England's Rugby World Cup hooker battle heats up
A year out from the World Cup, Steve Borthwick must pick between veterans George and Cowan-Dickie and rising hooker Kepu Tuipulotu for his squad.
England have just over a year before the Rugby World Cup kicks off in Australia, and Steve Borthwick already has a fair idea of who will make his 33-man squad, built in part around the 25 enhanced EPS contracts he has handed out this season.
The build-up so far has been uneven. A 12-match winning run last year lifted expectations, but a difficult Six Nations campaign since then has taken the shine off that form. England open their pool stage against Tonga, Zimbabwe and Wales, and history suggests they tend to peak at World Cups, helped by longer preparation windows and a deep player pool.
The hooker slot is one of the more unsettled positions. Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie remain the incumbents, with Kepu Tuipulotu projected as the third man in Borthwick's squad. Theo Dan is seen as needing a strong domestic season to force his way into contention, while Sale's Nathan Jibulu is understood to have admirers inside the England camp who nonetheless feel he is still a couple of years short of Test level.
Gabriel Oghre, Jamie Blamire and Curtis Langdon are also in the picture but currently projected to miss out, with Tuipulotu's rise seen as the deciding factor in that position battle.
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Sources 1
- Who will make England’s Rugby World Cup squad? independent.co.uk