As understatements go, Brad Shields describing his whirlwind summer with England as “unusual” takes some beating, for there was nothing ordinary about the circumstances in which the 27-year-old made his much-publicised Test debut in June. But if it was all a bit of a blur for the New Zealand-born flanker, perhaps the debilitating food poisoning he describes as “the worst I have been sick in my life” explains why.
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Ruled out of the third Test against South Africa after a first cap in the first and a maiden start in the second, Shields was taken to hospital upon returning to New Zealand and put on a drip after losing more than a stone.
He had found himself in the middle of tug of war between England and New Zealand in April and once Eddie Jones named him in the touring party he travelled to South Africa only days before his debut with next to no time to get up to speed.
All the while, criticism came from a host of observers including the World Rugby vice-chairman, Agustín Pichot. Eventually, however, it was a dodgy chicken sandwich that knocked Shields out of his stride. “It was pretty bad. It was probably the worst I have been sick in my life,” he said. “Usually it lasts for a couple of days but this was about 10 days by the time I got back to New Zealand, started putting some weight back on and started to feel normal again.
“I wasn’t really in a state to start running around. It took a wee wile to bounce back. I’m still sort of bouncing back now, putting on all that weight but I’m feeling pretty good. I lost about seven or eight kilos, they took me to hospital and put me on a drip once they realised how much I’d lost. I felt a million dollars after a couple of hours, and I’ve slowly made my way back from there.”
Shields completed his Super Rugby duties with the Hurricanes on 28 July and while his arrival in the UK was delayed by visa problems he will make his Wasps debut against Exeter on Saturday. That may sound like little respite considering he has moved halfway across the world and is about to embark on a gruelling first Premiership season that he hopes will culminate at next year’s World Cup in Japan. But the five stitches in an eyebrow as a result of a training-ground collision with his fellow Kiwi arrival Ambrose Curtis demonstrate he has no intention of pacing himself. “Obviously I am going to go completely balls out, just as normal.”
Key to Shields’s decision to move to Wasps was the fact that his parents – both English-born – live less than two hours away – and are on hand to help out with babysitting duties for his young daughter, Charley. Dai Young is certainly delighted that Wasps beat three other Premiership clubs to the signature of Shields, who comes with a glowing endorsement form his former Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd, now in charge of Northampton.
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“I met Chris Boyd at the Premiership launch and he couldn’t speak highly enough of him,” said Young. “He said he was, if not the best then one of the best he’s ever coached. It’s a pretty high recommendation really when you think of who Chris has coached.”
While Shields is relishing his first competitive match in England, thoughts inevitably turn to New Zealand’s much-anticipated visit to Twickenham in the autumn. It is line of questioning Shields was expecting but he acknowledges the role he will have to play against former club-mates such as Beauden Barrett in November.
“If you watch a game hard enough you know how players play and you pick up their traits,” he said. “Maybe that is a positive that I could bring, some finer details, but there are some special players who play in both teams. There might be a few subtleties I can help out with but at the end of the day what matters is how you play and trying not to get spooked by the shadow that’s cast by another team.”