DAVID & GOLIATH
Battle between rising star Ainu’u and the old England hand Cole sums up uneven and yet intriguing contest
IF ANYTHING personifies the difference in stature between England and USA as top-flight rugby entities it will be today’s head-to-head between Dan Cole and David Ainu’u.
In one corner stands a 32-yearold who is about to draw level with Jonny Wilkinson as England’s third-most capped player – on 91.
In the other a teenager who has started just twice for his country.
A grizzled goat who knows every trick versus a fresh-faced young buck who will be blinking disbelievingly under the Kobe City Misaki Stadium floodlights.
The odds are stacked in favour of England’s tight-head prop but at least Ainu’u and the USA have the advantage of unfamiliarity.
Even a seasoned pro like Cole admits he knows next to nothing about his opposite number.
“Not a great deal,” said the Leicester veteran. “We’ve had a look at previous games and learned as much as we can but until you play against somebody you don’t really know.”
England last played USA at the 2007 World Cup. They won 28-10, a result that if replicated under the Kobe roof today would be satisfactory for the underdogs.
For Ainu’u, 19, England – muchchanged or not – represent a huge leap as international opposition. The highest-ranked side he has played against has been Japan.
USA coach Gary Gold’s hunch is that the experience Ainu’u has picked up in European club rugby at Toulouse will be enough to enable him to survive and he is happy to throw him in with one eye on the future.
Gold said: “David is a real shining light for us as a team. He’s going to have a fantastic career at Toulouse. David is one of the guys who could comfortably play 100 Tests for America one day.
“He’s a fantastic kid, a fantastic rugby player, a committed hard worker. I’m very excited to see him come up against the hugely experienced Dan Cole.”
If it is a triumph for the 125kg loose-head, who was born in American Samoa but raised in Washington state, to pack down in such company, it is an achievement too for Cole to be playing at his third World Cup. It looked odds against when he was dropped from the squad a year out from the tournament.
England coach Eddie Jones said: “Twelve months ago we were
thinking he wasn’t going to go to the World Cup.
“He’s an outstanding scrummager but he needed to work harder on his general play. He’s gone away, has got a lot fitter, has improved his acceleration capacity and has really made a difference to the squad. So it’s going to be a great night for him.”
The demands on a modern-day prop are wide-ranging and Leicester team-mate Ben Youngs has witnessed the work Cole has put in to evolve. He will never be an explosive runner in the Kyle Sinckler mould but apparently you can teach an old dog a few new tricks.
Youngs said: “I see it day to day at the club how hard he has worked on the areas of his game that are not natural to him – things like ball carrying. He’d much rather go around hitting rucks and scrummaging.”
Cole has the miseryguts front-row forward persona off to a tee but after two depressingWorld Cup experiences in 2011 and 2015, he thinks 2019 could finally be a campaign to smile about.
He said: “I am back in and I’m excited to be part of this England team because I think it’s the best it has been for a long while.”