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Former England prop Cole set for major Leicester Tigers career milestone

By PA
(Photo by PA)

Former England and British and Irish Lions prop Dan Cole is poised to make his 250th appearance for Leicester Tigers in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership clash with Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.

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The 33-year-old Cole is named on the bench and, when he takes to the field, he will move to within one appearance of Martin Corry in third place on the club’s all-time list.

“Dan has been a crucial part of the Tigers club for almost a decade and a half and this achievement is something he should be very proud of reaching,” said head coach Steve Borthwick.

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“All of us, players, coaches and staff at Tigers, are looking forward to seeing Dan take to the field on Saturday and continuing to see him represent our club in the future.

“He is a great example of the toughness and professionalism we value in Leicester.”

At the other end of the age scale, forwards George Martin and Joe Heyes are among no fewer than 10 academy graduates in Borthwick’s match-day squad.

“George Martin and Joe Heyes are exciting young players and Tigers academy graduates who have pushed their way into the top squad through hard work and commitment,” Borthwick said.

“Both have made significant strides forward in recent seasons and been rewarded with being picked in the England shadow squad, which was well earned by the pair.”

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Second row Matt Symons will make his 50th appearance for Harlequins while Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter has mixed emotions over the availability of prop Harry Williams, who is recalled for the visit of London Irish following his release from the England squad.

“It’s one of those bittersweet things because the reality is we all kind of feel for Harry when he gets brought out the international environment because we all rate him very highly here,” said Baxter.

“Our preference would much be for him to be with England. We know he is desperate to play as high a level of rugby as he can and desperate to play for England.

“It feels great for us on a team perspective to have him back in our side but there is always that hint of disappointment when one of your players who is currently in the international environment gets dropped back out of it.”

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The champions return to Sandy Park buoyed by back-to-back wins on the road against Worcester and Newcastle.

Northampton’s home game against Newcastle has been called off after the Falcons reported a number of positive Covid-19 tests.

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Oh no, not him again? 1 hour ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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