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Asher Opoku-Fordjour called up as England make two squad changes

150 days ago

Sale's Asher Opoku-Fordjour has been called up by Steve Borthwick's England (Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images for Sale Sharks)

Recent World Rugby U20 Championship title winner Asher Opoku-Fordjour has been named as Joe Marler’s replacement in the England Autumn Nations Series squad. The 34-year-old Marler, who left camp at Pennyhill last Monday night, announced his Test level retirement on Sunday morning.

The Harlequins prop took the decision to call it quits following a week where he caused uproar with his social media comments about the New Zealand haka, initially branding it ridiculous and calling for it to be binned before eventually apologising.

A starter in the July 6 loss to New Zealand in Dunedin, Marler returned from breaking his foot in that match to gain selection in Steve Borthwick’s autumn squad. He travelled to Spain for the warm-weather training camp in Girona but left the squad for personal reasons this past week after they had completed their Monday training at Pennyhill.

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Marler’s retirement has now opened up a spot for Opoku-Fordjour, the Sale prop who has been packing down at tighthead for the Sharks following his July World Cup triumph with the England U20s at their starting loosehead.

During the age-grade tournament in South Africa, Opoku-Fordjour spoke to RugbyPass about his Test-level ambitions, and he now comes into Borthwick’s squad of 36 as one of two changes following Saturday’s 22-24 series opening loss to New Zealand.

The other alteration ahead of the visit of the Wallabies to Allianz Stadium is also in the forwards, with Charlie Ewels recalled at the expense of his Bath club colleague Ted Hill. Ewels, the injured Ollie Chessum and Tom Roebuck were omitted last Sunday when Borthwick issued his previous squad update ahead of the All Blacks week, with Hill, Alex Coles and George Ford coming in.

An RFU statement on the latest England squad read: “Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) and Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby) have been called up to England’s 36-player squad, replacing Joe Marler (Harlequins) and Ted Hill (Bath Rugby) as preparations begin for the upcoming Test match against Australia at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday, November 9.”

England squad (vs Australia)
Forwards (20)
Fin Baxter (Harlequins)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks)
Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
Theo Dan (Saracens)
Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
Ben Earl (Saracens)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby)
Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)

Backs (16):
Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Luke Northmore (Harlequins)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)

"At Stormers there was a loosehead I just couldn’t figure out."
– INTERVIEW: Asher Opoku-Fordjour, with Liam Heagney ??? at the U20 Championship in Cape Town, on the art of scrummaging. #WorldRugbyU20s #EnglandRugby #RSAvENG #rugby
Tap below for more ??https://t.co/jgDnLN2Geo
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 7, 2024

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Comments

4 Comments

Mr Easy 150 days ago

Ewels for the red card hatrick

CM 150 days ago

SB ignores better players and they are only given a chance through retirement or injuries. I question SBs eyesight. Ewels, this must be a joke!

BH 150 days ago

Charlie Ewels to replace Ted Hill... Jesus wept

Bob Salad II 150 days ago

No brainer really given Marler’s departure. With South Africa the week after, England absolutely have to give him a try against Australia.

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IkeaBoy 45 minutes ago

Robbie Fleck: Key to South African Champions Cup success rests with Rassie

Yeah, I don’t really get it either.

The teams will need to be more competitive at some stage as I’m sure it won’t be cost effective before long. It’s a lot of money and resources they have to pump into it just to field teams, let alone compete.

Even with the Boks only focus being on RWC’s, the euro comps would be a great way to develop test players in the first 1-3 years of a RWC cycle.

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HarunParisha 56 minutes ago

Sale Sharks refuse to give up on new stadium dream

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0 Go to comments

Flankly 1 hour ago

Robbie Fleck: Key to South African Champions Cup success rests with Rassie

Not sure I understand. Its not obvious how you prioritize URC, Champions/Challenge Cup, Internationals, and rest. And if you add player development plans (eg experience of positions, playing conditions, game plans, opponents playing styles etc) it becomes harder. Additionally, consistency of selection helps with making adjustments to systems and tactics, so that further constrains your options. Travel challenges don’t make it easier.

Jake White has effectively decided that he would rather have a chance of success in one competition, at the expense of the other competition, than a near certainty of heroic failure in both. And he has implied that over time he plans to build enough depth to give the Bulls a chance in both the URC and Champions Cup simultaneously.

Not sure what is being proposed here that is supposedly a better plan.

2 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 1 hour ago

'He's a special player': Lawrence Dallaglio backs Henry Pollock to be Lions bolter

Indeed he has STARTED more test games at 8. I actually said he’s PLAYED more games at 7, though. Do you remember where he tended to play when he came on wearing #20?

He likely will select on the basis of win ratios. IRE and ENG won 4, SCOT won 2 and WAL won none. 6 Irish, 6 English, 3 Scottish seems about right for the starting 15.

Yeah, I think he’ll definitely bring Beirne to have as a utility lock/flanker. Doris’ discipline and leadership has maybe rocked a little this year but he’s still the best 8 in the game.

17 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 1 hour ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Soccer on a rugby forum…

“Experience is strongly correlated with age, at least among the managers that I named”…

Slot and Arteta are among the youngest you named. They have the least experience as a manager (6 years each). Espírito Santo and Pep are the oldest and have the most (12 years + each). Pep is pushing 17 years experience, all at elite level. There are plenty around his age that won’t have the same level of experience. Plenty.

The younger breed you mentioned (Arteta in particular) may not coach at elite level beyond the next few years if they continue to not win trophies. Age and experience is not always a nice, steady gradient.

The only trend in English soccer is that managers don’t stay on as long with the same club. Due to the nature of the game and the assumed, immediate performance bounce of replacing them at the first sign of trouble. Knee-jerk style. Test rugby has no clear pattern of that.

Why would you dismiss a paradox? Contradictions are often revealing. Or is that too incoherent?

143 Go to comments

BA 2 hours ago

The raw data that proves Super Rugby Pacific is currently a cut above

You can’t compare the “quality”of competitions till they play against each other … what we do know is that nz teams filled with ABs and ABs can go at it with anyone in the world and these other teams and players are competing so would say the quality is high wouldn’t you? How are you determining that URC or top 14 is higher quality than Super I’m guessing you mean in the quality of players and execution ? Are you just assuming that it is because…. I would say it’s much of a muchness and the only indicator for that is international rugby and that is hella even

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Deanbeckette 2 hours ago

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0 Go to comments

CV 2 hours ago

'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Indeed.

They’ve started to manage players better in France. Clubs and the FFR have now found a middle ground that works, especially when it comes to player welfare. In the past, French test players had to play the top 14 games in the weeks the 6N was off, no more. They don’t rest their foreign players though. Players like Kinghorn and Capuozzo still played for Toulouse between 6N weekends when French players didn’t have to. It has

Kinghorn and Jack Willis have become world class at Toulouse. Players get better in France. REC nations have heaps of players in the ProD2, it shows.

113 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

He would have made all the diff.

143 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

I’m not sure you appreciate the look that was his team missing their own WC.

I wish I didn’t. I experienced it first hand.

Coaching Aussie would be more a pure coaching choice, finding a team which has a sympathy with the way you like to coach the game.

143 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Well Bruce Arians won the SB at 68 a few years ago and Belichick was still at the top of his game at the age of 66. AFAIK both Larry Brown and Phil Jackson won NBA titles in their mid 60’s. So it’s pretty common for coaches to be winning at the top level then.

Americans value experience because their professional sports are all far older than rugby, it will just take us a while to catch up. Those Yoda guys are like gold dust.

143 Go to comments

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NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Well done indeed DW🤣👍

143 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

I think he was the owner, Matthew Lillard was the young GM, which tells you all you need to know!

But yeah they were cardboard caricatures of Moneyball guys who looked at their laptops and never went to games…

143 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

Bill Sweeney pens letter to RFU members: 'It has not been an easy time for me personally'

Poor guy. Really seems to have hurt his feelings that plenty know he’s useless in his role. Stealing a living.

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4 Go to comments

CM 2 hours ago

Bill Sweeney pens letter to RFU members: 'It has not been an easy time for me personally'

Shame on those who voted to keep Sweeney in his lucrative job. I have seen NO improvement in English rugby since his appointment. Just an increase in his bank balance.

3 Go to comments

fl 3 hours ago

'He's a special player': Lawrence Dallaglio backs Henry Pollock to be Lions bolter

“The debate was in the context of the Lions squad. Multiple club and national coaches have chosen him (considerably) more often at 7, so there’s enough people fancy he’s good in the role.”

He’s started (considerably) more international matches at 8 than at 7. So while plenty of people fancy he’s a good club 7, international coaches haven’t seemed to agree!

“The win rates are vitally important for this Lions tour”

I agree. But you can’t just select players on the basis of their individual win rates.

“Farrell is a straight forward, no nonsense type of guy. He’ll probably pick conservatively and with guys in their proven positions. He hasn’t the time for bolters or shock calls. Not with the touring schedule they have.”

Yes, I was thinking more England selections. For the Lions tour then if Doris and Tom Curry both start then Earl becomes a pretty viable option at 7. But if Doris ever gets injured, or Farrell wants either Chessum or Tadgh Beirne at 6, then Earl will move to 8.

17 Go to comments

dw 3 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

I emailed Roy and HG some suggestions recently and they took the p*** out of me on air for being a rugby fan rather than a fan of “the greatest game of all”. Very proud moment.

143 Go to comments

Cantab 3 hours ago

I do worry seeing the Crusaders get manhandled by Moana Pasifika

I will reserve judgement until after Crusaders match with the Drua in Lautoka. Playing there is an acid test for any team as Drua are notoriously hard to beat there for anyone. A good win there will go a long way to restoring their reputation. Seems this years Crusaders run hot and cold so they really need consistency especially on defence as they concede too many points and penalties at times

8 Go to comments

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