"For some people the road to the top is painfully long and winding. Joe Heyes used to be a player whose dreams of making England's matchday squad were constantly dashed. Driving home from Bagshot, having been omitted yet again, he would listen to Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't when and wonder if the hardship and sacrifice would ever be worth it."
"And now? Less than two years later he is suddenly the most important player in England. The national management have already lost two injured tightheads in Will Stuart and Asher Opoku-Fordjour plus the loosehead prop Fin Baxter. If they had enough cotton wool England would be wrapping the now indispensable Heyes up in it. It just shows how sporting fortunes can change if you keep going."
"Rejection, disappointment, self-doubt the 26-year-old has experienced it all. At one point in his awkward teenage years I went through a pretty tough patch mentally when I was 16 or 17 he ballooned in weight to 145kg. And yet here he is, the foundation stone of an England pack looking to make a serious impact in this year's Six Nations."
Joe Heyes rose from repeated omissions to become a vital England prop in under two years after other front-row injuries elevated his status. He endured rejection, disappointment and severe self-doubt, at one stage ballooning to 145kg during his mid-teens before recovering mentally and physically. As a child he weighed 100kg at 11 and initially aimed to be a goalkeeper for Nottingham Forest, following family lineage. He found rugby at Moderns RFC, reduced weight through intensive Wattbike sessions at Leicester's academy and now plays around 126kg. Early first-team chances at Leicester were limited by Dan Cole and Logovi'i Mulipola.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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