Theo Dan’s rapid rise into the England ranks came thanks to a breakthrough season at Saracens – via a stint at Ampthill – but it was forged in Romanian steel. His grandfather, an engineer from Bucharest, was a keen player in his day and built a set of posts for Dan to learn his trade, locking horns with his cousins for days on end in the long summers of his youth.
The 22-year-old speaks Romanian with his parents – who moved to the UK in the late 1990s – with the odd word of English thrown in and he was due to spend another summer in Romania until a call from Steve Borthwick. The England head coach informed him he would be capping a fine season, one that began in the Championship but ended with Saracens’ victory in the Premiership final, with a place in England’s training squad for the World Cup.
