How to tackle your way into the England squad
A centre spot in the England squad opened up this weekend following the antics of Manu Tuilagi and his rogue elbow, and who better to give it to than the Sale Sharks centre’s opposite man at the weekend, Northampton Saints’ Fraser Dingwall.
The uncapped centre was not the actual player that copped the elbow to their face from Tuilagi, that was England international Tommy Freeman, but he did use that game to make a statement.
Not only did the 23-year-old score the winning try in a heroic comeback win for the Saints at Franklin’s Gardens, but he was a defensive rock throughout the match. In fact, in the first half where the hosts barely turned up, Dingwall looked like the only Saints player that actually wanted to be on the pitch as Sale raced to a 24-7 lead.
One moment in particular in the first half saw Dingwall smash Sharks fly-half Rob du Preez, forcing the Springbok to lose the ball. The centre immediately got back to his feet to hit Tom O’Flaherty. O’Flaherty was on the receiving end of another big hit later in the half from Dingwall. It was an impressive defensive display, and enough to earn a call-up to Steve Borthwick’s England squad ahead of the Six Nations clash against Wales on Saturday.
Take a look at his defence:
Smash 💥@FraserDingwall_ was not messing around on Saturday afternoon. pic.twitter.com/r93msKcFLg
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) February 20, 2023
Here is his match-winning try:
That noise 😍
Unbelievable atmosphere at the Gardens as @FraserDingwall_ completed the comeback. pic.twitter.com/DQCml6RtlM
— Northampton Saints 😇 (@SaintsRugby) February 19, 2023
ENGLAND SQUAD
FORWARDS
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 7 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 97 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 11 caps)
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, 3 caps)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 45 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 74 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 10 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 64 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 96 caps)
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 16 caps)
David Ribbans (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 18 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 58 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 25 caps)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 76 caps)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 1 cap)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 7 caps)
BACKS
Henry Arundell (London Irish, 4 caps)
Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 103 caps)
Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 3 caps)
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 81 caps)
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 9 caps)
Max Malins (Saracens, 16 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 14 caps)
Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 2 caps)
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 53 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 19 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 122 caps)
