Is Dan Cole the future of English rugby? The 35-year-old prop laughs at the question but the second coming of Old King Cole is a genuine possibility. Having been overlooked for three years, the tighthead’s prospects have been enhanced significantly since the Leicester trio of Steve Borthwick, Kevin Sinfield and Richard Cockerill took over the national team. “So if I’m not picked now …,” he says, chuckling, as wryly self-deprecating as ever.
It would be some comeback given what happened last time he represented England. The South African “bomb squad” made mincemeat of the red rose scrum in the World Cup final in Japan in 2019 and Eddie Jones did not select the crouching Tiger again. But top-class English tightheads remain relatively scarce and Bath’s Will Stuart is injured, giving Cole one last window of opportunity to try to squeeze through.
