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Conor O’Shea: England have a generational set of players coming through

After a long hiatus, the revival of the A team and the employment of a gifted coaching staff are a boon for a richly talented, emerging crop

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England’s autumn could be defined on Saturday as they aim to upset the Springboks. But less than 24 hours later, across the A316 at the Twickenham Stoop, is a game that may help to shape the next decade.
While bashing the Rugby Football Union (RFU) is a popular pursuit, the staging of a second-string fixture between England and Australia deserves praise. The initiative makes an almost suspicious amount of sense.
As recent weeks have reinforced, Steve Borthwick’s senior team remain in a fragile period of transition. Patience is required for emerging players, such as Tommy Freeman and Chandler Cunningham-South, to establish themselves at the top table. Meanwhile, other positions – tighthead prop, inside centre and maybe lock – need urgent attention.
England are world champions at Under-20 level and are “unashamedly” targeting a repeat next summer. Not without substance does Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s executive performance director, declare: “We’ve got some generational talent in England.”
Alignment is a term that sails dangerously close to corporate jargon. However, Mark Mapletoft, Andy Titterrell, Nathan Catt and Haydn Thomas are all part of the England A coaching staff, after guiding the Under-20s to global glory in South Africa five months ago.
Thomas has been seconded from Exeter Chiefs, where he is taking over the first-team defence. Bath have also co-operated with the RFU to allow attack guru Lee Blackett to join up. Thomas and Blackett will be returning for another England A outing against Ireland during the Six Nations.
That offers a sense of solidity. In Afo Fasogbon, Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Henry Pollock, there are three Under-20 world champions in contention to face Australia A. Pollock and Archie McParland, the precocious scrum-half who steered a successful Under-20 Six Nations campaign before missing the World Championship due to injury, are still eligible for age-grade duty.
The focus on props should have the hulking Fasogbon feature on Sunday, perhaps as a replacement for Joe Heyes. Opoku-Fordjour has dropped down for a run-out at loosehead after spending a fortnight in Borthwick’s camp. Tarek Haffar had been called up as training cover in case Opoku-Fordjour was required against the Springboks.
Top teams must always be prioritised, which has stopped Fin Smith from appearing at fly-half for England A. Mapletoft is prepared to reshuffle and “roll with it” if there are any late injury scares for Borthwick.
Another promising tighthead, Vilikesa Sela of Bath, was due to attend the England A camp before picking up an injury in the Premiership Cup last weekend. Sela is also young enough to represent the Under-20s this season.
Angus Hall and Sean Kerr, two more world champions, will train with the squad and another, Saracens lock Olamide Sodeke, was earmarked to do the same before picking up a hamstring issue.
As O’Shea suggests, England A matches offer a “bridge” in an era when club action can be frustratingly sparse for young players. Test matches against Argentina and the United States in 2025, during the British and Irish Lions tour, could propel Pollock or any other protégés to prominence – just as 2017 proved to be a vehicle for Tom Curry and Sam Underhill.
“A couple of them can make the step up, there’s no doubt,” O’Shea says. “You see that the world over. You can be 20 or 21 and make a massive impact at the highest level.”
O’Shea tells a story from his Harlequins days when he was fretting about replacing Nick Evans, one of the best overseas signings in Premiership history. Tony Diprose, then academy manager, told his boss not to worry. There was a kid called Marcus Smith coming through. “Fabulous,” replied O’Shea, before Diprose admitted that Smith was just 13.
The point is that even the most polished prospects take time, as much as England might want to click their fingers and make Opoku-Fordjour or Pollock five years older.
Slightly older candidates are straining at the leash. Nathan Jibulu, the all-action Harlequins hooker, and Exeter back-rower Greg Fisilau were England Under-20 graduates in 2023. Both are part of the England A squad and on Borthwick’s radar. Sticking with the forwards, Tom Pearson and Tom Willis are the kind of burly yet dextrous ball-carriers that England appear to be missing.
The depth chart of second rows has been compromised by Ollie Chessum’s knee injury, but Ted Hill is being looked at as a blindside capable of covering lock. He will not drop down from the seniors for Sunday but Joe Batley, in sparkling form for Britsol Bears, is there. Arthur Clark, the 6ft 7in 22-year-old from Gloucester, was drafted into England A with Hugh Tizard and Rusi Tuima is a late arrival as well. Tom Burrow, a towering 19-year-old from Sale Sharks, is training with Mapletoft’s party.
Max Ojomoh – a rounded inside centre, explosive and skilful – is a reasonably rare commodity and should be nurtured. Fraser Dingwall, name-checked as a defensive leader in the 13 channel by England defence coach Joe El-Abd last month, has been named as captain against Australia A.
Amid a plethora of potential back-three players the presence of Gabriel Ibitoye is encouragingly open-minded. Along with Mapletoft, O’Shea and Richard Hill, Borthwick has been involved in England A selection, which suggests that he is curious about the free-spirited Bristol wing. “It’s quite nice to have the odd maverick,” says O’Shea with a smile.
“We have to back the right horses,” he says. “Otherwise, you get this revolving door and don’t get the consistency that is needed. Players have never liked flip-flopping and a lack of consistency, when the next person is in if someone has one poor game or makes one mistake.”
England A games come with so many benefits that the most pertinent question is what took so long to bring them back?
Covid was one reason for a hiatus of almost eight years between a tour of South Africa in 2016 and February’s 91-5 thrashing of Portugal. In June 2021, a line-up had been selected to face Scotland at Welford Road before positive cases scuppered things. But it is not too much of a stretch to suggest that Borthwick is a more methodical succession planner than Eddie Jones, notwithstanding those fast-tracked by the Australian.
England A will also meet Ireland A on Feb 23 at Ashton Gate before another match in June, perhaps under the senior banner but with young players. Then next autumn, as revealed by Telegraph Sport, there are plans for England A to host a New Zealand XV. It all adds up, finally, to a coherent programme and a clearer pathway.
O’Shea is at pains to stress that England want to win now. Frankly, that is why grizzled figures such as Dan Cole are hanging on.
But on the future, O’Shea says: “We’re seeing in England age-group rugby that it’s not just one or two players with special talent. There are numerous players. The key is how we marry it all together for 2027 and 2031.”
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