Roebuck sparks tug-of-war as Scots plan latest cross-border raid
Tom Roebuck is the subject of an international tug-of-war between Scotland and England.
The highly rated wing is dualqualified, having been born in Inverness but grown up in Cheshire.
The 22-year-old was called up to England’s training squad under former head coach Eddie Jones last October after backing up his Sale Sharks breakthrough in 2021-22. He has followed that up by scoring eight tries in the Premiership this season.
However, he remains uncapped, which has allowed Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend to set up a potential cross-border raid following previous swoops for Cameron Redpath and Ruaridh Mcconnochie, who featured in past England training squads.
Yet Jones’ successor, Steve Borthwick, remains interested in Roebuck, who combines excellence under the high ball with a rangy running style. And Alex Sanderson, the Sale director of rugby, has challenged Roebuck, together with fellow back-three young guns Joe Carpenter and Arron Reed, to showcase their international quality in the Premiership
final against Saracens tomorrow.
“I think they’re all pushing for international spots, to be honest, but that’s just my opinion and I’m not the England coach,” Sanderson said. “Scotland have been knocking [for Roebuck] and Tom has had a call from Steve [Borthwick] and rightly so, because he wants to keep his options open regarding backthree selection.
“Let’s face it, the competition is high, with [Henry] Arundell, [Anthony] Watson, [Freddie] Steward and all those guys. There are good wingers around. But these are the games that count. These games are the most intensive ones and the kind of games that you make your reputation on; these big occasions. All three of them have done it thus far.”
Roebuck is keeping his options open. Townsend has already announced his squad for the World Cup and, while Roebuck did not feature in Borthwick’s maiden Six Nations campaign, wing spots may be up for grabs, particularly with Jack Nowell ruling himself out of the World Cup.
But Roebuck is non-committal about where his allegiances lie. “I have not really made too much of a decision about it because I haven’t had to yet,” he said. “I would love to play international rugby.”