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England have received a fitness boost with Henry Slade who will be available for their Autumn Nations Series opener against the All Blacks.
Slade has returned from a training camp in Girona and will play his first minutes of the season for Exeter Chiefs against Harlequins on Sunday.
The center underwent shoulder surgery after England’s tour of New Zealand in the summer and was racing against time to feature in November’s opening match.
But it looks likely he will feature at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium next week and is a strong contender to start alongside his regular midfield partner Ollie Lawrence in a major boost for Steve Borthwick, with Slade having become a key figure since his exclusion from last year’s World Cup. Cutting team.
His availability also comes as much-needed positive news for an Exeter side who have lost their opening five games of the new Premiership season.
“He and we want him to get a few minutes this weekend,” confirmed England senior assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth. “He’s going to train with Exeter and then get some game time this weekend.
“When you have the experience and the class that he has, and he’s used to the systems that we use, it definitely speeds up the process.
“You see, he’s a very senior man in this Exeter team, which I think has added to his game. He’s an important part of the teams he plays in, and that’s testament to his continued growth. It’s easy to stay still and he didn’t do that. It is important to us.
England intend to make a late call on George Ford’s fitness, with the fly-half ahead of schedule in recovering from his injured quad.
Initial fears that Sale’s point guard could miss the fall were allayed after Ford avoided surgery. Having traveled with the team to continue his rehabilitation, he was able to participate in Wednesday’s practice, kicking high balls and moving relatively freely.
“George Ford is in the final stages of his rehabilitation, so he is very involved in rugby,” Wigglesworth explained. “He felt really good straight away and he is very diligent in what he does. He smashed all the benchmarks he needed to.
Wigglesworth’s recent promotion to Borthwick first lieutenant came after a summer of upheaval which saw defense coach Felix Jones and head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters leave the team.
That leaves the former scrum-half as a key figure as England look to prepare for the 2027 World Cup, and he is happy in his role, even if he harbors long-term ambitions to become a coach- chief.
“Especially Aled, who I’ve been close to for a long time and who is a friend, you miss him, but as a friend I’m also happy that he’s doing what he wants to do. It’s an international sport, things happen and you just have to adapt, improve it and move on.
“It’s not something I would immediately think about right now, but do I want to be a head coach? Yes. Does that mean anything else at the moment other than I just want to improve as much as I can and help this England team as much as I can? No.
“I’m incredibly committed, as I was when I signed to help England. This is why I came and this is what I must do. If that changes for any reason it will change, but I’m a proud Englishman who’s part of a group that can become much better than it already is – which is a pretty good job.
