Kyle Sinckler: England prop has no recollection of rugby World Cup final defeat

Kyle Sinckler watched the remainder of the final from the sidelines

Kyle Sinckler says he has no recollection of England's World Cup final defeat after being knocked unconscious early in the match.

Harlequins prop Sinckler collided with team-mate Maro Itoje during a tackle on Makazole Mapimpi in the third minute of South Africa's 32-12 victory.

He walked off the field after regaining consciousness and watched the remainder of the final from the sidelines. "I didn't really know what was going on," he said.


"I can't remember anything really from the final. They said I came back out, but I can't remember that."

Until that point, Sinckler, 26, had enjoyed an outstanding World Cup campaign in which he had scored his first Test try in the quarter-final against Australia.

He says he struggled to come to terms with how his tournament ended but has now "snapped out of it".

"It took three or four weeks to get over the final. It was dark," he said. "You go through phases where you're distraught, feeling sorry for yourself and down in the dumps."

He added: "It was an innocuous incident which was just meant to be, but it was really, really tough.
"You ask yourself, 'why me? I've trained so hard to get to this moment. I've dreamed it, this is my life'.

"But then I snapped out of it, realising that you can either be the guy who is always feeling sorry for yourself or use it as motivation to push on."