Big Joe will be in the mix for England summer tour
JOE Cokanasiga has been backed to make a return to England colours after shaking off another five months of injury frustration.
The Bath winger made his comeback off the bench at Newcastle last weekend scoring twice to advertise his sharpness after a knee injury. He scored again yesterday in the victory over Bristol.
Cokanasiga has been on the radar of England head coach since the Australian handed him his Test debut in 2018 and has scored 11 tries in 11 internationally.
A cursed run of injuries restricted his match action before his latest comeback at Kingston Park but Bath director of rugby Stuart Hooper insists the big wing should be in line for a summer spot on the tour to Australia.
“If you are pulling together an England XV or whatever they do for the tour, 30, then he has got to be close to the mix,” said Hooper. “He is a phenomenal athlete and somebody who can do something a bit different, he’s very physical.
“He has been out of the game a long time and played very little rugby but I am sure they will be looking at him come the back end of the season.
“The big thing for him now is knitting together game time and getting him back on the field and scoring more tries.”
With Manu Tuilagi’s continuing injury problems England boss Eddie Jones is looking for some heft in the three-quarters and Cokanisaga at 6ft 3in and at over 17-and-a-half stone fits the bill.
And he has already made an impact in his short time back in full fitness on and off the pitch.
Hooper added: “To have his influence around game and training pitch is a plus for the team. He is an international quality player who really has something different.
“If you are playing against him you are definitely worried about what he can do with the ball. He is somebody we want to keep bringing into games, we want to get him back to where he was before and past that to realise his potential.
“You can see from the way the games have gone for us that getting over the advantage line is the allimportant battle in the game of rugby and Joe is somebody who can add that.”