Kyle Sinckler says “life is crazy” after being called up by the British and Irish Lions for the tour of South Africa a month after missing out on the original squad.
The England prop, 28, was a high-profile omission from Warren Gatland’s initial 37-man group.
He received a lifeline on Sunday after the injury to Ireland’s Andrew Porter.
And Sinckler says it is “hard to find words” to describe what it means to be a Lion.
“It’s like me describing to you what a food tastes like, but you have never tasted the food,” he said.
“Or what a colour looks like and you have never seen the colour. It’s hard to find words in the English language to describe how special it is to put on that jersey and to be in that environment.
“It is the pinnacle.”
‘I didn’t want to be a victim’
After playing in all three Tests against the All Blacks four years ago, Sinckler’s omission from the original squad in May was seen as a shock.
However the Bristol forward says he was determined not to “be a victim” after being left out.
“It has been a month since the announcement, and the emotion from not getting selected, and then getting selected again, life is crazy isn’t it? You just have to roll with the punches,” he added.
“The main thing is not to get too lost in it. As a sportsperson it is easy to get lost and without even realising it become a victim. That is something I definitely did not want to do, feeling sorry for myself, because I hate that.
“Now it’s about not losing yourself in terms of everyone telling you how great you are. I didn’t get selected in the first place because obviously I wasn’t good enough and so I need to improve.
“If I was good as I should be, then I would be there. But obviously I’m not, so I need to improve.
“That was my focus in the last few weeks, going back to basics and improving my game.”
‘If you don’t aim to inspire, what is the point?’
Born and raised in south London, Sinckler is candid about his desire to inspire the next generation of players, and act as a role model for kids growing up.
“It means everything. I can only speak from my personal opinion, but if your aim is not to inspire the next generation, then I really don’t see what is the point,” he said.
“I remember watching rugby and being inspired by the 2003 team that won the World Cup, I was inspired by the 2009 Lions team and that pushed me on. I was inspired by watching Harlequins play as a kid when I was in the academy.
“For me it means everything because you can have a lasting and positive impact on their life. Especially in south London that’s what the kids need, they need someone that can inspire them to do good, because there are so many distractions and you can go down the wrong path very, very easily.
“That is the main thing. I just want to be myself, which is something I am always trying to work on, really just put a good representation out there of where I’m from and what I want to achieve, and hopefully inspire kids to want to emulate that, in whatever is their chosen field.”
