With Steve Borthwick and England being forced to stagger their 2023 Rugby World Cup training squad selection, the month-long opportunity for players not involved in the final stages of the Premiership to learn and impress is obvious for all to see.
Rugby is a game of teamwork and structure and the players constantly in camp will certainly have an advantage of familiarity come the time for the warm-up Tests. On the flip side, those in the top four clubs might argue that they’ll have enjoyed that extra rest and relaxation period ahead of the arduous preparation sessions ahead.
Planet Rugby’s James While looks at the five players that might just benefit the most from the extended time in the squad, together with the man that they’ll most likely have to leapfrog in the final race for selection.
Loosehead prop: Val Rapava-Ruskin v Bevan Rodd
There’s no shadow of a doubt that Bevan Rodd will receive a host of England caps in the future but at the tender propping age of 22 he’s still on the road to physical and technical maturity. His left arm bind and initial engagement sequence leaves him susceptible to hinging problems and currently he struggles to maintain height and stability needed when against the size of tightheads he’ll face at Rugby World Cup time.
Enter Kingsholm’s favourite adopted son, the behemoth Val Rapava-Ruskin, a man that’s dominated a number of world-class tightheads this season and has only conceded two scrum penalties all year. Planet Rugby understands that Borthwick wishes to see more work-rate off the ball and an increase in aerobic fitness from Rapava-Ruskin and given he’s spent three weeks already in camp he’ll have had every chance to impress. His work in the jackal and his offloading is the equal of Rodd and it just may be he might sneak ahead in the race for the third loosehead berth.
Second/back-row: George Martin v Nick Isiekwe
Planet Rugby is well aware that Borthwick is a big fan of the mongrel approach of George Martin to the breakdown and contact area. He was one of the first shouts the England head coach made when short of a four-cum-six during the Six Nations and he fills one real void in the pool of players available – as the obvious choice to back Courtney Lawes up as a blindside that can also potentially fill in at lock in an emergency.
It’s said that many are impressed with his abrasion and appetite for contact, with serious clout in tackle and carry. With Nick Isiekwe more of a lineout specialist it may very well be that with gain line dominance the single most important key to winning against the top Test nations, that it’s time for Martin to strut his stuff at the highest level.
Number eight: Zach Mercer v Billy Vunipola
Technically, Vunipola is around the squad at the moment, but given the latest news that his troublesome knee is going under the knife just 80 days before the World Cup begins, his fitness is nip and tuck. Couple this with his well-publicised confrontational relationship with parts of the England management then even Vunipola would admit that his chances to impress may be slowly eroding.
Meanwhile, Zach Mercer has spent almost three seasons in the French Pyrenees honing the art of number eight play in the toughest league on the planet – the Top 14. The French simply gush about the magnificence of the former Bath man during his sojourn with Montpellier and given his lineout dominance, his power in carry and his leadership skills, we fully expect him to be the starting number eight during the warm-ups and to cement his place thereafter.
Scrum-half: Danny Care v Raffi Quirke
There’s a powerful case to argue that Danny Care is amongst the most influential players of all time in the Premiership. Whilst he favours intuition and emotion over structure and process, he still possesses one of the best footballing games around and is dynamite in terms of potential bench impact.
Raffi Quirke, like his Sale team-mate Rodd, should get heaps of England caps, but his fragility and lack of game time are both worries for Borthwick and England. We think he might just be too much of a risk to take to France, whilst we’d argue that taking Care offers such a point of attacking difference that it would be risky to leave his undoubted skills at home.
Wing: Cadan Murley v Elliot Daly
If we had to name the player that has the finest attacking passing game in the Premiership in any of the three-quarter berths, our first, second and third choice would be the exquisite Saracen, Elliot Daly, a man capable of playing in any shirt from 11 to 15. However, a 33% tackle success rate at his favoured 13 during the 2021 Lions series makes his presence there untenable, as much as we’d love to see him in white again.
With England sure to pick Max Malins, Anthony Watson and Freddie Steward as part of their backfield trio, the one thing they are short of is outright gas and Cadan Murley offers that in spades. His aerial game has improved immensely and four extra kilos of muscle has seen him hone his defensive and physical preference.
Daly is one of our favourites, a sublime enabler of others around him and someone who works wonderfully with Owen Farrell, but it might just be that he, the master of utility, misses out to the positional precision of Murley, the specialist.
READ MORE: Two omitted from England squad while Billy Vunipola undergoes surgery
The article Who will benefit and who will suffer from England’s staggered squad selection appeared first on Planetrugby.com.
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