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The junk mail gaffe that left Max Ojomoh unaware of England call
By Liam Heagney
Rookie Bath midfielder Max Ojomoh has revealed he was left in the dark about Eddie Jones wanting him for the summer series versus the USA and Canada as his England squad selection email from the RFU went into his junk folder. The 20-year-old ultimately remained uncapped at Test level as Jones opted to give first caps to a multitude of other players but Bath are now hoping to benefit from the midfielder’s unexpected June 10 senior international level call-up which came even though the youngster had made a half-dozen appearances for Stuart Hooper’s side.
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The four weeks spent in England camp gave Ojomoh, the son of former Test back-rower Steve, a glimpse of the standards required to play at Test level and having started at centre in two of Bath last three games in the 2020/21 Gallagher Premiership season, he will now be looking to push on with his club in the hope that a second call-up from England boss Jones will eventually materialise.
“The email was in my junk folder,” he revealed on the Bath club website when asked about his England call-up in June. “I didn’t actually find out until the day of the announcement when Stuart came and told me. I was really surprised, but to get called up for England was a dream come true. To play with some of the best players in England, you can’t really get much better than that and it was really good for my game.
“With it almost being game intensity every training session, it feels like I have had five or ten more games at Bath. With England, every training session you can expect to be pushed. It is closer to game intensity. The training helped a lot with my decision making and there were a lot more unit sessions, so it helped refine my skills and mature my game a bit more.
“I will take it as a great learning experience and I am hoping for the season ahead I will be a lot more confident going into games knowing I’m ready for that kind of level.”
The Premiership's 2019 player of the year has outlined his first impressions of Bath, the club he started training with in May following a deal agreed in late March https://t.co/EWT8yryagL
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 24, 2021
