Chisholm challenges young flyers to fill Yarde gap
STAND-IN Harlequins captain James Chisholm has urged his young wingers to seize their chances following the sacking of Marland Yarde.
Yarde has joined Sale after being booted by Quins’ boss John Kingston, who grew weary of the England wing’s antics after a series of missed training sessions.
Chisholm backs the club’s strong stance and has called on the likes of Gabriel Ibitoye and Henry Cheeseman to step up and fill the breach.
Chisholm told TRP: “Marland’s a fantastic player and a very gifted athlete and I hope Sale will get the best out of him.
“Hopefully, in his mind he can learn from what happened and move forward, but from an in-house discipline viewpoint you have to make a stand on certain issues.
“No one is bigger than the club, we’re all small cogs in a big machine and the outside world seems to be backing John Kingston in what’s happened.
“Now it’s about moving forward, not thinking of things that could potentially harm the emotion of the team – and it starts today at Saracens.”
Chisholm added: “Marland moving on creates opportunities and today we’ve got Gabriel Ibitoye coming in for one of his first games, while Henry Cheeseman’s in as well, so there’s a lot of excitement about those guys now.
“On paper, it’s two good, young teams that are going to go at each other. We both like to attack and score tries and the Anglo-Welsh is a competition we want do well in, so you want guys to take their chances and push for selection.”
Back rower Chisholm also has to prove himself again after returning to action against Worcester Warriors last week following a seven-month lay-off.
A concussion sustained at Gloucester last March cut short a promising season and ruined the No.8’s chances of touring Argentina with England.
Chisholm, 22, explained: “I just challenged for a kickoff, got knocked out and have been struggling with the concussion ever since. It takes time but I’m over the worst and I’m really looking to push on again and add some of my energy.
“Looking from outside the England camp, Eddie’s not afraid to pick young guys, as we’ve seen with Tom Curry and Sam Simmonds, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel for people who want to challenge themselves internationally.
“It starts with Harlequins, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Chisholm is joined in the pack with Lewis Boyce and Dino Lamb, who will make their starting debuts for the club. In the backline Harry Sloan makes his first senior appearance since May 2015, having recovered from a knee injury.
Ross Chisholm and James Lang also make their first appearances of the season, at full-back and inside centre respectively.