Marshall Sykes reveals lifestyle changes behind his Six Nations call-up and the 'sweet sacrifice'

Marshall Sykes believes changes to his diet and mindset have been the main drivers behind the improvements in his game which led to a call-up to Scotland’s Six Nations squad.

The Edinburgh forward was one of five locks named by Gregor Townsend in his 37-man selection for the championship which begins for the Scots a week on Saturday against Italy at Murrayfield.

Sykes will have to fight it out with Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray and Gregor Brown for a place in the second row and the 25-year-old is up for the challenge as he looks to add to the solitary cap he won against Tonga back in 2021.

Edinburgh's Marshall Sykes has been named in Scotland's Six Nations squad. | SNS Group

“For me, it's quite a big one. I've really been working quite hard towards it,” said Sykes who will play for Edinburgh against Black Lion in the Challenge Cup at Hive on Sunday. “It's been one of those underlying goals but it's the first time I've actually been involved in the Six Nations from the start.

“I've always come in for the odd couple of weeks at the end of it or something like that. Last year I came in for a couple as 24th man at the end but now I'm really excited to be in it from the start and have a go at it.”

Townsend believes Sykes is now using his body to better effect in defence and has also improved his ball-carrying. Sean Everitt, his coach at Edinburgh, praised the player for how hard he had worked at training and also for the sacrifices he had made with regard to “lifestyle choices”.

“I think the diet got a little bit better,” admitted Sykes when asked to elaborate. “So, mainly around diet and also a mindset change. There was a point last year where I maybe got out of shape a little bit around Christmas when you have the long breaks back to back between the Six Nations stuff and you can often decondition.

“I spoke to the S&C coach, had a sit down on how to best get on with it. Firstly, I changed up my food which obviously helps and then just trained really hard. And it paid dividends.

“I trained pretty hard through the summer break as well. It's just put me in a good shape coming into this season and thankfully now, when I am playing those longer games back to back, my body can deal with it a lot better than maybe it could have before.”

Marshall Sykes won his first, and so far only, Scotland cap against Tonga during the Autumn Nations Series in 2021. | SNS Group

According to Edinburgh’s website, Sykes is two metres tall and weighs in at 121 kilos. His size and power are huge assets but he is taking a more sensible approach to refuelling.

“It's balance isn't it? You can't just be a robot and eat salad and a bit of rice and chicken the whole time. In the dark months me and my partner like to go out for food, stuff like that. We can still do that now, it's just finding the balance. So, if I go out for a nice meal, I need to eat right on those days and not overdo it.

“It’s just having a bit of self-awareness about it. But, again, as I say, there's no point going all the way one way because you just fall off the horse. It's just about finding a balance that works for you.”

Sykes and his partner Lucy Fruin have set up a successful online confectionery business called the Treat Plug and the player admits he has to be strict when it comes to sampling the products.

“It all comes down to self-control again but I can't bring them back to the house!” he smiled. “I genuinely don't have them that often anymore but as you can imagine I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth.”