New photo Yarde says switch to Sale has changed his life after messy exit from Quins

‘Three weeks in Bali,’ chuckles Marland Yarde, pointing out a framed collage of loved-up photographs on his living room wall. ‘I needed that... rice, carbs, more rice. I put on eight kilos [1st 3lbs]!’

Together with his girlfriend Georgia, the dreadlocked winger packed his suitcase in June and headed for the Indonesian Islands.

‘It was my first summer with no rugby — no England tours or junior World Cups — since I left school,’ he says, slumped into his new leather sofa.

It has been quite the year for Marland Yarde, who was marched out of Harlequins last October

‘Sunrise, breakfast, explore, local food for lunch, beach, local food for dinner, eat some more. I needed to enjoy and relax.’

New club. New city. New house. New girlfriend. Another new house. It has been quite the year for Yarde, who was marched out of Harlequins last October.

He left his family in London and relocated to Manchester at 48 hours’ notice. Now, 11 months later, life has settled down in a quiet suburb on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal.

The 26-year-old left his family in London and relocated to Manchester at 48 hours’ notice

‘In a matter of three or four days, I’d gone from living in London to living in Manchester,’ he says. ‘My life changed really quickly and, I won’t lie, it was pretty tough to deal with at the start.

‘My parents lived just around the corner in London. I had a dog, I’d just built a new kitchen and I abandoned it all. That’s life. I was a Harlequins player on Tuesday and a Sale player on Thursday.

‘I moved into an apartment in the middle of Manchester — totally new surroundings — and I had no clue where I was. I was having to use a satnav to find a supermarket that was 500 metres away!

Yarde cuts a happy figure in his new surroundings — laughing, joking, smiling

‘I had to grow up a bit in terms of standing on my own two feet. Suddenly I couldn’t just drive home to my family. It took a while to settle, six months or so, but I can’t imagine living in London now. I moved again in March and met Georgia pretty soon. I’m settled. This feels like my home now.’

It helps that Georgia grew up just outside Burnley, so she has a better grasp of the local geography.

In January, Yarde will enrol in a business management degree at Northumbria University and cuts a happy figure in his new surroundings — laughing, joking, smiling.

The Sale flier talks to Sportsmail's Nik Simon at his new home in Manchester

Nine tries in 11 Premiership appearances has also helped with the bedding in process.

Sale have lost three from four this season but Yarde, 26, is close to his best form since he ran over the top of Richie McCaw on England’s 2014 tour of New Zealand.

He is clearly benefiting from the stern leadership of Steve Diamond, with the poor time-keeping that cost his Quins career consigned to the past. ‘I was probably a bit laid-back and lazy in my younger years,’ he says. ‘That caught up with me a little bit. People mistook my laid-back attitude for not caring. I cared 100 per cent.

The Sale winger has scored nine tries in 11 Premiership appearances for his new club

THE GAME 'IS FAILING YOUNG, BLACK KIDS'

Rugby union is still failing to get ethnic minority children from state schools into the game, says Marland Yarde. The Sale flier ‘got through the net’ — earning a scholarship to an independent school after being spotted at his state secondary.

‘There were a lot of gifted athletes in my first school who didn’t get the opportunities,’ he said. ‘I was one that got through the net.’

Last month Wasps wing Christian Wade said the sport still suffered from a ‘white public school’ image and Yarde added: ‘I agree with Christian. I don’t think it’s because you’re a black person, it’s more about the school and whether it is exposed to rugby.’

Almost 70 per cent of England players at the last world cup went to fee-paying schools.

‘Maybe people thought there was some favouritism because I wasn’t being dropped. I wasn’t an angel and I made mistakes but I pride myself in the fact that I always turned up and gave 100 per cent. That’s been and gone. I’m a Sale player now.

‘I’m never late any more. My mum would whack me on the bum with a slipper as a kid! Dimes can be pretty harsh on you. All coaches are different and I had to make a bit of a personality shift. Training’s three junctions down the M62 and the traffic’s pretty bad so, if our start time is 8, I get in for 7.30am!’

Yarde’s new residence is on a plush townhouse estate. Marouane Fellaini lives nearby, Juan Mata was spotted at a local restaurant and Marcus Bent recently asked for a pair of Sale tickets. It is football territory and Sale realise they must play exciting rugby to pull in crowds from Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium. Yarde has been a benefactor of that, scoring a brace of pitch-length tries. Sale are bottom of the pile after four rounds but today they face a Leicester side who are also struggling.

‘Our style of play has helped me personally,’ says Yarde. ‘Attacking opportunities were pretty limited at Quins. Players didn’t really understand our style.

‘Now I’m getting more quality ball in space. We’ve got the personnel, we just need the finishing touches. There’s no reason to panic at this stage. We’re four games in. You just want to make sure that, come November/December/January, there are no more excuses.’

Yarde will be wearing the same number as Leicester’s Jonny May, who has recently emerged as one of England’s outstanding wingers under Eddie Jones.

It is 15 months since Yarde won his last cap — his longest run out of the team since his debut in 2013. ‘That fire still burns, of course,’ says Yarde. ‘I spoke to Eddie on the phone and he says what he expects. I’m not content with being a guy who just plays Premiership rugby. Playing for England is something I want to do — and I want to do it pretty quickly.’

Yarde knows all too well how quickly things can happen.

 

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News Pictures Yarde says switch to Sale has changed his life after messy exit from Quins

You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!

TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st

To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.

Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”

Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”

kim cattrall

Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb

SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.

Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
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