Bath’s Attwood puts focus on club over country
IT’S a sign of where Dave Attwood’s focus lies at the moment that the England training squad announcement completely passed him by, writes Daniel Evans.
He wasn’t one of the 36 names put out last Thursday for a camp in Bristol this week and, he says, didn’t give it a thought.
“I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t even know it was announced,” he said after another strong performance in a Bath Rugby shirt, against Northampton Saints.
“I had other things going on. I was focusing on our game, looking after the kids and this kind of thing. Someone asked: ‘Did you get a phone call last night?’ I was like: ‘From who?’
“I didn’t get a phone call, I wasn’t particularly expecting one, so I wasn’t hugely disappointed. I’m enjoying the way I’m playing here at Bath. For me, that’s all that matters.”
A year ago, Attwood was miles away from an England recall. He had a chronic knee cartilage injury dating back to the autumn of 2016.
A loan spell at Toulon - where he was a revelation in the second row - proved his fitness, his power and gave him a huge confidence boost.
The 31-year-old has ridden that wave into his Bath return and he remains full of self belief if he does break back into the England set-up.
“Hopefully, you can see from what I’m putting out here on the weekend at Bath I’ve got plenty to give,” he added after the 17-15 win over Saints . “I offer a much more physi- cal presence than a lot of players around the Premiership. I pride myself on that.
“Hopefully, if I can carry on doing that, it’s something Eddie Jones wants. It’s something plenty of people want and Bath are one of those.”
Attwood played a key role in the win against Saints at the sodden Rec on Saturday. He was part of a front five that got the edge in the scrums and made 12 tackles - none missed - most of them dominant. His only blemish against Saints was giving away a penalty late on when he was told by referee Karl Dickson the ball was out of a ruck, but rather than go for it he took out scrum-half Alex Mitchell and gave away a “dull” penalty. “You get a bit carried away,” he said.
Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi has suffered a fresh injury blow and withdrawn from England’s training squad for their three-day camp in Bristol. Harlequins prop Joe Marler, who has acts as England’s secondchoice loosehead behind Mako Vunipola, has pulled out for personal reasons. His place will now be taken by Exeter’s Ben Moon. Worcester’s Nick Schonert is another injury withdrawal, while Leicester’s Jordan Olowofela - who reached the World Rugby U20 Championship final with England this summer - has been called into the party. England will name their squad for the November internationals on October 18 before they fly to Portugal ahead of matches against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia at Twickenham.