in recent memory when he just kept on running around his own uprights to evade the Springboks defence.

His exploits at the end of the year can easily be credited to the work he put in at the start of it. Back before the autumn international, May explained how he was working on different techniques in the aim to make himself the fastest wing in world rugby. That has continued this summer as the 28-year-old spent two weeks of his summer break in Texas, or more importantly at the Michael Johnson Performance Centre.

“I like the training there. It’s perfect for what I want to do,” May said after transferring what he learned to the training pitch at England’s three-day camp in London over the weekend. “I had a good couple of weeks there and I’ve come back feeling pretty good.

“The primary focus is on speed training so lots of agility, plyometrics, acceleration, top end speed.

“America don’t mess around with sports. You go out there, the professional facilities I’ve seen out there would blow...like Pennyhill [Park, England’s training base] you go there and think ‘wow, that’s amazing’ but over there it goes even further than that.

“So, it’s awesome training and I enjoy it and always learn something new. I want to get quicker and smarter as a rugby player as well. That’s pretty much my plan really.”

Jonny May is determined to become the world's fastest wing in rugby (Getty)

When it comes to maximising sprinting ability, they don’t come much better than four-time Olympic gold medallist Johnson. But for May, who also visited the camp two years ago, it was another American sprinter that took his interest due to the similarities in their sporting careers. English Gardner is now recognised as one of the most promising sprinters in the United States, having already helped her country to 4x100m relay gold at the Olympics two years ago and securing World Championships silver medals twice in the same event, all by the age of 26.

But 10 years ago her dreams were nearly wrecked by the same anterior cruciate knee ligament injury that struck down May in 2016, and her rehabilitation to fulfil her potential as one of the world’s best sprinters has inspired May to do the same.

English Gardner (second left) was part of the world record-breaking relay team that won gold two years ago (Getty)

“She’s the world champion sprinter so I had some good chats with her,” explained May, admitting that there was a degree of being star-struck by the occasion. “There were some free agent NFL players there. There are a lot of good athletes there so it was interesting to chat to them.

“I don't really get...I don't know what the word is but...wow that's that person. It was awesome for me to meet her because when I did my knee two years ago, the surgeon said it was touch and go whether I'd come back at the same speed.

“People say you lose five per cent after an ACL. I was trawling though the internet to find people who have had the same injury. English Gardner blew her knew out just before she went to college. She had all her scholarships taken away and then within 13 months ran the record and now she's one of the fastest women in the world and is world champion.

“She definitely inspired me. Her dad is her coach as well, so I had a few chats with him. It was nice to meet them and she's a role model for us.”

Gardner suffered the same ACL injury that struck down May two years ago (Getty)

With eight tries in 10 international appearances last season and an undoubted improvement on the for his country following the controversial transfer fee-sprung-move from Gloucester to Leicester, May has well and truly got his head down on his individual quest to become the world’s fastest wing. “Last season I was definitely running quicker than ever. Working at my speed is something that I'm committed to.”

That work, he hopes, will lead to a place in England’s squad for next year’s Rugby World Cup. May is quick to bring up the tournament that kicks off in Japan next September, but will not allow himself for a second to look too far into the future. “It’s exciting isn’t it? It’s World Cup year. We’ve already spoke about that this week, let’s get excited but there’s such a long way to go isn’t there?

May was England's best performer throughout the South Africa series (Getty)

“Personally, I’m just thinking about training well here and going back to Tigers, getting into some good shape for the start of the season and playing as well as I can each week. I think that’s the only way you can think about it.”

Having learned to walk before he runs, topping last season’s exploits over the next year would no doubt see him head to Japan rivalling the likes of Reiko Ioane and Liam Williams among the best wings in the world and almost certainly the spearhead of England’s World Cup tilt.