Originally published on scrum.com in Jan 2009
More than a quarter of a century after his last match for his country, former England and Lions skipper Bill Beaumont has shocked the rugby world by making himself available for the 2009 Six Nations campaign
With English rugby currently in crisis, and new manager Martin Johnson under immense pressure to deliver some results, Beaumont has stepped forward to, "help serve his country in one of its darkest hours".
Beaumont won 34 caps for England, a large number for the era, and led the side on 21 occasions. As well as making two Lions' tours, including being captain for the 1980 tour to South Africa, he also led the North of England to a famous win over New Zealand in 1979. He is most well known, however, for taking England to the 1980 grand slam; their first since 1957.
Beaumont's dramatic return to the fore was inspired by a recent late night viewing of Sylvester Stallone's 'Rocky Balboa' movie. The sixth film in the immensely popular Rocky series sees the fictional boxer return to the ring in his late sixties to take on the current heavyweight champion of the world. Rocky's combination of guile, power and passion is almost enough to see him upset the odds and win the fight.
"I was sat at home a few weeks back just flicking through the movie channel when on came this wonderfully inspiring film about a man taking one more shot at something he passionately believes in," said the fifty-six-year-old Lancashire man. "Rugby is something that I passionately believe in and, as a proud Englishman, I want to help my country out during its time of need. I couldn't sleep after watching it. I thought, well, I know it sounds silly, but maybe I could do what Rocky did. Maybe I could take that million to one shot and change things."
Since watching the movie three weeks ago, Beaumont has hired a personal trainer, purchased several sets of grey tracksuits, cleaned his old boots, drunk six raw eggs each morning and gone on a run "almost" every other day. He has also ordered several live chickens from the local farm to get in some agility and speed practice.