Instead, Phil Vickery was backstage at the Physical Culture Show in Hull, waiting for his moment – but this time as a bodybuilder.
However, the feeling was familiar.
“It reminded me of being in the changing room before the big game, your nerves – are you going to be sick, you’re happy, you’re not happy, I can do this, this is raw,” he said, adding that just recalling that moment earlier this month makes his hair stand on end.
“That nervous energy and waiting and then, oh, it’s just a horrific feeling. All the girls and boys can relate to that, because that’s the same at whatever level of sport you play.
“I’m questioning myself, should I even be there? But then you go, actually, do you know what? I’ve done the work. I’ve done the graft.”
What started as an ambition to get fit has ignited a passion for mental and physical fitness, and for Vickery being the best version of himself.
Phil Vickery playing for England at the 2003 Rugby World Cup and competing at the Physical Culture Association show in Hull in 2026
It’s 23 years since Phil Vickery was part of the England team that won the Rugby World Cup final in Australia
Then came a challenge from his friend Lee Powell and, with support from his physical trainer Dave Campbell, Vickery entering bodybuilding competitions at the age of 50. Posing to the strains of the familiar World Cup anthem World in Union.
“What it probably did for me is ignite that ex-pro rugby player in me of detail, discipline, turning up when it’s dark and dingy and cold, competing, and we went from there,” Vickery said.
“What I’ve fallen in love with, with the bodybuilding, it’s a very singular, isolated sport, because it is you against you. It’s not about anyone else.
“There is no out. You can’t hide behind a keyboard. You are stood on stage. Your physique and what you look like is a direct reflection of your effort and what you have done, and that is quite scary.”
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