TOP OF THE PROPS!
England have an eclectic mix of front-rowers who can seal Six Nations title
ENGLAND have assembled a set of beastly and brilliant props ready to win the Six Nations and then take on the world. Complete with rappers, outspoken social commentators, rough diamonds from the Championship and pin-ups for a new, diverse national squad there is way more to England’s front-rowers than a set of dodgy haircuts.
Beneath the mullets, mohawks and shaven bonces are a group being moulded in a new England image. While some characters have been stifled in English white they are being encouraged to be themselves. Which is just as well, as they are an eclectic bunch.
‘We were having dinner last night and that was exactly our conversation among the front rows,’ said scrum guru Matt Proudfoot, who is in charge of this lot as they prepare to play Italy on Saturday with the Six Nations title within their grasp.
‘That’s what I want: them to bring their best personalities to the game. That’s the way I tend to coach. I don’t want them to fit into a box. They have to create a box that they feel is the best version of themselves. My role is to help them find that.’
You will not fit any of these props in a box. On the loosehead side Tongan-born stalwart Mako Vunipola and mental health advocate Joe Marler are the experienced duo — with 136 England and Lions caps between them — joined by newbie Beno Obano.
Of Nigerian heritage, like his cousin Maro Itoje, the Bath man raps under the pseudonym ‘Sinny’ and was an informed lightningrod for his club on issues surrounding taking a knee and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The uncapped 26-year- old is also joined by Ellis Genge, one year younger, who in lockdown became heavily involved in player contract wranglings, tried to set up his own union and is constantly, and refreshingly, decrying rugby’s stuffy, middle- class stereotype. Breaking down barriers as well as opposition tightheads seems a personal crusade.
On the other side of the scrum is Kyle Sinckler, a hero of the World Cup whose mother Donna worked in a police call centre so her son could be ferried to rugby games and pay for kit as a kid.
He now wants to set up innercity academies to help unlock more talent from areas rugby does not yet scour — places like Tooting and Mitcham where he grew up.
Will Stuart and Harry Williams join him on the anchor side of the scrum, and they both had to drop down to some more humble backwaters of the English pyramid before their recognition came.
Stuart, 24, spent time at Blackheath, Moseley and Nottingham, and was loaned out from Wasps before being let go then plucked out by Bath. And Williams, 29, who was in the same Whitgift School side as Elliot Daly, joined Nottingham and Jersey after leaving Loughborough University until Exeter’s Rob Baxter discovered him as a sizeable gem.
‘You have to act with character,’ said Williams, who missed out on the World Cup squad last year. ‘It’s important to be yourself.’
Proudfoot, when working with the Springboks, created two huge, gnarly front- rows who eventually eviscerated England in the World Cup final.
Having sculpted ‘The Beast’ Tendai Mtawarira, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe and Steven
Kitshoff into global champions, Proudfoot thinks his new England crop can emulate his former charges.
‘We have very talented players, some quite young with a bright future and a lot of growth in them,’ he said. ‘We are mixing it with some experience. That is a great balance. What has really impressed me is the attitude in how to work together and improve. We have a great combination we can really mould three or four front-rows from.’
And while he is at it, Proudfoot is looking to use the Exeter Chiefs blueprint of creating an unbeatable pack based on the qualities of the squad who mauled and smashed their way to a Premiership and European Cup double.
‘The players in the English pack love a maul,’ , he said. ‘It is such a powerful weapon. If you watch Exeter play, if you get three opportunities in the opposition 22 you need to take them all. That’s been the learning for us, that is how effective you need to be.’
If they embrace that and these boys’ desire to be different like the Chiefs, England could be primed for global supremacy. THE police will take no action against the 12 Barbarians players whose trip to the pub resulted in Sunday’s game against England being cancelled. The players could still face an RFU disciplinary charge for bringing the game into disrepute.
AT LONG last the French half-back merry-go-round looks to have come to a glorious halt. Never mind being at sixes and sevens, France have been at nines and tens for a decade, sifting through 39 pairs of playmakers since 2009. Now they have found a duo for the next decade — and Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack could lead them to the six Nations crown in Paris on saturday.
At 23 and 21 respectively, they are regarded as the future of French rugby and many rate the electric Dupont as the best scrum-half in the world.
They may have started together in only 11 Tests since last year, but they know each other inside out — having teamed up at Toulouse — and have been key to the French revival.
‘The good thing is that they play together regularly at Toulouse as well as for France,’ shaun Edwards, their defence coach at Les Bleus, told Sportsmail. ‘i was a half-back myself and you get more of an understanding with someone like that, so it becomes telepathic after a bit.’
Dupont tore Wales apart on saturday night, scoring twice as the French laid down a marker before resuming their six Nations challenge, and Ntamack kicked everything from the tee, scoring 14 points. Edwards wants his young stars to emulate their irish counterparts Conor Murray, 31, and Johnny sexton, 35 — a pair he admires hugely — when they clash on saturday.
‘ They have two incredibly experienced half-backs who i have ultimate respect for in Johnny and Conor,’ Edwards said. ‘ Two fantastic players over the years who are still world class. We have ultimate respect for the irish as players and coaches as a lot of them have been there and done it. They’ve done the things we want to do by winning grand slams and six Nations regularly.
‘We want to become a top four team regularly over the next few years — like ireland have been — and we’re on a mission to do that. Even the top three maybe. To do that you have to beat high quality opponents, which ireland are. Everything they’ve done we want to do the same.’
sexton has admired the French revolution. ireland have to beat them well in Paris to win the six Nations and he knows it will be a tougher task than in the past.
‘ They have been very impressive,’ he said of Fabien galthie’s men, who have won three of four in the Championship so far. ‘You can see the coaches’ fingerprints all over it in terms of defence and how much more aggressive they are with their line speed.
‘Obviously shaun Edwards has been excellent with Wales over the years. We have found them particularly tough to break down with that line speed. That has been something we have been talking about a lot. They like to play quick, offload, dominate in the collisions and in defence they bring line speed. France are obviously a top-class team and we need to be at our very best this weekend.’
Edwards, having come from Wales last year after the World Cup, is enjoying being part of a newly dominant French set-up who are charging towards a home World Cup in 2023.
‘One thing i have seen is that the French people are very much behind the team,’ he said. ‘France having a good team is good for world rugby, too. i just get the feeling that everyone wants a good French team. it’s up to us as a coaching team to deliver that.’
in these pages, sir Clive Woodward has regularly backed France to be favourites in three years’ time.
Edwards, who was inspired to switch from league to union by the former England boss, said of sir Clive: ‘He was one of the first people who got me interested in rugby union.
‘ i went to watch England training and he was so kind to me. He let me watch a session, come to meetings, it was a real eye- opener. He thinks we’re favourites for the World Cup? i don’t know. We’re not allowed to bet, so i’ll stay clear of that! But coming from someone like sir Clive, who knows his rugby, that is kind praise indeed.’
Ahead of the belated super saturday — with Wales playing scotland, England facing italy and France hosting ireland — Edwards hopes the six Nations conclusion will bring a festival of rugby, even if his game only kicks off at 9.05pm in Paris.
‘i joke to some of the coaches that i’m usually in bed at that time,’ he laughed. ‘seriously though, it’s great for rugby having three games back-toback on TV. We can’t have fans but what we can have is record TV audiences. Let’s hope that happens.’
With Dupont and Ntamack providing the spark, there could be fireworks in France.