- Andrew Sheridan speaks to RFU.com about his recovery from a serious shoulder injury
- The hulking prop sets his sights a return to England action this autumn
After a protracted and challenging period away from the rugby field, England prop Andrew Sheridan is relishing his first scrum for Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership tomorrow evening.
The 30-year-old star spent 11 months on the sidelines and underwent two operations after badly dislocating his shoulder in October 2009 against Cardiff Blues before returning to contact rugby this pre-season.
Sheridan, known for his immense strength in the tight, has taken the long road to recovery and is looking to recapture the devastating form which led to a British & Irish Lions call-up for the 2009 tour to South Africa.
The new Aviva Premiership season opens when Sale host Newcastle Falcons at Edgeley Park on Friday evening (7.45pm) and, in his usual understated manner, Sheridan says that he is feeling good and playing well for his club side is the best way to force his way back into Martin Johnson’s side.
The 6’4”, 19-stone prop said: "The shoulder feels good, we’ve done quite a lot of contact work and rehab is structured in small steps so by the time you get to the full-on match situation you’re confident that your body will be fine.
"I just want to get back playing and scrumagging consistently well, and getting some games under my belt for Sale.
"Getting back to playing rugby every week and enjoying it is the first step. Then I’ll take it from there and see when happens.
"It’s up to the England management who they select for the Investec Internationals, based on performances in the Premiership."
Sheridan is a quality player – Rowntree
The forceful performances and strength in depth of England’s front row in Australia was one of the eye-catching features of the successful summer tour, with the emergence of Dan Cole and restoration of Steve Thompson as world-class performers.
However, according to a man who knows a thing or two about the dark arts of the front row, England Assistant Coach Graham Rowntree, the return of a prop of Sheridan’s standing will be a huge boost.
"Andrew, at his best and fit, is a quality and experienced player," Rowntree said.
"He’s a British & Irish Lion, what more can you say. We were up there weekly monitoring his progress, he’s in great condition and very strong – funnily enough for him."
Sheridan, who has 32 caps, returned to the England fold for a week-long summer training camp before he had played a minute of competitive rugby and added that the faith shown in him by the England management is a significant confidence boost.
"I was very pleased with the faith shown in me, I thought they might wait and see how I got on because I had been out for so long so it was nice to be called-up before I had stepped back on the pitch.
"England played well over the summer so it will be a challenge to get back in the team.
"From a prop’s point of view the scrum was really good – but I didn’t really look much past that as it’s the most important thing.
"It was good to see them get the win Down Under and hopefully we can gain some confidence from that win and get greater consistency in our performances."