As a young man with rich prospects of playing for England, Sale Sharks’ hooker Nathan Jibulu knew his six-week ban for biting last season might have broken him.
Instead, on Saturday, the visit of Glasgow Warriors brings Jibulu back into the Champions Cup, the competition he left under a cloud in April. He is older and, he believes, wiser, but at the age of 23, with so much still ahead of him.
“It’s definitely a moment of stupidity on my end,” Jibulu tells The i Paper of the two-second incident with Harlequins’ prop Will Hobson in a Champions Cup last-16 match at The Stoop. “Like, honestly, it was a silly mistake.
“The first time where, as a young player, I’ve been in the headlines for something negative. It was tough, when you get messages off people, off fans, saying you should be banned for life. It was tough not playing while Sale weren’t doing great, losing a few games. I beat myself up – that if I hadn’t done this, I could be helping the team because that’s what I always want to do.”
As “a very religious man”, Jibulu prayed a lot. He spoke to his mum and his family, and he consulted Don McPherson, a sports psychologist with an impressive list of clients including Sale’s England fly-half George Ford.
“He’s not an interview-y sort of psychologist where it’s asking you questions like a doctor,” Jibulu says. “It’s more conversational; very chill, very relaxed. So when you get back to playing, you’re mentally in the right headspace rather than being angry – because that’s not gonna solve anything.
“It was weird. After the first few weeks, I got into a headspace of ‘all right, I could either let this break me, or I could come back and actually try and support the team’. A lot of self-reflection was done, just trying to get better in all areas, whether that be rugby or outside of rugby.”
A joke gone wrong?
Biting is one of rugby’s most heinous crimes; an unacceptable step over the mutually agreed line of physical battering. Yet this example landed in a curious area. Harlequins was Jibulu’s club before he joined Sale in 2025, and Hobson had been his flat-mate for a year; they came through the Quins academy together.
The disciplinary panel considered – and dismissed – the possibility of a joke gone wrong. They did however note: “In particular, the panel did not find, as may have been the case in previous disciplinary rulings, that the player applied pressure or held the victim player’s arm in place while biting”. Six weeks is the low entry point of the possible sanctions – it could have been much worse.
“I spoke to Will after the game,” Jibulu recalls, “and I was like, I don’t know what I was thinking. But you obviously can’t do that on the rugby field. I know what I did was wrong, 100 per cent. I’m not trying to make excuses.”
Both Sale and England have supported Jibulu since it happened. England picked him for the shadow senior squad who faced France A in June, when he trained without playing, and he says there was no clear-the-air conversation required, with head coach Steve Borthwick or anyone else. Jibulu played for England A against Spain last November, having come through the age groups.
At Sale, he has just extended his contract by four years to 2030. “Al [Sanderson, the director of rugby] was very good with me,” says Jibulu. “So were the owners, Michelle and Simon [Orange]. They said ‘listen, you’ve done something stupid, it’s a mistake, we’re not going to get onto you for it. Let’s move on to the next thing.”
So, what now? There are two long-serving hookers among the 25 players on England’s enhanced contracts: Saracens’ Jamie George and Jibulu’s Sale club-mate Luke Cowan-Dickie.
A third hooker will be needed for the Nations Championship at Twickenham next month, and next year’s World Cup, and while Theo Dan appears the likeliest based on recent picks, the position looks open to a charge by those who also had involvement at senior or A level last season: Jamie Blamire, Jibulu, Curtis Langdon, Gabriel Oghre and Kepu Tuipulotu.
Jibulu was player of the match in Sale’s last two games, the wins over Saracens and Harlequins, his line-out stats are good, the scrum at Sale is solid, and his dominant tackles and open-field running catch the eye. Teammates call him “Jibs”, but Mike Forshaw, Sale’s defence coach, prefers “Cement” – as in, “as hard as…” – or the “Jibbernaut”.
Whatever the nickname, Sanderson is certain Jibulu can play for England. “You can get away with being fast and skilful in the Prem,” Sanderson said after the Saracens win, “but it’s another level in terms of the power that’s required at international level and he’s got that ability.
He’s immensely strong. This could be the season when he explodes onto the international scene.” Jibulu says he’s not thinking about England too much, but: “At the end of the day, everyone’s competitive, everyone wants to reach the highest level.”
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Jibulu is enjoying living in central Manchester, but London and his Nigerian heritage both tug at his heart. “Giving your mum a hug, it hits different to a phone call.” A lively mind is occupied by the final year of his business-management degree with the Open University, and currently a module on leadership development. “My brother does marketing,” Jibulu says, “and I thought why not study on the side, so when I come back from training, I’m not just watching endless clips of the week just gone.”
The line-out is another challenge to overcome. “I reckon last year I fell into the trap of talking to too many people. Now I come in on my off-days, and I throw with [Sale forwards coach] Neil Briggs, so it’s very relaxed.
And Dickie, I absolutely love him, he’s always geeing me up, helping me on the mental side. Because that’s what a lot of people struggle with: when you’re not throwing too great, it can get in your head. This year it just feels a bit different. It’s me that’s in control of it. Clear your head, and get in a routine, so when you get to the line, you just execute.”