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The England age-grade verdict on Test rookie Chandler Cunningham-South
England age-grade coach Mark Mapletoft has hailed the accelerated progress of Chandler Cunningham-South, the 20-year-old who will make his Test debut this Saturday in Rome just seven months after starring at the Junior World Championship in Cape Town.
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The back-rower was pivotal in helping Mapletoft’s U20s to reach the semi-finals in South Africa and having since joined Harlequins from the collapsed London Irish, he will now debut for Test boss Steve Borthwick off the senior international bench at Stadio Olimpico.
Cunningham-South was one of five uncapped players named by Borthwick on Thursday in his match day 23 for the round one fixture, joining the starting Fraser Dingwell and Ethan Roots along with fellow subs Fin Smith and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.
Checking in at 120kgs, Cunningham-South will look to wield his hefty presence if he gets a debut run as sub for one of the starting back-rowers Roots, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl.
Size and winning collisions were the exact things that U20s boss Mapletoft highlighted about the youngster when asked by RugbyPass about his rapid leap up the England pecking order.
The RugbyPass quickfire with Chandler Cunningham-South… why he doesn’t wear a gumshield, sneaky pre-game McDonald’s as a teen, why he would love a veterinary degree, and much more – with Liam Heagney ??? #EnglandRugby #WorldRugbyU20s #ENGvIRE
https://t.co/iyAbRBpVjN— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 24, 2023
“Without a doubt, his size and his ability to win collisions,” said Mapletoft when quizzed about the attributes of Cunningham-South that have caught the eye of senior boss Borthwick.
“Rugby has become a highly technical, tactical game but ultimately it is still a collision sport that demands the ability to go forward or stop people coming forward – and Chandler can do that both sides of the ball.
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“Certainly, from his time with the 20s he was a pretty dominant ball carrier. He got picked up by Quins; I’d strong links to the club. It’s great to see him going there but what you need to be able to do at international level is defend as well and he has definitely picked up that aspect of his game.
“Steve and the coaches have clearly seen progress in that area and ultimately he is still a young man. He is still 20 years old. We forget that. Sometimes we want people to be ready-made at that age and the reality is that is not going to be the case.
“Some people take a little bit longer, some people are able to get the opportunity earlier than others, but always remember the context – these lads are young men still learning their way and I have no doubt Chandler will be a much better player in two, four, six years’ time than he is now.”
"My agent was just looking for something for me in a professional environment… I didn’t really have the opportunity to do that in NZ" @heagneyl ??? talks to Chandler Cunningham-South about England, London Irish and finding a new club https://t.co/uoc521tdZS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 25, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
Surprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to commentsSpot on Ben. Dead right. Havili looked great at 10. Easily the highest rugby IQ of any NZ player these days. Getting a kick charged down is a result of getting used to adjusting your depth to the line at 10, which he will sort out with time. But other than that it was an outstanding first effort in that position this year. I think the NZ media has misunderstood this directive from Razor. Havili might rank behind B Barrett this year, but Beuden is 33 this month and won't last much longer. DMaC is great but flaky and not really a test match animal (his efforts in Dunedin versus Aus last year for example). If Razor can't have Mounga, DMaC is too unstructured for Razor (and is just too small for test rugby). Havili will end up our first choice first five, and in partnership with Jodie will be excellent. Two triple threat operators in tandem, and big bodies and tough tacklers to boot. Jordoe will be the ABs goal kicker. I am an Aucklander and Blues (and Warriors) fan, but Havili at 10 is going to be sensational in time… he can be the best first five in the world by the end of this year. No question.
6 Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
6 Go to commentsGood riddance
1 Go to commentswel the crusaders were beaten by a queensland reds side that hadnt beaten them at home since 1999 and queensland reds partied like it was 1999
6 Go to commentsHard to disagree with the 5 points - with the exception that Wilson should be a squad member but, depending on the other loose forward selections, is not yet a shoo-in. McReight is. Aussie is looking a lot better this year and JS has some selection options. Also, Havili’s tendency to get caught, charged down is also a liability at times but he seemed focused (mostly) and is definitely a consideration for utility back-up. Still feel Reihana is a better prospect at 1st five for Saders.
6 Go to commentsYeah nah, still not sure on Havili tbh. Even though I’m a Crusaders fan through and through I’d be stunned if Razor considers him after seeing some of the stunning talent coming through up North.
6 Go to commentsThink it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
1 Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
6 Go to commentsA great game. The Sharks without Etsebeth are a shadow of the team compared to when he plays. The limitations of Some of the expensive Sharks players are being exposed. Credit to Clermont for some exhilaration play at times.
6 Go to comments100% Mr Owens. But who would want to be a referee.? It must be the most difficult job on earth.
1 Go to commentsStarts to be overdone and oversold this systematic SA narrative…which nevertheless has the merit in this case to recognise blatant refereeing mistakes in their favor
6 Go to commentsNice article. Shades of Steinbeck. They can win the final if they take the game seriously; but only if they take it seriously.
6 Go to commentsWhat a sad way to end a glittering career. Somebody should tell him to delete his social media accounts and face the consequences of what he's done. Then he should slip away quietly into obscurity. This isn't likely to happen, something tells me he'll be back in The Sun / Daily Mail sooner rather than later.
5 Go to commentsguys its fine! he understands why he did what he did and has taken accountability for it; why should he have to be accountable to a court? after all he did was abuse people in person - its not as if he was engaging in _online_ abuse!
5 Go to commentsChiefs flanker Kaylum Boshier yellow-carded for collapsing the scrum as it rolled towards the line. It was a maul….
1 Go to commentsyou know, i’m a leinster fan so I want Northampton to lose and it is gonna be tuff with Cortney lawes, Alex michell and the other guys🏉 lets go leinster🏉
1 Go to commentsWelcome to the Pro ranks. Those hard teams of old do hit the sole better though. its a dog fight at the top.
6 Go to comments