Matt Kvesic: Exeter's England hopeful more in love with rugby than ever
- Published
Matt Kvesic has put in a string of man of the match performances for Exeter in recent weeks
Matt Kvesic might have had times when he privately wondered whether he would ever fulfil his potential as a player of international standing.
Since his England debut in June 2013, he has won just two more caps, has never played in a big Six Nations game or an autumn international - and has not figured at all since May 2016.
But, at the still pretty tender age of 26, the form of the Exeter back-row forward this season in helping the Chiefs lead the Premiership table has attracted attention and inevitable talk of an England recall.
And, although too unassuming to blow his own trumpet, Kvesic knows he's playing well and is quite happy other people have noticed - maybe even England coach Eddie Jones.
"I had got to a point where I wasn't stagnant. That's probably the wrong word," the former Worcester and Gloucester flanker told BBC Sport. "But maybe I was taking things a bit for granted.
"I've never not loved rugby. But I wasn't enjoying it as much as I should have been. Now I'm enjoying my rugby again, and that's down to the coaches at Exeter.
"In terms of England stuff, I don't think too much about that. I've had seasons when I've been very good, have been in and around the England mix and not been give the opportunity.
"But sometimes, you just need a bit of luck to go your way too. Stranger things have happened."
Honeymoon period
It is five-and-a-half years now since Kvesic looked on the brink of a long England career.
Two caps under then coach Stuart Lancaster on a summer tour to Argentina were sandwiched between his move from boyhood club Worcester to Gloucester.
But only one more cap followed, off the bench for the last 20 minutes of the end of season international against Wales.
There were a lot of factors - injuries, a temporary loss of form and a fall out of favour under the then Gloucester management.
It all prompted him to try his luck even further down the M5 at Exeter. And after a frustrating first season at Sandy Park, when he struggled to break into the newly crowned Premiership champions' settled first team, Kvesic has well and truly turned the corner.
Married to his longtime girlfriend Fliss only two summers ago, his rugby career too has entered a honeymoon period, especially after a mid-season switch to number eight following an injury to Sam Simmonds, since when he has been earning rave reviews, both locally and from further afar.
Matt Kvesic's only international appearance at Twickenham came off the bench in England's 29-13 win over Wales in May 2016
Billy's one of the best
Simmonds' knee ligament injury, as well as the absence of England's first-choice eight Billy Vunipola, might have opened up an unexpected route into Jones' England side - an even more tempting prospect in a Rugby World Cup year. But Kvesic is not counting any chickens.
"They've got some quality eights knocking about," he said. "And you almost semi-forget about Billy Vunipola, as he's been injured so long. But, as soon as he's fit, he'll be pushed straight back in there and rightly so as, on his day, he's one of the best eights in the world.
"For me, it's about playing as best as I can in whatever position I can for Exeter. At the moment, it seems to be at eight and I'm enjoying it.
"The coaches have tried to get me back to the Worcester days when I was more of an all-round player, rather than being regarded as an out-and-out fetcher or an out-and-out jackal, which is the tag I had at Gloucester.
"I can play pretty much across the back row. I'm perhaps more comfortable at seven but I really have enjoyed playing at eight. Sam Simmonds had that shirt for us last season and was excellent for club and country. He's now been unlucky with an injury and I've slid across
"Having that role and that responsibility, you get your hands on the ball a little more and need to be able to carry, to be that link man. I've enjoyed the pressure of that and it's meant I can get into the game a bit more."
One step further for Chiefs?
Whether anything does happen for him on the international front remains incidental for Kvesic as he concentrates on keeping up his form for an Exeter side who remain top thanks to a victory over main title rivals Saracens, sandwiched between their first two league defeats of the season.
"We're going well," he said. "Even in the two games we lost we still got two bonus points in each, which cushioned the blow a bit. Hopefully we can now push on and go one step further than we did last year.
"We've got a few results when we've not been at our best when we've had to really work hard for it and have been a little bit lucky. But that's down to it being one of the most exciting years in the Premiership. That gap between fourth place and the bottom is very close. Only two games in it."
Kvesic acknowledges their European Champions Cup campaign has been "pretty disappointing" so far.
"In the first game against Munster, the weather was not ideal and we took too long to respond. We came out with a draw but we couldn't back it up and lost to Castres, then Gloucester at home but the group is very open. Munster are top on 12 points and we're on eight," he said.
"We thought the door was closed when we lost to Gloucester at home. But we knew we could still go through with three bonus-point wins and we then got one of them in the return game at Gloucester.
"We've just to knock one out against Castres, then go and win at Munster but we have the sort of players who respond to challenges. It's a tough ask but we almost play better with that underdog attitude."