Kevin Sinfield has hailed Tom Pearson’s tunnel vision in setting aside his London Irish turbulence to earn an England debut.
Pearson will make his Test bow in England’s World Cup warm-up clash with Wales in Cardiff tomorrow, where he can state a final case for selection for the tournament in France.
Head coach Steve Borthwick will name his final 33-man squad on Monday at Twickenham, with 24-year-old Pearson still battling hard to earn a seat on the plane to France.
Pearson was determined to set aside worries on his own future when London Irish went into administration, in order to focus fully on his World Cup selection bid with England.
The powerful flanker has since secured a deal at Northampton for next season, and Sinfield praised the back-rower for ignoring his personal worries to focus on his England quest.
“Tom Pearson’s been outstanding, we’ve got three guys on debut this weekend, with Theo Dan and Tom Willis as well,” said England assistant coach Sinfield.
“So the young players who’ve come in have got a real enthusiasm and energy towards the group, and added to the group.
“We’ve all seen Tom’s physicality and his explosiveness in the way he’s played the game with London Irish this year. So we’re all looking forward to seeing him play, and he’s been excellent in camp.”
Irish’s 124-year professional history came to an end when the club fell into administration at the tail-end of the season.
Pearson and his fellow Exiles have all had to scramble for their club futures, but Sinfield insisted the loose-forward lost no inch of focus on his England duties.
“Tom showed a real maturity about him with the way he handled everything at Irish,” said Sinfield.
“When guys have got things going on with their day jobs, if you like, for them to be able to focus and come in here and display the behaviours he has, has shown how much he wants to play for England.
“That’s testament to him and a number of others who’ve been in similar situations. They’ve got on with it and really gone after it.”
Flanker Tom Curry is carrying an ankle problem and was not in contention for Saturday’s Test in Wales.
The Sale star is still expected to be ready in time to feature later in this month of warm-up fixtures however.
“We’re very hopeful on Tom Curry, we don’t think he’ll be too long in terms of recovery,” said Sinfield. “We’ll be smart with him as well though.”
