England’s Jonny May reveals how he lost feud with Steve Borthwick and almost left the Rugby World Cup camp

Tucked away in a shady corner of England’s training base at Le Touquet, occasionally scratching the mosquito bites on his legs, Jonny May explains how he lost his argument with Steve Borthwick last month.

The dust has now settled but there was a point where the winger almost left camp. It wasn’t long after the birth of his first child, Jaxon, that he was told early on that he wasn’t on the original World Cup squad.

“The truth is Steve spoke to me on the Monday before we played Wales and said you’re not playing at the weekend and you’re not in the 33rd round,” May says.

“That got my monkey out, to be honest.” I thought, “What the hell am I doing here this week?”

“I reacted angrily but rationally.” I went to the gym for 10 minutes and then stalked back to him and said I needed to talk. I said, “I’m leading this from you because I might not want to be here this week.” Why am I here? I have my son at home.”

Jonny May spoke to England manager Steve Borthwick last month about how angry he was

Borthwick has told winger May he will not be included in the country’s World Cup squad

May and his wife Sophie recently welcomed their son Jaxon into the world and the England star was frustrated that he couldn’t be home when he likely wouldn’t be in the squad

“He said he didn’t want me to go home because I was next and it wouldn’t look good if I quit now and then he’d have to be called up again. I was like, “That’s totally fine, good point. Just calm down and move on.”

A few weeks later, after a horrific twist in Anthony Watson’s injury fortunes, May was called up for the warm-up game against Fiji. He scored a goal eight minutes into the game, ending a six-hour trial drought for England’s back and securing his place in the final group of the Tournament.

“Things have changed,” he says. “Obviously I’m disappointed about Anthony – it’s a cruel game sometimes, you learn that as you get older.” Cruel in two ways: you can’t be picked and you can get hurt.’

Plans changed quickly. May ordered tickets and accommodation for his young family last week and then traveled to France. He expressed relief as the team escaped the cauldron of criticism that simmered during England’s disastrous summer.

“I wrote in my little notebook that it’s now a new chapter and turned a nice clean page,” he says. “We’ve had a lot to deal with in the last few months – disappointing results, injuries, suspensions.”

“You can feel this pressure from outside, be it from ex-players, from the media or from social media.” You can feel the vultures circling. This is the world we live in. There was a lot to see.

“You see politicians doing something slimy, but we’re just trying to do our best here.” We understand and share the frustration. I’m disappointed about it, but the worst thing is what I’m having a hard time understanding.’

The odds are high against England. May knows that. He has played 76 times for his country and the mood couldn’t be further from what was expected four years ago.

However, after Anthony Watson’s injury, May started the warm-up game against Fiji and scored a try

“We went into the last World Cup with a lot of results and a lot of preparation,” he says. “First of all, we knew pretty well what the team was.”

“There was a lot more certainty. We’re definitely underdogs this time. We’re still finding our way, we’re still finding our team, we’re still discovering ourselves.

“All you can do is turn it around for the better.” Expectations are low. It’s pretty refreshing in a way because we know we can do a lot better than what we’ve been up to.”

First up on Saturday night is Argentina, where May could face some of his Gloucester team-mates.

“They stay in the fight,” he says. “It’s a game that goes the whole distance.” “They’re favourites.” “We just have to play the cards we have and make a good hand out of it.”