Interview with England Sevens Star, Rob Vickerman

This weekend sees the penultimate round of the IRB Sevens Series, and England star Rob Vickerman was good enough to talk to The Rugby Blog during his trip to London.

The start of Vickerman’s promising career has been blighted by injury, but having recovered from two serious knee operations that kept him off the pitch for two seasons, he is back and raring to go. And he’s still only 23.

“Two years ago was my breakthrough season when I was regularly starting in the Leeds first team and I loved playing Premiership rugby. Then I had this knee injury, recovered and got injured again so didn’t play for ages.”

As part of Vickerman’s rehabilitation, he used supplements from the Seven Seas JointCare range which includes Glucosamine and Cod Liver Oil, both found to benefit joint health in a number of ways.

“I discussed using these products with my physio and did a lot of research before taking them, but they really helped with my recovery, keeping my knees flexible but also helping to build cartilage as well.”

Now fully fit, Vickerman has just completed a season in National One, playing at centre for Leeds and helping them secure promotion to the Guinness Premiership, whilst also being a key member of England’s Sevens Squad.

“I’ve loved playing on the Sevens tour, it’s so great to be a part of it. We’ve done quite well and are currently second in the standings behind South Africa. If we win both of the remaining tournaments, we might just win the Series, but as you’ll see on Saturday, South Africa are a pretty handy side.”

Once the Sevens season has finished, Vickerman will have two weeks off before registering for duty at Newcastle, where he has just signed a new contract.

“Steve Bates is looking to build a young, English squad and has got me, Tom Biggs and Charlie Amesbury from Quins all joining for next season. Newcastle had a great run after Christmas this year, and next year we will be targeting a European Cup place.”

“For me, I just want to get a decent run of games over the next couple of years. I’m still only 23, but having been injured, you realise how quickly time goes by. If I can play well for Newcastle, hopefully I’ll get noticed and I’m targeting a place in the England Saxons squad at the end of next year.”

“I like the way Newcastle play, and I’m looking forward to playing up there. I’ve had a few battles with Dan Hipkiss and Mathew Tait over the years, so I’m looking forward to playing against those guys again.”

The Rugby Blog thinks that Vickerman is certainly one to watch. An impressive season a couple of years ago will have put him on many people’s radar, and now with experience of the hard graft in National One as well as the colourful Sevens circuit, he’s likely to be a more rounded player, and is likely to be knocking on England’s door before too long.

For more information on the Seven Seas products used by Rob Vickerman, click here to visit their website.