The 'low maintenance' birthday winger tipped for an England call
London Irish getting players into the England Six Nations squad is rare, but is that situation about to change next Tuesday with rookie prospect Ollie Hassell-Collins? The set trend is for their academy graduates to head off elsewhere to find their fame and fortune, a pattern evidenced by how the likes of Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph and Joe Cokanasiga have all played Test level rugby for their country in recent years after exiting Irish.
With Eddie Jones lately of a mind, though, to try out a plethora of Gallagher Premiership youngsters in his squad, London Irish could finally start getting more of the international squad recognition that they crave.
They had a sniff of the possibilities last June, the unheralded Chunya Munga leading the charge in an experimental England group that initially laid the training ground foundation for the following month’s successful summer series.
Hassell-Collins and Tom Parton were also involved that first week of training but it was the lock – aged just 20 at that time – that Jones took the greatest shine to. So eager was the England boss for the youngster to get a fast-track education as to how things are done at Test level, he asked Irish if it was okay for Munga to stay on at that camp for the games even though a knee ligament injury in training meant his activity was restricted to a watching brief.
Munga, unfortunately, hasn’t got going back at Irish this season but with the hype now building ahead of next Tuesday’s announcement by Jones of his squad for the 2022 Six Nations, there have been some media rumblings that Hassell-Collins possesses the potency to put his hand up for inclusion. Even Will Greenwood, the England World Cup winner, fancies the Irish winger for a call-up.
Bucking the trend that rugby is no country for old men…#LondonIrish #GallagherPrem #Argentina #LIRvEDIhttps://t.co/sN3KdTADI2
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 14, 2022
The soon-to-be 23-year-old (his next birthday is this Monday, January 17) has been busy in the Premiership, scoring six tries in his eleven league starts this season. It’s a strike rate that has him ahead of last year’s return where he scored six tries in 18 league starts and it would mean the world to the development programme at London Irish if he was now to get a Six Nations look-in with England.
“He is going nicely,” remarked Irish boss Declan Kidney when asked by RugbyPass for his reflections on Hassell-Collins who in one pre-pandemic league game versus Gloucester in February 2020 scored four tries.
“He is maturing, he is going from being the young player to now understanding his role and then the next thing is to be in that middle-age group of players that can bring his experience to play then too. Ollie is a very quiet lad, just goes about his business. Low maintenance, he soaks up information. He wants to be good. Sometimes he can try too hard but you can’t fault a fella for that.
“What we would be pleased about is if or when they [Hassell-Collins and other upcoming talents] do get called up that they will still have London Irish jerseys on them. Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Joe Cokanasiga, they all come through here and just as they were about to break in they moved clubs but all the groundwork was done here.
“So the groundwork is being done here and at some stage, we believe that our players are training at a level that may put them in the frame but Eddie Jones has a good selection headache because he has plenty of young lads to pick from. If it’s Ollie, great, if it’s somebody else it will be as a result of the way the team is playing rather than any one individual.”
On the surface, the two-year signing of ex-All Blacks winger Waisake Naholo looked a disaster as he was constantly injured and played very little prior to his release last summer. However, that lack of action was apparently made up for by the off-field influence wielded on the academy graduates making their way in the first team.
“That is why we brought them in. Waisake had a very big influence when he was here. I know he didn’t get to play too many games because of a knee injury but the influence he had over Tom Parton, Ben Loader and Ollie was quite significant and he left a mark there within the club by doing that and the boys got confidence from working with players like that.
Comments on RugbyPass
guys 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!
1 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 commentsCan someone fill me in please, I've read a number of Ben Smith articles now and it seems he's got something again South Africa? Surely, this game was over and done with 7 months ago. Can't we have something a bit more interesting and relevant, or is this the calibre of journalist on this site?
227 Go to commentsNot sure what the Welsh are moaning about. They’ve had far more players off England, than England have had off Wales. Guys like Josh Hathaway and Kane James will play for Wales in the end. And they’ll be fsr better players for having played in the Gallagher Premiership, than they ever would have been had they stayed mired in the shambles that is Welsh rugby.
3 Go to commentsThis is all being blown totally out of proportion. First of all, since half the Irish team isn’t Irish - it’s very likely that none of the Irish players said that at all and, thus, we’re not being arrogant. Second, since half the Irish team is Kiwi - it’s very likely the Kiwi players were predicting a NZ SA World Cup final. Which they got spot on. Good on them!
163 Go to commentsAha. An Irishman with logic! Follow the flow: - Ireland peaks with a >80% win record between 2020 and 2023. And then… - crashes out of another QF at the WC; - Beat a poor French Team; - Beat 6N wooden spoonists Italy; - Play shite against eventual wooden spoonists Wales; - Lose against the most boring, “the worst English team ever” , a team widely regarded as unable to attack; - scrape through against Scotland. This article, No - Trimble, is on the money! Except for one glaring statement: _The Springboks have a few aces in the hole in this debate being the reigning world champions and official world number ones_ There is no debate, boys and girls. There it is. In black and white. “Reigning World Champions and OFFICIAL world number ones”. Come July, the overrated Andy Farrell and this overhyped team are going to enter into a world of hurt.
86 Go to commentsI’d like to know what homoerotic events Daniel enjoyed at 8th man. I clearly missed out!
19 Go to commentsThis article is missing some detail, like some actual context or info about what led to him abusing the ref.
2 Go to comments*They used to say that football is a gentleman sport watched by hooligans and rugby is a hooligan sport watched by gentlemen. How times have changed.*
3 Go to commentsexcept ot wasnt late wasnt late at all so dont know why you all saying its late he commits early and its your fault fir not paying attention
29 Go to commentsNot sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
227 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
227 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
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1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
19 Go to comments