Category: England Rugby

The 20-year-old prop is making a name for himself with eye-catching displays but visit of Saracens is a serious test

Some of English rugby union’s biggest names will be front and centre in Salford on Friday evening. Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Ben Earl and Tom Willis all start for Saracens while Tom Curry, George Ford and Luke Cowan-Dickie, among others, will trot out for Sale Sharks. Most 20-year-old props, invited to mix in such lofty company, would be feeling seriously intimidated.

It is increasingly obvious, however, that young Asher Opoku-Fordjour is different gravy. As anyone who saw his eye-catching performance against Harlequins last weekend will be aware, his strength and bullocking presence with ball in hand are quite something. “If last week’s anything to go by he’s tracking well, isn’t he?” nods Alex Sanderson, the Sharks’ director of rugby.

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• Scrum-half has played 332 matches for Leicester
• He won a record 127 England caps and toured with Lions

The end of the road is finally approaching for England’s most-capped male player. Ben Youngs, who made a record 127 appearances for his country, has confirmed he will be retiring from professional rugby in June after more than 500 senior games for Leicester, England, the Barbarians and the British & Irish Lions in a career spanning 18 years.

Youngs has been a one-club man since his Tigers debut as a 17-year-old in 2007 but, at 35, will hang up his boots at the end of the current Premiership season. A five-times Premiership winner and three times a runner-up, he has played 332 matches for Leicester to date. In an England jersey he appeared in four World Cups and toured Australia in 2013 with the Lions, alongside his brother Tom. He was chosen for the 2017 Lions squad as well but withdrew from the tour of New Zealand for family reasons.

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While Harlequins forward focuses on Saturday’s Champions Cup test at Leinster, future opportunities are on his mind

There is a colossal game looming in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon and Chandler Cunningham-South’s pre-match routine is now established. First he likes to step into a cold shower to wake himself up properly. Then the big Harlequins and England forward will open the notebook he carries everywhere with him, pick up a pen and write down exactly what he plans to do to Leinster.

The precise wording – “It’s quite personalised to me” – is less important than the confident mindset it encourages. The basic idea is to reinforce one of two key objectives – “It’s just confirming what’s in my head already,” he says – and ensures he goes into battle “with a clear mind”. Unthinkingly following the herd has never been his style.

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Newly selected British & Irish Lions assistant on his journey as a coach, picking Steve Borthwick’s brain and Andy Farrell breaking the news

Richard Wigglesworth was in the garden with his five-year-old daughter, two days after England’s thumping win over Wales, when the phone rang. It was Andy Farrell and as much as Margot was not happy that her father was on the phone, it was a call he had to take. England’s storming finish to the Six Nations may not be the only reason Wigglesworth has been seconded to the British & Irish Lions but it can only have helped, and so the 41-year-old completes Farrell’s lineup, the first England coach to do so since Steve Borthwick in 2017.

It is easy to forget that more than two years ago, Wigglesworth was still playing for Leicester Tigers. He was a player-coach when Borthwick got the call from England in December 2022 and as a result, Wigglesworth immediately hung up his boots and took interim charge at Welford Road.

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• Borthwick said backroom team not been approached
• Coaches set to miss out for second straight Lions tour

Andy Farrell looks likely to overlook England’s assistants when selecting his British & Irish Lions coaching staff, with Steve Borthwick revealing he has not been approached about members of the backroom team.

After England rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a record win against Wales to ensure a second-placed finish, Borthwick stated that he wanted as many of his players selected for the Lions tour as possible when Farrell names his squad on 8 May.

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Borthwick says Northampton youngster ‘just comes on and wants to win’ and is not letting the shirt weigh him down

No title, no trophy, but the morning after the night before was a bright one for Steve Borthwick. An absence of silverware but glistening silver linings all over the place. The most ruthless, complete performance of Borthwick’s tenure puts the exclamation mark on England’s best Six Nations campaign for five years and gives reason for a genuine sense of optimism that his side have come of age.

It was only a few weeks ago that England were being booed by the Twickenham crowd, but such dissent feels a world away now and perhaps no one epitomises the feelgood factor more than Henry Pollock. Brought on for his debut after 48 minutes, his first involvement was to pack down for a scrum. After a word of encouragement from Ellis Genge, there Pollock was, grinning from ear to ear, backslapping teammates, high-fiving, bringing smiles to the faces of both Curry brothers.

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England will drive back to an empty stadium if France slip up, but their performance in Cardiff will define campaign

If all goes well for England, somewhere around half past nine on Saturday they will be preparing to clamber on to the team bus and head back to the stadium. They will have decamped to their hotel a couple of miles away in Cardiff Bay but if they have held up their end of the bargain against Wales and it appears that Scotland could do them a favour, England are due back at the Principality Stadium just after 10pm for a possible trophy presentation.

It will be a replica trophy in Cardiff – the real thing is in Paris given France remain hot favourites – but broadcasters and sponsors want their champagne moment, come what may, and as a result England must oblige, even in an empty stadium. It means that England could be left a touch red-faced if France leave it late to put Scotland to the sword. All dressed up at the Principality with nowhere to go.

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Context dictates that England have to be on the front foot in Cardiff – let’s have that as their modus operandi

Play the match, not the occasion. Lap up the theatre, the dramatics, the pyrotechnics, the hostility, if that is what gets you going, but when you cross the white line, play what is in front of you. If there is one message that should have been hammered home to England’s players this week, it is exactly that.

Sport rarely plays out the way we fully expect it to, otherwise the Principality Stadium would not be sold out on Saturday, there would not be a growing sense of belief among Wales supporters that this is the day their desperate run of defeats ends, there would not be a nervousness, a tension among England fans heading to Cardiff. It’s why we love our sport but if England can play the match and not the occasion, they have the potential and the players to put Wales away comfortably.

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• 6-2 bench split means Earl will provide cover at centre
• “Half the stuff I do is as a 12 anyway,’ says back-rower

Ben Earl has said he would take a shift to playing at centre against Wales in his stride on Saturday after Steve Borthwick revealed the back-rower is the first cab off the rank in the event of injury.

As England go in search of the bonus-point victory they are likely to need to keep their hopes of winning the Six Nations title alive, the head coach has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench. With three fly-halves in the squad, there is no obvious centre cover and Tommy Freeman is starting there for England for the first time.

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• Chessum recalls abuse directed at players in 2023
• ‘It is probably the best away day you can have’

England are braced for a “hostile” welcome on and off the field in ­Cardiff when they head across the Severn Bridge for the final Six Nations instalment this weekend. The lock Ollie Chessum has not forgotten some of the abuse directed at England’s ­players by Welsh fans two years ago and he suggests it will “rev up” the visitors for the game at the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

Chessum, who was named player of the match after his side’s seven‑try win against Italy on ­Sunday, says ­England are determined to finish their campaign on a high note and are fully prepared for the “special” reception they receive before Six Nations games in Cardiff, most recently in 2023.

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• Pair crossed paths during time at Worcester Warriors
• Elliot Daly to keep place in backline after Italy showing

Listen to Fin Smith wax lyrical about the Wales head coach Matt Sherratt, the influence he had during their days together at Worcester and the debt of gratitude he feels is obvious. Accordingly, Smith sent Sherratt a message of congratulations when he was handed the Welsh reins on a temporary basis after Warren Gatland’s departure. “I texted him saying all the best,” said Smith, “and he said: ‘Eff off, I’ll see you in a few weeks.’”

Sherratt’s reply was entirely in jest – “it was nice to know he’s not changed since he got the big job” – and Smith is only too aware of the threat Wales pose to England’s outside chance of clinching the Six Nations title in Cardiff on Saturday. Defeat by Scotland was a 16th in a row but Sherratt has Wales playing a far more eye-catching brand of rugby. In what is due to be his final match in charge they would love nothing more than to end their miserable losing run against England.

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Ollie Sleightholme scored twice as England got a bonus-point victory to boost their slim hopes of snatching the Six Nations title

They’ve gone 60 metres in a flash! After Varney was isolated and spilled in contact, England were up the field in no time. First Daly with a strong counter down the left. Then Freeman down the right wing after another break. Then it was about continuity and Willis steamed onto a short pass. He was short of the line but reached out a meaty arm to dot down. Smith with the extras and England are up and running.

2 min: England go short with the kick-off but Italy are wise to it. A bit of kick tennis ends with an English line-out back in their own half. A decent strike off the back of it makes yards with Lawrence busting over the gainline, but the Italians swarm and win a penalty on the ground. They’ll have the line-out in English territory.

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After unconvincing back-to back victories Steve Borthwick’s side need to find a cutting edge against Italy

The England squad went to cookery school during their training camp in York this week. They were given all the ingredients to make a steak dinner and let loose in the kitchen. Some followed the recipe to the letter, others made things up as they went along and it is not too much of a stretch to imagine Marcus Smith finding time to whip up a quick souffle in front of a disapproving Steve Borthwick.

As metaphors for England’s attack go you could do a lot worse. England have all the ingredients but are yet to produce a signature dish in this Six Nations. Borthwick repeats ad nauseam he wants his players to move the ball, to be brave with it, to showcase their attacking qualities but against Scotland they kicked away 69% of their possession. Against France they clung on by their fingernails. Performances have been at odds with their pre-match promises.

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Marcus’s style of play is in complete conflict with how the England head coach sees the game

I have a great deal of sympathy for Marcus Smith. I really feel for him because these past few weeks will have been really mentally tough to deal with. It’s patently obvious that his preferred position is fly-half but he has been asked to do a job for the greater good of the team and has done so willingly. You can dress it up however you like but going from starting No 10, to playing out of position, to the bench is a demotion and that will be tough to take.

Marcus would be forgiven for looking at the team that Steve Borthwick has picked to face Italy and wondering why he was never given that backing. Fin Smith has performed superbly well in the No 10 jersey and after two games there, Borthwick has surrounded him with Northampton players with five in the backline. It’s a credit to Saints, their style of play, their players and coaches, and it gives Fin the perfect framework in which to to operate. I’m not sure, though, if Borthwick ever built a team around Marcus in the same way.

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• England retain slim hope of winning Six Nations
• Itoje: ‘It’s not going to be a straightforward game’

Maro Itoje has called on his England side to put Italy to the sword on Sunday before worrying about a bumper points haul that could boost their hopes of clinching the Six Nations title.

England go in search of a third straight victory of this year’s championship and are hot favourites to do so, having never lost to the Azzurri. Both their recent victories, against France and Scotland, were secured by a solitary point, however, with question marks raised over their clunky attack.

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