England hopeful Ollie Hassell-Collins wants to find his voice

With his bleach-blonde hair, earring, painted finger nails and laidback demeanour, Ollie Hassell-Collins’ signing by Leicester for the start of the 2023/24 season never felt like an obvious marriage made in heaven.

And that initial impression seemed to be validated as the exciting winger struggled to get his hands on the ball and make much of an impact in the very early stages of his carrer at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

However, the two quickly learned to love one another and Tigers fans now relish having the former London Irish man on one wing and Adam Radwan, when fit, on the other, as both can make things happen when seemingly nothing is on.

While acknowledging that Leicester still sensibly play to their strengths upfront, Hassell-Collins is enjoying the style of rugby adopted by Geoff Parling.

“We’re not going to turn into a Bristol or anything like that. But we’re trying to move the ball more, get the wingers more touches, get the outside centres more touches, just creating one-on-ones. It’s been good fun, I’m enjoying it,” he said.

“We don’t want to go away from what we’re good at, which is the kick stuff. That’s still a massive part of our game and it’s a great way to get the ball back, or create chaos. And obviously our forwards are very good at getting a lot of joy from the scrum and the maul and winning penalties. It’s just adding adding little bits to our game.”

Hassell-Collins’ try-scoring prowess, which he demonstarted again with a brace for England A vs Ireland XV last weekend, has been very evident for Tigers, with a try every other game in the PREM (22 from 44 appearances), not to mention plenty of assists.

However, the Reading-born winger, who turns 27 in a week’s time, feels now is the time to add another element to his game – leadership.

“I’ve got an opportunity, especially in this (PREM Rugby Cup) block, being one of the more senior guys, to maybe improve my leadership skills and maybe be a bit more of a voice in the squad, which I haven’t been in the past. So I’m looking forward to that challenge.

“I think it’s just backing myself a lot more; I’ve been around the game a long time, I know what’s going on. It’s just making sure I speak when it’s needed and making sure that it’s important information, not just saying something for the sake of it.”

Now that three years have passed since the last of his two senior England caps, Hassell-Collins would have qualified for Wales on the grandparent ruling – until that route back to international rugby was shut down by his appearance for England A.

Freddie Steward’s fall from grace and subsequent return to the coach’s good books is an example to Hassell-Collins that all is not lost in terms of a Test recall, especially now that the England A pathway to the first team has been restored.

“There was obviously George Kloska last week with the A team, and now he’s in the senior squad. So there’s there’s proof of that progression, which is good to see,” said Hassell-Collins.

“There’s a lot of good wingers. It’s obviously a coach’s opinion, so as long as I’m doing what he’s telling me, and I’m improving and playing well here, then we’ll see what happens.”

Hassell-Collins only caught the last 20 minutes or so of England’s 48-7 threashing of Wales in the Six Nations, as he spent the best part of the day travelling back from Ireland from A team duty.

But as much as he enjoyed seeing Ollie Chessum and Freddie Steward tearing it up at Twickenham, he makes no secret of his desire to be out there in the thick of the action himself, rather than watching at home on the sofa.

“I’d love to play for England again. I think English rugby is in a great spot.”

As for the here and the now, a place in the semi-finals of the PREM Rugby Cup Leicester’s for the taking.

The Pool B leaders take on Saracens in a top-of-the-table clash at the StoneX this Saturday, with a six-point buffer between the sides, while Northampton, who have a game in hand, are three points further back.

With Leicester fourth in the Gallagher PREM table, a League and Cup double is still feasible.

“Personally, I’ve got the job to do here first. We made it to the (PREM) final last year, and I want to go and taste that again and go one more,” added Hassell-Collins.

“A trophy would be pretty cool. I’ve yet to win a trophy and it would be great for some of the young boys to win it as well.”