{"id":296733,"date":"2023-11-11T23:54:16","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/?p=296733"},"modified":"2023-11-11T23:54:16","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T23:54:16","slug":"exclusive-henry-slade-opens-up-on-his-rugby-world-cup-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/rugby-union\/exclusive-henry-slade-opens-up-on-his-rugby-world-cup-heartbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Henry Slade opens up on his Rugby World Cup heartbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EXCLUSIVE: England centre Henry Slade admits &#8216;there was anger&#8217; after he was left out of Steve Borthwick&#8217;s Rugby World Cup squad&#8230; but insists he is still motivated by the chance to play for his country again<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Henry Slade admits he was &#8216;massively gutted&#8217; after not being picked by England<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The 30-year-old was left out of Steve Borthwick&#8217;s Rugby World Cup squad<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u00a0Slade has 56 caps but didn&#8217;t feature as England finished third at the RWC<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On a bleak autumnal Thursday afternoon in Exeter, Henry Slade takes a seat in the Sandy Park stands. As the England centre discusses the lowest point of his career to date, the sky turns particularly dark all of a sudden. Soon, the rain lashes down too.<\/p>\n<p>The weather accurately reflects Slade\u2019s summer to forget.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018We had a meeting,\u2019 Slade says, recalling the grim moment he was told he wouldn\u2019t be a part of England\u2019s World Cup squad.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was the morning after the first warm-up game and Steve Borthwick told me he needed more cover on the wing. I can play a lot of positions, but not wing!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018There was nothing I could do about it. I did everything I could in the summer but it wasn\u2019t meant to be. There were a lot of feelings, disappointment and probably some anger. You work your entire career for opportunities like that and I feel like I\u2019m in my prime.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/21\/77690341-12738543-image-a-26_1699738224955.jpg\" height=\"419\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Henry Slade has opened up on his disappointment after being left out of England&#8217;s Rugby World Cup team<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/21\/77690349-12738543-image-a-27_1699738233977.jpg\" height=\"414\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Slade admitted he was left feeling &#8216;massively gutted&#8217; at not being picked for England&#8217;s World Cup team<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/23\/77693067-12738543-image-a-78_1699743846402.jpg\" height=\"418\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The 30-year-old insisted that he is still motivated by the chance to represent England again<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was massively gutted to have that taken away, obviously.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018But we\u2019re in a team sport. It\u2019s opinion driven. I guess I\u2019ve been on the right side of the opinion for most of my career. Sometimes it goes the other way and you have to take the hand you\u2019re dealt.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Slade, 30, was the headline omission from national head coach Borthwick\u2019s 33-man party for France when it was announced in August. Without him, England went on to finish third against the odds.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was very tough to watch the games,\u2019 Slade says. \u2018I\u2019m great mates with a lot of the boys and I obviously wanted them to do well but I did struggle. People did come up to me and ask why I wasn\u2019t in the squad.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was nice to hear people say I should have gone but ultimately it\u2019s not down to their opinion. I had to come back to Exeter and not dwell on it.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Slade has 56 England caps. He played in the 2019 World Cup final defeat by South Africa and was also part of the 2015 tournament squad as a youngster.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018A couple of weeks after I got released by England our second daughter Orli was born,\u2019 he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I was always going to be there for the birth but the silver lining of missing the World Cup was that I was there for the first seven or eight weeks of her life.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/21\/77690347-12738543-image-a-29_1699738250699.jpg\" height=\"436\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Slade previously\u00a0played in the 2019 World Cup final defeat by South Africa and was also part of the 2015 tournament squad as a youngster<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/21\/77690363-12738543-image-a-28_1699738242816.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>England head coach Steve Borthwick made the decision to cut Slade from his tournament squad<\/p>\n<p>\u2018They are times and memories you can\u2019t get back. My wife was very happy I was around.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s been a crazy couple of months. It\u2019s a big change going from one to two children! It\u2019s a lot harder!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As an athlete you\u2019re always looking for something extra to motivate you. Playing for England again is definitely one of them. If that chance comes again then it would be amazing.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Slade has responded to his brutal World Cup setback in fine fashion. There is surely more to come from him at Test level.<\/p>\n<p>Leading a youthful Exeter side now shorn of a host of England internationals and some of his best friends who have moved abroad, Slade has guided the Chiefs to three wins from their first four Premiership games.<\/p>\n<p>Rob Baxter\u2019s side started round five top of the table and will look to continue their fine form when they travel to Northampton today.<\/p>\n<p>Slade made his 150th Premiership appearance in last week\u2019s 29-20 victory over Bristol and is favourite to win the player- of-the-month award for September.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It\u2019s come in the blink of an eye,\u2019 Slade says, clicking his fingers and reflecting on his sudden elevation to senior player. \u2018We\u2019ve got a very different team this year.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/22\/77691939-12738543-A_couple_of_weeks_after_being_released_by_England_Slade_welcomed-a-50_1699741183062.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>A couple of weeks after being released by England, Slade welcomed his\u00a0second daughter Orli<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/21\/77690351-12738543-image-a-31_1699738260276.jpg\" height=\"428\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Slade has since guided the Chiefs to three wins from their first four Premiership games<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Maybe we have surprised ourselves a little bit. A lot of players who were here for a long time and did great things for this club have moved on.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018As one of the more experienced lads, I\u2019m trying to help a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Coming back here halfway through pre-season and seeing how the boys were and how intense and physical training was, it was a bit of a shock.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It was ideal for me though because the World Cup disappointment was obvious.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018It took my mind off everything and I had to be fully invested in what we were doing here. If I\u2019d had a few weeks off, I\u2019d have gone absolutely insane.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Slade has seen his former Exeter and England team-mates Jack Nowell and Sam Simmonds bring an end to their international careers by moving to France.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/11\/22\/77690405-12738543-England_finished_third_at_the_Rugby_World_Cup_after_getting_beat-a-69_1699741959363.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>England finished third at the Rugby World Cup after getting beaten by South Africa in the semi-final<\/p>\n<p>Borthwick has also lost a host of other high-profile stars to the lucrative Top 14.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019m in the final year of my Exeter contract,\u2019 Slade says.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I\u2019ve got no intention of doing anything else. We\u2019ll sit down and speak about that stuff. If I put myself in the conversation, hopefully I\u2019ll get another shot at England.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I think everyone always has a thought about that (moving abroad). But I\u2019ve spent my whole career at Exeter. I\u2019m very happy here with my family. I guess if they pay me enough, I\u2019ll stay!\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/rugbyunion\/article-12738543\/Henry-Slade-Rugby-World-Cup-England.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: England centre Henry Slade admits &#8216;there was anger&#8217; after he was left out of Steve Borthwick&#8217;s Rugby World Cup squad&#8230; but insists he is still motivated by the chance to play for his country again Henry Slade admits he was &#8216;massively gutted&#8217; after not being picked by England The 30-year-old was left out of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>EXCLUSIVE: Henry Slade opens up on his Rugby World Cup heartbreak - Tell My Sport<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tellmysport.com\/rugby-union\/exclusive-henry-slade-opens-up-on-his-rugby-world-cup-heartbreak\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"EXCLUSIVE: Henry Slade opens up on his Rugby World Cup heartbreak - Tell My Sport\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EXCLUSIVE: England centre Henry Slade admits &#8216;there was anger&#8217; 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