The 'first-rate' Joe Heyes response to losing England squad place
Richard Wigglesworth has given his take on how England squad regular Joe Heyes has reacted to his recent exclusion by Steve Borthwick. Originally capped twice in the 2021 Summer Series versus USA and Canada, the soon-to-be 24-year-old tighthead went on to earn five more caps under Eddie Jones, coming off the bench in all three tour matches in Australia last July and then featuring as the No18 in the November games against Argentina and Japan.
Heyes was then named in the 36-man training squad for the Six Nations and Borthwick also included him in the start-of-match-week squads versus Scotland and Italy. However, with Will Stuart now fit, Heyes has now lost out in a tighthead squad selection where Leicester club colleague Dan Cole has come off the bench in all three recent England games for the starting Kyle Sinckler.
Cole hadn’t been capped since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final but the silver lining for Heyes with his teammate now back on the Test scene has been his selection to start in the recent Gallagher Premiership wins for Leicester over Saracens and London Irish.
Those outings at No3 were the first for Heyes in the league since the start of October, as he has been playing second fiddle to Cole at club level even though he was the player getting regularly called up for England duty by Eddie Jones. However, with the Australian now replaced by Borthwick, Cole has returned from the Test wilderness and Heyes has felt the squeeze, making do instead with club action. His latest outing will now be at home on Saturday versus Bath.
“He has been good, really good,” said interim head coach Wigglesworth when asked how felt Heyes reacted to his recent England exclusion. “He has improved in the last few weeks in terms of his consistency in games and has looked like a really top international tighthead, how long he has played, how well he is lasting, so I have been really impressed with him.
“I can’t speak for him, how he is enjoying being here and not having to come back (from England) in between. I know (what it is like), I had to do that. That is not an easy position to be in but it’s one you have to do if you want to play international rugby at different times. But for Leicester Tigers, he has been first-rate.
“We have got plenty of guys that do it [go in and out with England for training]. The coaching and the calls, everything is different so the rugby is different but let’s be honest, everyone wants to play international rugby.
“You have to get over the disappointment, your personal disappointment that you are not playing, and then use it and that is what we want him to do, we want him to use it to play really well for Leicester. All our guys are motivated to play for Leicester but there should be that added little extra of like, ‘Right, I’m going to show you I should be staying in that (England) 23.’”
Has Wigglesworth had to give Heyes a pep talk in recent weeks after getting overlooked by England? “He has not needed one. He has really got on with his work and been first-class in how he has taken it, as you would expect from a Leicester through-and-through player. He has been here a number of years. He is a young man for a tighthead but has played a lot of games for us and you can tell why.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments