'Hurt' Heyes plots path to England return

Joe Heyes came through Leicester Tigers' academy

Leicester Tigers prop Joe Heyes is using the "hurt" of being overlooked for an England recall to work even harder on making his international return.

The 25-year-old has started six of Leicester's seven Premiership games this season under Michael Cheika, which is more than he managed in the last six months of the 2023-24 campaign across all competitions.

While Heyes' strong start to the campaign with the high-flying Tigers was not enough to earn him a place in the England squad for their autumn internationals, he did feature for England A side against Australia A in November.

Heyes admitted being overlooked by national team boss Steve Borthwick - a head coach he won the Premiership title with at Tigers in 2022 - was difficult to take, but refused to dwell on it as he channelled his efforts back into training.

"It came with a lot of hurt because that's where I want to be," he told BBC Radio Leicester

"I just tried to spin it on its head to make the best of it. For me, it's given me a good opportunity to keep on working."

Heyes earned the last of his seven full international caps in November 2022, but was called up and toured with England during the summer.

After being left out of the Test matches against Japan and New Zealand, the prop said the England coaching team left him with a lot to consider and much to work on if he is to establish himself at that level.

"At the end of the summer tour in New Zealand I had a very honest conversation with a lot of the England coaches, and there was elements of the game that I needed to improve on," Hayes said.

"And that was round my tackle, just becoming more dominant and personally doing a lot more gym work and becoming a bit more of a force.

"Instead of just getting by in games I wanted to go out there and put a marker on a lot of things that are my roles, and that's the scrum, the maul, the defence, the ruck."

Hayes, who started in Leicester's opening Champions Cup defeat by Bordeaux on Sunday, said the early months of the season have been dedicated to "laying the foundations" to become that 'force' England bosses want him to be.

"Maybe it was a bit of a wake-up call, and that is what I'm trying to do at the moment," he added.