At times it was ‘torture’ for Jonny May, but he has battled through his 10-month injury ordeal with help from a Harry Potter colouring-in book, 11 Rottweiler puppies, a trip to Texas and a prank involving a toy hoover.

Gloucester’s England wing returned to action last weekend, in fine style – carving up Bayonne’s defence with his first touch and scoring a try, to resume normal service at once. He hadn’t played since his left knee finally gave up on him at Twickenham last December, in a festive encounter with Harlequins.

At first, May thought he had ‘got away with it’, when he felt the joint crunch as he attempted a kick, while running at full speed. Instead, a scan revealed widespread damage. In his own words ‘it was bloody awful’. The posterior cruciate ligament had been a mess for years and he had learned to cope with that, but the anterior and lateral ligament were also in ruins.

Jonny May is ready to stake his claim for England selection after a long spell on the sidelines

May made his return from injury in last weekend's Challenge Cup clash with Bayonne

Surgery followed soon afterwards and instead of being part of England’s revival under Eddie Jones – a confirmed fan of the electric runner – May was facing a year out of the game. The fact that he is back earlier than that is testament to how he attacked the situation with gusto.

‘I have gone bonkers with the rehab,’ he said, ahead of a comeback at Kingsholm in a Challenge Cup tie against Treviso on Saturday. ‘I have just been completely and utterly obsessed with it.

‘For the first week after surgery, I bought a ‘game-ready’; an ice compression device. I was at my parents’ house. My mum would bring me breakfast then I’d put the game-ready on for an hour. That is probably too long. I’d have an hour on, half-an-hour off, an hour on, half-an-hour off, all day. I’d start at 9am and do eight sets of that until 9pm – so 12 hours per day! Then I’d go to sleep again.

‘I bought a Compex (a device which works muscles with electrical pulses). When you can’t do much, that is how you keep your muscle mass on. I used to torture myself on that thing. I went absolutely nuts with it. It goes quite high. It is pretty uncomfortable but after a few months you become quite tolerant to it. I maxed it out, which I don’t think anyone else has done!’

The Gloucester winger had been out of action since suffering a knee injury last December

Within four weeks of his operation, May was visiting Gloucester’s training ground at Hartpury College, to do carefully-tailored gym work there. But the bulk of the early rehabilitation process was a dull grind, so he had to find ways to cope with the tedium. For the 26-year-old, it wasn’t a case of resorting to computer games and social media; he had a different method.

‘Whilst I was on the game-ready 12 hours a day, I bought a colouring-in book,’ he said. ‘I did some colouring-in. I didn’t go over the lines! It was a Harry Potter colouring-in book. I donated it to the room in there (at Hartpury), so if anyone is bored or just sitting on the machines, they can do some colouring-in if they want. It helps to occupy the mind.

‘For the first couple of weeks I was at my parents’ place, then I got back to my house and found out my dog was pregnant. She had 11 puppies. That was quite fun. I was on watch, lying on the floor counting them. We had eight weeks with them, then I was walking around again.

May has not featured for England since last year's ill-fated World Cup campaign on home soil

‘The puppies have all found homes. My parents kept one, Mildred. Lewis Ludlow (Gloucester team-mate) has kept one. We named them all after Disney characters. Lewis kept the name, he’s shortened Pocahontas to Po. They are Rottweillers and so cute – little black bears.’

The hoover episode was another entertaining sideshow, while May was trying to recover from his surgery. He wanted one and thought that one of his England team-mates could help. Instead, he was the victim of a drawn-out practical joke.

‘Bath have a sponsorship deal with Dyson,’ said May. ‘It was months ago and I was thinking I could do with a new hoover. George Ford said, “I’ll get you one”. I said, “Cheers, mate”. Then a few weeks went by. I said, “Mate, are you going to get me a new hoover or not? Because if you are, great, and if not, I’ ll just go and buy one”. He said, “No, no, I’ll get you it”.

‘It went on for months. I was hanging on, hoping he’d get me a nice free one – and he sent me a kid’s toy hoover. He sent it to Kingsholm. I waited all that time for a kid’s hoover. I will bide my time and get him back.’

The electric winger has yet to play a game under England head coach Eddie Jones

All the while, May was getting himself back towards full fitness. In June, he went to Texas, to train at a performance centre overseen by the former Olympic champion 400m runner, Michael Johnson. The American had met the England squad at their Surrey hotel last year and mentioned the place, so when May was looking for a change of scenery, he sent an email asking if he could train there. They said yes. The trip was productive and doubled as a holiday with his fiancée, Sophie.

‘I was there two weeks,’ he said. ‘They have full-time physios, masseuses and top sprint coaches, and they work with small groups. It was very good. I’d get up early, get a taxi to the ground and do my prep. Each day there would be agility, acceleration or a top speed session and then I’d do my weights, see my physios, get in the ice baths, do my recovery and get home early afternoon.

‘Sophie came out with me. It was so hot there she just sunbathed or whatever and we could go out for dinner in the evening, and we had the weekends as well. We went to a rodeo and sat in the second row. They came so close on these massive bulls. That was cool. We went and shot some guns – just because we could. And we went to a baseball game. Texas is quite a cool place.’

During his recovering, May was the subject of a prank from England team-mate George Ford

May is firmly in the thoughts of England boss Jones ahead of the forthcoming autumn Tests

During the entire process, May has been buoyed by the knowledge that he is firmly in the thoughts of England’s new head coach. Jones has been in touch regularly – either calling or texting to ask for updates or to offer encouragement. The Australian values what the prolific finisher has to offer, and with Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell both currently injured, May has a chance to force his way straight back into the starting XV, for the opening autumn Test against South Africa.

‘I watched a bit of the Six Nations,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t jealous about missing out. I was happy to watch the boys play and I was really pleased for them, because a lot of those boys had a tough time at the World Cup. I was pleased with how they bounced back.

‘I am desperate to play for England again. It’s obviously awesome to be in his (Jones’) thoughts. He has kept in touch and it is motivating. It is a pressure as well because I don’t want to let him down! I want to get fit and get back in the England team. But I have to be patient; I have to get it right. I know full well that when you’re out there, you are going to be judged. You can’t go out there unless you are ready. I know my knee is getting better every week, now it is about getting that confidence.’

May’s return is timely. Gloucester have missed him and need him. England haven’t missed him so much – in the sense that the wings who have played have done well – but they need him now. He has been through his torture and now he is ready to make up for lost time.