Interview in the Telegraph.
His status as rugby’s most high-profile diabetic means few players monitor their health quite as closely as Henry Slade. Behind his left tricep he wears a glucose monitor, sending details of his glucose levels to an app on his phone, often checking the results while on the bench or in the Exeter and England dressing rooms.
It also means that Slade has been taking a particularly close interest in the Covid vaccine rollout, both as someone who is listed as clinically vulnerable and as a player whose world has been turned upside down by the pandemic. As a type-one diabetic he was offered the vaccine in priority group six, which covers all adults aged 16 to 65 in at-risk groups, with those who suffer from the condition more vulnerable to developing a severe condition if they contract the virus. Slade, though, has something he wants to say on the subject.
“I am not going to have a vaccine. I don’t agree with it all,” he says, bluntly.
Why is he defying Government advice? “I don’t think you can trust it, can you? I don’t think it [vaccination against Covid] has been going long. There is no way of knowing what could happen with it in the future. I am perfectly fit and healthy. I don’t fancy it at all,” he explains.
What Slade is saying goes against the advice not just of the Government but also Diabetes UK, who “strongly encourage” anyone with the condition to be vaccinated as “the most effective way to prevent infection”.
Slade, however, is the first high-profile British sports person to speak publicly of their concerns on vaccination. It is clearly something he wants to say and comes across throughout this interview - the purpose of which was not initially meant to be vaccination. He raises his concerns on vaccination independently in the interview and without any prompting from Telegraph Sport. Slade's view is twofold: that due to his job he is tested regularly, which he feels serves as protection, and that he has had negative experiences with vaccines in the past.
Behind his left tricep, Henry Slade wears a glucose monitor
“We test three, four times a week anyway, so you know if you have something,” he says. “There is no way of knowing what it could do. I have had vaccines in the past and have fallen pretty unwell with them afterwards. I don’t know if that has anything to do with the diabetes or not. I am going to stay away from this one.”
Has the fact that Slade is dependent on his body and physical health influenced his decision? “It isn’t really because of that, it is because of my body and my life, I guess, I just think there hasn’t been anywhere near enough testing to deem it safe,” he replies.
The 28 year-old, who was pivotal to Exeter’s historic double-winning season last year, remains frank throughout our conversation. He describes that achievement as “bittersweet” considering how muted celebrations were due to Covid restrictions. And again he does not hold back on giving his view on Government advice with regard to the behind-closed-doors final played at Ashton Gate last October.
“As players over the last year, we have gotten used to playing without fans and generating our own energy, but that energy you get off the fans is something you can’t really replicate. You try to do it but it just isn’t the same. To have them not there in Bristol for the European final was really disappointing,” he says.
“Even if it was close friends and family that could have gone because it is a big stadium with nearly 30,000 seats. Surely, there would have been plenty of space to get a few of them in but it wasn’t meant to be. But it just spurs us on for the future, getting back towards getting people back. Hopefully sooner rather than later there will be full crowds with no social distancing, no masks and all that stuff. Hopefully we can do it again and have the fans experience it with us.”
The centre was delighted his family could come to see him in person for the first time, with fans back in the win against London Irish - “it was emotional going over to see them and give them a hug because we are allowed to now” - with the Slade clan growing by one over the last few months after his partner, Megan, gave birth to baby Olive last August.
“It has changed me quite a lot,” he says of fatherhood. “My outlook and mind-set are very different. I think as a sportsman, I think naturally you end up being quite selfish in terms of always trying to get your body prepped right, eating the right things, sleeping at the right time. Having a kid puts all that up in the air but in a good way, I love Olive to bits. Before, all I ever thought about was how things would effect my preparation. My first thought now is about Olive rather than me, it is a flip in mind-set.”
And he has needed their support recently. When it comes to the delicate subject of being omitted from Warren Gatland’s British & Irish Lions squad, Slade does not hide his disappointment, referencing Kyle Sinckler’s emotional interview with BT Sport as encapsulating his own feelings.
“I think it was the most gutted I have been about anything ever, to be honest,” he says. “Megan said I just looked white all day after that. I was absolutely devastated. I was watching it and obviously we have no idea what is going to happen. I was shaking all the way through watching the build-up.
“As the backs were being read and seeing who was going I was thinking I was more and more unlikely to go. Not having my name read out, I was absolutely gutted. Kyle Sinckler’s interview the other day probably summed up what everyone who has been left out is feeling: angry, frustrated, disappointed, upset, all those emotions.
“Having said that, I am very happy for the other lads and I am over the moon for the Chiefs boys that got selected. I wish all the boys going on the tour the best because it will be an unreal experience by all accounts. But I keep telling myself all I can do now is play as well as I can as it is a long time until the Tests and there are a lot of games to be played. All I can do is play as well as I can between now and the Tests to put my hand up. I obviously don’t wish injury on anyone but if anything happens, hopefully I will be called up, but you never know?”
Unless he is called up as an injury replacement, Slade is likely to be playing for England against USA and Canada this summer, with the silver lining being that he can cement his role as one of the senior members of Eddie Jones’ setup.
“I have actually been happy with my form this year, I think maybe of the last couple of years; in England I have started to become more vocal as I have always been a big voice at the Chiefs,” he says. “I think I found my voice with England. I feel like I have a bit more clout when I am saying things. Because I have a lot more caps, I feel more comfortable.
“I know it hasn’t been where we would want it to be results-wise for England, but we have been working on our game and moving my game forward. To some people with England, it might seem far away but it isn’t.”
But before unfinished international business there is the matter of Exeter retaining the Premiership. “Obviously we’re second in the table, one behind where we want to be, but at the end of the day we want to get a home semi-final because that is a big thing to achieve and get to the final again and do the job.”
But with characteristic honesty, he explains that with the mounting pressure at this point of the season, baby Olive will provide plenty of distraction. “I come home from training and whether it has gone well or not, I don’t get carried away with things because I have to change a s----- nappy.”
I would also call him selfish.
Always a Wasp
