Last August, Jack van Poortvliet left England’s training base at Pennyhill Park in tears, his ankle and World Cup dreams broken in two just weeks before the tournament in France had been due to start. The Leicester scrum half had been perfectly poised to take the number nine jersey after a fine 12 months internationally that had begun with a breakthrough tour of Australia and seen him usurp club colleague Ben Youngs in the pecking order.
But while close chums George Martin, Ollie Chessum and Freddie Steward enjoyed excellent tournaments in white, Van Poortvliet could only watch on. For a player unaccustomed with the toll that injury takes, it was a major blow.
