BLAMIRE & HIGHER
He’s second choice hooker at Newcastle but Jamie is really flying with England
JAMIE BLAMIRE has scored more tries for England than he has made career Premiership starts.
Four tries in just an hour and a half of Test rugby should make him a marked man going into England’s autumn campaign.
Yet with all the talk being about Marcus Smith, Alex Dombrandt and Freddie Steward, Newcastle’s second choice hooker goes in under the radar.
“I’ve only played two or three seasons of firstteam club rugby,” the 23year old said. “I’ve got a lot of learning still to do.”
Perhaps, but Newcastle boss Dean Richards claims not to have seen a hooker in English rugby “who is as good around the park and who has as big an impact.”
Eddie Jones is evidently of similar mind and ahead of England’s sold-out opener against Tonga on Saturday, sees Blamire as a key weapon in an 80-minute team performance.
All of which is remarkable given the Cumbrian has not started a game for Newcastle this season – and has only worn their No.2 jersey three times since his debut in May 2019.
Yet off the bench he is a demon, taking less than a minute to score on his Red Rose debut against USA in July.
A week later Jones gave him his first start against Canada and was rewarded with a hat-trick inside an hour.
“I couldn’t have imagined that in my wildest dreams,” Blamire admitted. “They were more team tries but it was a special day for me and my family.
“I was so full of emotions and was on Cloud Nine for three weeks afterwards. Couldn’t stop thinking about it. Didn’t want to.”
That of course was for an England team minus its Lions, who are now available to face opposition which also includes Australia and South Africa.
But by dropping the Vunipolas, George Ford and, initially at least, Jamie George, Jones has made clear it is all about the here and now.
“We get 70 per cent of our ball from lineout attack and kick return – they’re our two primary sources of possession,” Jones explained.
“What we need to become really good at is to aggressively attack from either lineout or kick return and put the opposition under pressure on the first four phases.”
Blamire proved to Jones he can make an impact off the bench when rugby’s gaze was distracted by the Lions.
Now England get to deploy their secret weapon in front of the watching world.