Luther puts his money on ‘scrapper’ Ludlam
LEWIS Ludlam’s bloody-minded determination to prioritise winning rugby matches over making friends should see him emerge as one of the stars of England’s World Cup campaign, according to ex-Northampton colleague Luther Burrell.
Ludlam’s rapid rise is stunning but Burrell believes it is due reward for the effort the 23-year-old has put in since his career was threatened by two serious injuries and a bout of glandular fever after he featured for England U20s in the 2015 Junior World Cup final.
Burrell, now playing in Super League for Warrington, told The Rugby Paper:
“I’m thrilled for Lewis – it’s unbelievable and as soon as I saw he’d been selected I left him a voicemail congratulating him on his achievement and wishing him all the best.
“This time last year he wasn’t really in the frame for Northampton and he’s had to overcome a lot, but he worked tirelessly to try and make the first team and now he’s got his rewards.
“He’s a natural hard worker who has a mature head on very young shoulders and when he got the call into England’s camp earlier this summer, I told him he shouldn’t go there to make friends but to make a career of it and work really hard.
“That was the advice I got when I first went into the England set-up in 2014. You go there to make an impression on the coaches through working hard and not being shy. Friendships will come on the back of that when you’re winning games.
“You need to be slightly confrontational and not be scared to upset the people around you and that’s the kind of bloke Lewis is; he’s a scrapper who’s not afraid of a bit of niggle and he’ll take this selection now and do really well at the World Cup.”
Burrell, right, believes Ludlam’s fearless display against Wales last weekend set the right tone for the World Cup, adding: “He won’t be such an unknown now after how he played against Wales but if he can get another couple of games under his belt, he’s going to grow massively as a player and he’ll compete very hard now for a back row spot in Japan.
“He was all over that game last week with his tackles, turnovers and strong carries so he’ll certainly be one to watch. I’m so pleased that Eddie Jones took a punt by getting him in camp and he’s exactly the sort of no-nonsense character England need.”
Meanwhile, Burrell has urged World Cup discards such as Mike Brown, Harry Williams, Charlie Ewels and Ben Spencer not to give up on their Japanese dreams.
Four years ago, Burrell was left devastated after being omitted from Stuart Lancaster’s World
Cup squad despite having featured regularly under the Cumbrian.
He said: “I feel for those lads and it’s going to be very disheartening when they’ve put so much work into the build-up to D-Day. It’s horrible but these guys need to stay on it because there’s a long period before the World Cup and anything can happen.
“The warm-up games were over when I was left out so there was no chance of a reprieve for me, but the fact Eddie Jones has named his squad early means there are still games to play and a lot of training still to be done and there could yet be injuries.”
With Northampton’s Piers Francis chosen at centre along with Manu Tuilagi, Henry Slade and Jonathan Joseph, Burrell is impressed by the array of midfield options at England’s disposal.
“I really rate Manu and can’t speak highly enough of him, but there are fantastic midfield options with Henry Slade looking so comfortable, Jonathan Joseph looking good against Wales and Piers offering a high level of work-rate and reliability,” he said.
“The beauty of that back-line Eddie’s selected is he can completely restructure it depending on the game plan. He can start George Ford at No.10 and play Owen Farrell and Slade in midfield together if he wants to play more of a territory game, or play a highly confrontational game with Faz and Manu or have two playmakers in Piers and Slade.
“Joseph’s looking sharp after his injury and his try ratio is very good as well so it’s brilliant news for England. You can interchange right across that 10, 12 and 13 axis and everyone else in the backline has an X-factor about them which is exciting.”
Burrell, meanwhile, has worked his way into first team contention at Warrington and, after making his full home debut against St Helens ten days ago, his sights are on joining former Wigan and Sale Sharks star Jason Robinson, left, in winning titles in both codes.
Warrington also have a Challenge Cup final against St Helens to look forward to this weekend, with Burrell adding: “Playing 80 minutes against St Helens was a huge honour and the coaches have been happy with my output. I’ve surprised them with how quickly I’ve picked things up but there are things to work on and it’s feet on the ground.
“Whether I make this week’s squad or not, I’m looking forward to having a good day at Wembley and then we’ll set our sights on winning Super League.
“How good would it be to emulate Jason? That’s the dream and I’m in the right place – we want to have a real good crack at the playoffs.”