Barkley: Rugby has given him stability

Related links

Teams

• Bath
• England

Players

• Olly Barkley

Also see

• Sky Sports experts
• Rugby on Sky
• Live scores

England hopeful Olly Barkley has admitted that rugby has given him stability during a turbulent spell off the field.

The talented fly-half, who will swap Bath for Gloucester in the summer, had faced a court appearance on an assault charge in August until prosecutors dropped the charges on Tuesday.

With the charge relating to an incident that happened last summer, Barkley had the spectre of the pending case hanging over him all season.

Nevertheless Barkley, who is equally at home at fly-half as he is at inside centre, has been the model of consistency on the pitch.

And the 26-year-old admits that focusing on rugby has helped him deal with the off-field anxiety.

"My mind has been going at a million miles an hour for the last eight or nine months," he told The Times.

"I've come to training and felt, more than any other season, 'Thank God I'm on the pitch now getting on with what I'm paid to do and what I enjoy doing'.

"I know where I am on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's a very structured area of my life. I have that order which I may not have had in other areas - builders not turning up, fitting court appearances in, keeping in touch with the family.

Important

"I knew that if I went home at 4.30 having trained well, having done everything I could to make sure we go well, I go well, on the weekend, then I'd be a happy person.

"It gave me something to fall back on, which was important for me and my family, because the last thing my parents, my brother and sister would want to see was the rugby not going so well. They've been there for me the whole time, so that had to be there for them."

Barkley has been snubbed by England despite his superb club form and impressing at the World Cup.

Brian Ashton, whose tenure as coach was ended last week, decided that the pending court case meant Barkley had too much on his plate.

However Barkley disagrees and is now hoping to play some part in the two-Test tour to New Zealand.

"Brian rang to say he wasn't going to pick me for the Six Nations and I could understand where he was coming from," Barkley added.

"My feeling was that I was playing well, that it wasn't affecting me. I had every day changed [for court hearings] to my day off, so that nothing interfered with club training, and the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts were very flexible.

"I couldn't see why that wouldn't be the case with England. Brian had his thoughts, I had mine."