Ellis still reeling from Lions call-up
Harry Ellis said he was 'in shock' at being called up for the Lions
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Wednesday, 22, Apr 2009 10:42
Leicester Tigers scrum-half Harry Ellis says he is still getting over the shock of being called up for the British and Irish Lions squad for South Africa.
In an exclusive interview with inthenews.co.uk, Ellis said he was surprised to receive the news after training on Tuesday.
"I didn't watch the announcement on TV," he revealed.
"A few of the boys mentioned it to me when I came off the training pitch and I was just over the moon when I saw my name up there on the list."
When asked if he had spoken to his family yet, Ellis said he had "barely had a chance to breathe" since finding out about his place in the 37-man squad.
And he quickly quashed any talk of celebrating his selection, choosing instead to focus on the end of the season with Leicester who are in the Guinness Premiership playoffs and the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup.
"I'm fully focused on this weekend and a big game against Bristol," he went on, referring to the final regular season game before the start of the post-season next week.
"We've got a really important run-in and will play some pretty physical teams along the way but I'm sure we have the talent to go one better than last year.
"At Leicester we have some amazing fans and we owe them one after last year's [Guinness Premiership] final."
That 26-16 defeat to Wasps at Twickenham was a particularly galling experience for Ellis - a try-scorer in the second half - after he had missed out on the Tigers' 2007 double triumph in the Premiership and Heineken Cup because of a knee injury.
Leicester suffered defeats in their other three English domestic finals over the past four years - including two reverses against Wasps (in 2005 and 2008) and another to Sale Sharks (in 2006).
And Ellis was adamant that the Lions call-up will not be a distraction for him over the next few weeks.
"No way," he snapped, when asked if his head was likely to be turned by seeing his name on Ian McGeechan's squad list.
"These next few weeks are not about the Lions, they're about Leicester. I won't start thinking about South Africa until after the end of the season.
"We're going to be playing some big teams over the next month so there's no room to be distracted."
The 27-cap England international also said he is not thinking about the prospect of injury, even with his past experience.
"As a professional rugby player, you can't really think about that," he explained.
"You can't go into a game worrying about injuries and things like that. The game is so fast that one slip could cost you and you've got to be prepared to put your body on the line."
On the Lions tour Ellis will be competing with Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips and Ireland half-back Tomas O'Leary for a place in the Test side, although a number of other potential number nines missed out - including England team-mate Danny Care.
And Ellis, 26, believes the time will come for the Harlequins youngster, despite the likely disappointment he will be feeling over the next few days.
"Danny is obviously a quality player, as I know from training alongside him with England," Ellis continued.
"He's certainly got the talent to make a name for himself and I'm sure his time will come.
"He's unlucky to miss out this time - maybe it was too early for him - but he will have plenty more chances in the future."
Harry Ellis was speaking to inthenews.co.uk sports editor Alistair Potter.