1
What London Irish have made of England excluding Hassell-Collins
London Irish boss Declan Kidney has given his verdict on how Ollie Hassell-Collins has reacted to his recent England rejection. The 24-year-old was handed his Test debut as the left-wing starter in the opening round Guinness Six Nations match at home to Scotland last month and he followed that by getting the No11 shirt again for the fixture versus Italy eight days later.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, a knee injury ruled him out of squad selection for the round three assignment away to Wales and despite coming back to score a try for London Irish in their Gallagher Premiership win at Newcastle on Sunday, it was not enough to tempt Steve Borthwick into recalling him to the England squad for the upcoming match against France.
Anthony Watson took Hassell-Collins’ place against Wales and became a first half try-scorer at the Principality. That potency now has him primed for selection to face the French while his rival for the Test jersey will instead be making do with an appearance for London Irish in their Premiership match on Sunday at home to Sale.
Director of rugby Kidney was thrilled that Hassell-Collins became the first London Irish-based player to start for England in a decade, but he has been equally delighted with his player’s reaction to now being excluded by Borthwick.
“Players in the past thought they would have had to leave to get that (England) recognition,” enthused Kidney. “The two games, he loved it. He didn’t get his hands on the ball as often as he would have hoped but that is Ollie, he just loves playing with the ball in his hands.
INTERVIEW: "I've seen the highs and the lows, the tears after games, the scoring a hat-trick to not scoring…"
– Declan Danaher on THAT emotional post-game embrace with Ollie Hassell-Collins and why debut cap meant so much, w/@heagneyl ??? #EnglandRugby https://t.co/cEqzhi6MIh
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 8, 2023
“He turned up well for work the last day, scored a try down the wing, beat a (Newcastle) man that you had to have confidence with the way that he beat him, and he did that. There was nothing wrong with their defender, it was just Ollie had a good run at it. Like I say, he enjoys playing with the ball in hand and the professionalism of him, the way he turned up for work up in Newcastle – he was obviously disappointed that he wasn’t included in the squad for this week, but he is knuckling down to work just as much as ever which is a great sign of professionalism.
“He knows he is there or thereabouts now (with England). I’m sure with his conversations with Steve and the other coaches that he will be working on little aspects of his game to get him back into the squad as soon as possible.”
ADVERTISEMENT
What has been the feedback from Hassell-Collins to Kidney about his England breakthrough? “Ollie would be a man of few words. He just really enjoyed it. All rugby is the same but every step you go up it happens quicker, faster, harder, tougher. He enjoyed the whole experience, and he is mad keen to get back involved again. He just had a good experience with it.”
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments