Sale Sharks wing Denny Solomona determined to win back England place
Solomona was sent home early from the pre-season camp three weeks ago for what the RFU said were “team culture issues”.
Denny Solomona is determined to win back his spot in the England team following his unceremonious departure from their recent training camp.
Along with Manu Tuilagi, Solomona was sent home early from the three-day pre-season camp in Teddington three weeks ago for what the RFU said were “team culture issues”, which were understood to be alcohol-related.
Speaking for the first time about the incident at Sale Sharks’ pre-season media day at the AJ Bell Stadium, the 23-year-old rugby league convert says he has learnt his lesson and will heed the advice of England coach Eddie Jones.
“He’s just said to train harder and play harder and that’s what I’ll do,” Solomona told Press Association Sport. “I need to do what he says. That’s the only way I’ll achieve what I want to achieve.
“By training hard, I’ll improve my game capabilities and I’ll learn a lot more. And in the game I’ll go as hard as I can and give everything I’ve got every single game. I’m hungry for it. I’m eager for it and I’m only going to train harder and play as good as I can to let my rugby do my talking
“What happened was out of character, it was definitely a mistake on my behalf. I’ll cop that on the chin and I’ll work harder to get back. I put that person behind me a long time ago.”
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond says the matter has been dealt with by England and is backing the former Castleford winger to add to the two caps won on England’s summer tour to Argentina when they host the autumn internationals.
“It’s been dealt with,” Diamond said. “When you’re representing England you’ve got to keep your guard up, you can’t afford to make those errors. Certainly when someone like Eddie is looking after the shop discipline is part of the culture.
“Eddie’s one of the best coaches in the world and he knows what young lads get up to some of the time. A rap on the knuckles goes a long way.”
He added: “No one is disputing his ability on the field. I think it was a momentary lapse of concentration for him. As long as I’ve known him – and it’s getting on for 12 months now – he’s been an exception at training. He’s not a drinker and he abides by the rules. He’s done what a young lad does occasionally.”
Diamond says he has been impressed by Solomona since he returned from an extended break.
“He’s fully rejuvenated,” Diamond added. “He had a great time in Argentina, he came off the tour with huge raps from the England management team. We gave him six or seven weeks off and he’s turned back in fine form. He scored in the friendly against Castres and made a try-saving tackle against Edinburgh at the weekend that shoved the guy into the hoardings.
“Hopefully he can get back on the horse on the field next week and the week after and get back into the England squad where everybody watching knows he belongs.”
Solomona caused a stir when he quit Castleford at the end of last season after scoring a Super League record 40 tries for the club in 2016. He signed a three-year deal with Sale, who agreed in an out-of-court settlement to pay a £200,000 transfer fee, and responded with 11 tries in 15 appearances to earn an England call-up.
