DURFC captain Beaumont begins professional rugby career in the Heineken Cup

The Tab interviews DURFC Captain, Josh Beaumont, after he made his Heineken Cup debut for Sale on Friday

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DURFC Captain, Josh Beaumont, lined up for Sale on Friday in Round 5 of the Heineken Cup. For those who don’t keep up with the rugby, this is the highest level you can play for your club – rugby’s Champions League equivalent.

He managed to take time out from his hectic lifestyle to answer a few questions for Durham Tab. What is it like to come up against seasoned internationals? How is he dealing with the new found stardom? Is it all ‘pu**y and glory’?

1. First things first, how did it come about?
Well, I signed with Sale in the summer from Newcastle Falcons so I trained with them all summer and played most of the A league games for them. I trained over the Christmas break and as they’ve already been knocked out the Heineken Cup they decided to play a few home grown players and luckily for me, I was one of them.

2) How nervous were you? What was your pre-match preparation?
The morning before the match I was pretty nervous but once we got to the ground and got into the warm up I felt fine and was just concentrating on the game. We had to arrive at the training ground 4 hours before ko for a pre-match meal, team meetings and any strapping you need.

3. You played with big international players past and present such as Richie Gray and Mark Cueto and against seasoned French internationals such as Trinh-Duc and Ouedraogo. What was the step up from university level like?
To be fair the step up is massive compared to Uni rugby, the pace and physicality is a different league. There isn’t much difference between the skill sets of players but at a professional level you get pressured a lot more than at Uni.

4. What was the best part of it?
Best part was obviously playing in such a prestigious tournament as the Heineken Cup and playing with so many internationals. On a personal note getting a 100 followers on twitter in a day was a pretty good achievement (JoshBeaumont1).

5. Worst part?
Losing

6. Does Danny Cipriani now follow you on twitter? Have you given him any advice on his love life?
No he doesn’t, I’ll have a word with him in training and I’m certainly in no position to be giving anyone advice on love life!

Beaumont in action with Danny Cipriani (far right). The Sale fly-half and England international is yet to follow him on twitter.

7. How is your a newly-crowned celebrity rugby player status going to affect your lifestyle in Durham? How are you going to deal with the obvious increase in attention from Durham’s finest ladies?
I’m hoping to keep a low profile this term with work starting to pick up so the lifestyle won’t change too much, you won’t see me driving round in BMWs and drinking champagne in ebony. Dealing with the ladies situation may be a struggle, although saying that I’ve dealt with it fine over the last couple of years…..

8. On a more serious note, are you hoping for a professional rugby career with Sale after you finish university this year?
Yes, I’m with the club for the next couple of seasons which I’m looking forward to and saves me applying for internships.

9. Will your availability for Durham be hindered by further Sale commitments?
No it shouldn’t, as captain I’m fully committed to Durham during term time.

10. Biggest thing you learnt from the experience?
Tough question, there were a few but playing against world class players was a great learning experience and has certainly improved me.

Beaumont battles against three Montpellier players in a gruling game against the strong Montpellier team who included Francois Trinh-Duc, Johnnie Beattie, Mamuka Gorgodze and Santiago Fernandez in their starting line-up.

For those wanting to follow Durham’s brightest rugby talent, follow him on twitter JoshBeaumont1.

Click here for the Telegraph article on Josh’s debut for Sale against Montpellier.