Quins duo tipped to power up England
WILL Collier and Fin Baxter could galvanise the England scrum with their technique and power, according to World Cup-winning scrum coach Phil Keith-Roach.
The two Harlequins props produced a scrum masterclass to inspire last week’s thrilling 42-41 European Cup quarter-final away victory over Bordeaux-Begles.
The way tighthead Collier, 32, and loosehead Baxter, 22, dismantled the heavy-duty Bordeaux pack delighted KeithRoach, below, who built the scrum that took England to the world title in 2003.
Keith-Roach says that he is incredulous that Collier, who joins French club Castres next season, has been overlooked by England since winning two caps against Argentina in 2017.
“I am a great fan of Will Collier – and England have lost out on a minimum of four years of his excellence at tighthead, despite it being a problem position for them since the 2019 World Cup.
“Well done also to Fin Baxter, who has come through really quickly this season, but that would not have happened if he was not starting matches – which is what Collier did not get enough of earlier in his career. It would be hugely disappointing if England do not take them both to New Zealand this summer.”
Keith-Roach applauded the two props for their durability in playing most of the 80 minutes in Bordeaux, and Quins director of rugby Billy Millard for backing them.
“One of the most relevant quotes of recent times was when Millard said, ‘we could not afford to take them off’. It showed he’s not making stop-clock substitutions in the front row because of GPS trackers. It’s no good pretending you’ve got a ‘bomb squad’ if you haven’t. And it’s no good
good pretending you’ve got a ‘bomb squad’ if you haven’t. And it’s no good taking props off and replacing them with much weaker scrummagers – something we’ve seen happen time and again in top class rugby.
“I’m also impressed with the attention to detail that Collier and Baxter bring to their trade, and the adjustments they have made with the back five of the Quins scrum to make the whole unit cohesive.”
WILL Collier and Fin Baxter have been showered with praise following Harlequins epic European Cup quarter-final away victory over Bordeaux last weekend, and it is richly deserved. Between them they took the heavyweight Bordeaux pack to the cleaners at the scrum, with 22-year-old loosehead Baxter coming-of-age, aided and abetted by the decade older Collier’s turn-the-screw pressure at tighthead.
It had a game-changing impact, with Harlequins gaining a crucial advantage, not just in practical terms by setting the entire Bordeaux team on their heels, with well co-ordinated, hard, straight scrummaging, but also by inflicting such psychological damage that the confidence of the French favourites was shaken.
It is this psychological impact of scrummaging that is often overlooked, but the knock-on effects for the team on the receiving end – transmitted by a seismic shock which is felt all the way from the front row to full back – is massive. So much so that it is decisive in who wins and loses, as happened with Quins prevailing 42-41.
It is why, if England want to win their two-Test series in New Zealand this summer, both Collier and Baxter should be on the plane. Collier is available for England, despite leaving Quins to join Castres next season, and during June/July his departure to France is no impediment to Steve Borthwick selecting him to anchor the England scrum.
Collier should have been in the England squad for the last four years, but his credentials as the heir to the No.3 shirt held by Dan Cole were somehow ignored. Behind the scenes, Collier, who is four years younger than Cole, has benefited from the sage advice of Phil KeithRoach, and the England 2003 world champion scrum coach was delighted for him after the match in Bordeaux.
Keith-Roach told me: “It doesn’t take long to spot a really good tighthead, and when Collier was about 19 playing at Rosslyn Park I could see that he was an international prop in the making – and I was shocked he was that young.
“I then lost track of him after he went into the Quins academy. The next time I saw him was when he came off the bench in the first Test of England’s 2017 tour of Argentina, to make a very impressive debut by turning a crumbling England scrum into one that was immovable, and won a very close match.”
“He did the same in the second Test, and scored a try, helping England to win the series 2-0. I don’t know what else he could have done to impress Eddie Jones, but it wasn’t enough. It shows just how narrow England’s front row selection became, because he has not been able to add to those two England caps seven years ago.
“During that time he was often used as a sub at Harlequins behind either Kyle Sinckler, Simon Kerrod, or Wilco Louw, which surprised me, but maybe their coaches didn’t see in him what I did. Even now, some people think Quins won the Premiership title with Sinckler, when it was Louw and Collier.”
Keith-Roach’s belief in Collier has never wavered and, as our front page story makes clear, he is convinced that since 2019 England have squandered the opportunity to let the rock-solid Quins tighthead provide the solution to their problem position.
My conclusion is that “a minimum of four years of excellence” being overlooked does not reflect well on the front row selection policies of head coaches Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick.
Keith-Roach is also strongly opposed to front row substitutions based on GPS tracking, hence his praise for Quins director of rugby Billy Millard’s comment about Collier and Baxter after the Bordeaux match that, “we could not afford to take them off ”.
“It impressed me to hear it. Of course they’re bloody tired, they’ve been playing top level rugby – but props like Collier and another unsung tighthead, Gloucester’s Kirill Gotovtsev, as well as Fin Baxter and Joe Marler, are 80 minute men”.
Returning to his tighthead theme, Keith-Roach concludes his salute to the scrum strongmen: “Gloucester have lost just once in their last seven matches since Gotovtsev, who is a 36-year-old from Siberia, took over at tighthead. He and Collier both have superb basic technique. They are rock-solid, have great flat-back positions, and scrummage dead straight. They very rarely collapse, are very difficult to knock around, and are not driven backwards – nor do they end up scrummaging flat on their stomachs…”
Keith-Roach says that Gerard Cholley, the giant switch-hitting French prop of their 1977 Grand Slam side, who is Monsieur Castres, knows a good tighthead when he sees one. However, he suggests that Collier is not only a master of his trade, but much more disciplined than the pugilistic Cholley, who was nicknamed the “Master of Menace”.
He adds that Collier “should be going to Castres with a suitcase full of England caps”. That’s unlikely to happen, but let’s hope that at least there are two more earned against New Zealand before the tighthead that his country failed to utilise to the full crosses The Channel.
“Bordeaux were taken to the cleaners by Fin Baxter and Will Collier”