Old-fashioned Spencer good enough to be new Johnson, says coach
Leicester lock has forced himself into World Cup picture with some big hits, reports Daniel Schofield
When you are wearing the green, red and white stripes of Leicester Tigers then compliments do not come any higher than being compared to Martin Johnson but forwards coach Mark Bakewell believes Will Spencer has the potential to eventually fill that lofty role for club and country.
In an age when locks increasingly act as auxiliary flankers, Spencer is an old-fashioned lump of a second row. He might not be able to cover as much ground as Wasps’ Joe Launchbury, whom he faces today at Welford Road, but bodies and rucks that he hits tend to stay hit. Scrums are considerably sturdier for his presence and he also has the nous to call a line-out.
Most of all it is that unquantifiable devil about his play, a nastiness that stays within the bounds of legality that excites Bakewell. “He has that touch of Johnno about him,” Bakewell said. “I have enormous respect for Martin Johnson. He was probably the prototype of English rugby as far as locks are concerned. Will has the same qualities in terms of being confrontational and abrasive.
“What is becoming more prevalent now is these big men who can play lock and back row. There’s always a place for a guy like Will, because he can play four or five, he can run the line-out, he is uncompromising with his brutality around the contact area. I actually think that role is magnified because they are becoming less and less common. He can push for two men in the scrum, he can run a line-out, he is a very good jumper, he is very abrasive and aggressive. Those second rows are hard to find. All I hope with Will is that he stays on the park, produces and gets 50 caps for England along with 150 caps for Leicester.”
Staying on the field has been Spencer’s greatest challenge to date.
Coming through the ranks at London Irish, he moved to Bath, where he missed two successive years through three shoulder dislocations and two operations. On his road to recovery, he spent time playing for Eastern Suburbs, where he first encountered Bakewell, in Australia and then had a spell at London Welsh in the Championship before moving to Worcester.
In May 2017, he made his first England appearance off the bench against the Barbarians and was included in Eddie Jones’s most recent training squad. Certainly England do not lack for ultra-talented second rows, but Spencer, along with Bath’s Dave Attwood and Gloucester’s Ed Slater, offer that counterbalancing ballast in the engine room.
“I am a big guy and like to play my strengths, a bit old-fashioned up the middle, tuck it up the jumper, hit a lot of rucks,” Spencer said. “It is a bit old school but I still think there’s a place in the game for that. With a lot of the second rows you have some amazing athletes. Guys who are super mobile, super springy, super athletic. I’m probably not those things, but what I can do is get my head down and run hard and try to hit hard and win collisions. I have conversations with Steve [Borthwick] and Hats [Neal Hatley] and if they need some of that I will be trying to be putting my hand up with Leicester on a regular basis.”
Still Spencer showed an impressive turn of pace to burst through the Newcastle defence to set up George Ford’s opening try in the 49-33 victory over the Falcons last week. Yet the 26-year-old knows his primary job is to provide the platform for the backs that was so lacking in the chastening 40-6 defeat by Exeter that ultimately cost coach Matt O’Connor his job.
“Just to be mentioned in the same breath as Johnno is enormous. To play at Welford Road and playing in the second row is special enough, to be compared to him is pretty amazing. I am not quite at that level yet.”
‘Will can be abrasive and confrontational. He can push for two men in the scrum’