Dan Cole marks return to England squad with freakish feat of strength
Dan Cole could be in line to make an unexpected return to Test rugby this weekend after he was named in Steve Borthwick’s 35-man squad that will prepare for Scotland’s visit to Twickenham this Saturday in the opening round of the Six Nations.
It would mark an impressive career turnaround for the 35-year-old, who last played for England in the 2019 World Cup final. But he knows Borthwick well, so too plenty of the current squad, either from playing alongside them at Leicester Tigers or previously with England.
The prop announced his return to camp with a feat of strength recently only a prop can show. It wasn’t at the squat rack or bench press, rather while doing bear crawls. Cole was on all fours while all 116kg of his front row companion Ellis Genge was rolling from side to side on his back. The tighthead did not move at all though, showing some freakish core strength, which is a must for any top class prop.
Take a look:
FULL SQUAD
FORWARDS
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 5 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 95 caps)
Ben Curry (Sale Sharks,1 cap)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 9 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 13 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 43 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 72 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks, 19 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 8 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 62 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 14 caps)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 56 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 74 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 6 caps)
BACKS
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 101 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Dan Kelly (Leicester Tigers, 1 cap) replaced by Guy Porter
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
Max Malins (Saracens, 14 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 13 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 17 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 17 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 50 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 51 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 121 caps)
