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England centre can make Rodri-like impact on England insists Alex Mitchell

By PA
England centre Fraser Dingwall in training - PA

England’s returning number 12 Fraser Dingwall can have the impact of Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or winner Rodri when he wins his third international cap against Italy, according to scrum-half Alex Mitchell.

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Dingwall is set to start for the first time since the 2024 Six Nations in Sunday’s game at Allianz Stadium after Marcus Smith and Henry Slade were dropped.

The Northampton centre has been described by coach Steve Borthwick as “the glue” that can hold England’s back line together as they seek a third straight win to put pressure on leaders Ireland, and Saints team-mate Mitchell has tipped him to take the kind of charge that the current world’s best player commands for the Premier League champions.

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“He is like a Rodri at Man City,” said Mitchell. “He doesn’t always get the great goals or the assists or whatever but he is a mainstay in your team and does all the great things. He is similar to that.

“He is a quality player, a lot of the time he goes unnoticed because he does his job so well for the team and makes other players look so good.

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“He is like that glue guy – he is fantastic. His talk on the pitch, I have had for years at Northampton, is second to none. He talks you through the game and defensively he is quality. Hopefully we will see some of that.”

The comparison to Rodri is high praise, with the Spain international – who starred in last summer’s Euro 2024 triumph – considered the heartbeat of the City team that has won four league titles in a row as well as the Champions League.

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He was voted the world’s best player in October and his absence this season through injury has been a key factor in City’s slump.

Dingwall, who is typically considered a facilitator rather than an impact player at Northampton, has said he is aiming to make life easier for his team-mates on Sunday rather than seek out glory for himself.

“He is very confident, he has been in the camps since his last time and he is great around the lads,” said Mitchell.

“He doesn’t change too much from Northampton to England. He is a great defensive leader, he is excited and has trained really well all week so he is ready to go.”

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The 25-year-old’s inclusion when the team was named on Wednesday came as something of a surprise.

He made his international debut in a narrow 27-24 win over Italy in Rome last February and kept his place the following week for the win over Wales, in which he scored his only England try to date.

England Fraser Dingwall
BAGSHOT, ENGLAND – MARCH 11: Fraser Dingwall of England runs with the ball during the England Training Session at Pennyhill Park on March 11, 2024 in Bagshot, England. (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Additionally he was a part of 10 international camps prior to making his debut.

Mitchell was asked whether the team had needed to work to keep Dingwall’s spirits high while he was being repeatedly overlooked.

“Not too much,” he said. “He has got a good head on him, he has captained quite a lot at Northampton so he knows how to deal with himself.

“With selection you chat to them to see if they need anything from you. He is a fantastic human so he knows how to look after himself.”

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Tom 17 days ago

Good luck to him but this England team aren't setup for players like him to succeed. The way England play they need physical animals in midfield to win the gainline, ruck and make dominant tackles. Suspect this may be yet another midfield combination which will be axed after a handful of matches. England should stop chopping and changing their midfield combinations, after dozens of different centre combinations over the last few years it's time we realised, it's not the players which are the issue! The Lawrence, Freeman combination is the one which seems the best fit for England's style (or lack of) but Borthwick wants Freeman chasing kicks.

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reginaldgarcia 1 hour ago
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JW 2 hours ago
Kyren Taumoefolau All Blacks stance splits opinions on eligibility

MP are a NZ side through and through, NZ is even having to pay for it.

Yes they caved to public demand, I bet it accomplished a lot of internal goals. They could have left it to the other groups, but I’m of the belief that they weren’t showing the capability to make it work as being a good reason for NZR to jump in and do it. I think it’s actually funded 50/50 between NZR and WR though.

(when nothing was stopping a pi player playing for any side in Super Rugby)

Neither is that fact true. Only 3 non NZ players are allowed in each squad.


I see you also need to learn what the term poach means - take or acquire in an unfair or clandestine way. - Moana have more slots for non eligible players (and you have seen many return to an NZ franchise) so players are largely making their own choice without any outside coercion ala Julian Savea.

Not one of these Kiwis and Aussies would go live in the Islands to satisfy any criteria, and I’d say most of them have hardly ever set foot in the islands, outside of a holiday.

Another inaccurate statement. Take Mo’unga’s nephew Armstrong-Ravula, if he is not eligible via ancestry in a couple of generations time, he will be eligible because he plays his rugby there (even if he’s only their for rugby and not living there), that is a recent change made by World Rugby to better reflect examples like Fabian Holland and Fakatava.

It’s becoming the jump-ship/zero loyalty joke that international League is.

Look I understand you’re reason to cry and make an example at any opportunity, but you don’t really need to anymore, other recent changes made by WR are basically going to stop the Ireland situation, and time (perhaps no more than a decade) will fix the rest.

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