England A star hopes he ‘caught Steve’s eye’ as potential Six Nations call looms
England A flanker Tom Pearson scoring against Portugal A.
After England A demolished Portugal A 91-5 on Sunday, James While caught up with young flanker Tom Pearson, who is looking to put a marker down for senior honours.
Pearson was named Player of the Match at Mattioli Woods Welford Road as the hosts ran in 15 tries that included a Cadan Murley hat-trick in a one-sided spectacle.
The Northampton Saints back-row was full of praise for the new England A set-up and is excited to be on a learning journey of his own as he spoke after the victory.
Loved it
“Yeah, I loved it,” he said. “It’s good to have good to play with loads of players haven’t met before, let alone played with before.
“It was really enjoyable – the coaches gave us quite a lot of freedom in the week to do our own thing, to play off each other, just build up those connections and build up those combinations, so that was good fun.”
Pearson had been part of England’s 36-man squad before the Scotland Six Nations game, but Steve Borthwick believed the youngster would benefit from a hit-out in the middle rather than a non-playing trip to Edinburgh.
“I mean, it’s always an honour to wear the Rose and play in whatever capacity so that was in the forefront of my mind. And to really try and impress and remember who I’m playing for – hopefully, I caught Steve’s eye and did things that he’s looking for and that he wants to see more of from me,” he confirmed.
“In terms of the lineout role I was given, I really saw it as a bit of a challenge, to be honest, and something different – hopefully, it can become a strength of mine and help teams I him play for, so yeah, I’m pleased that the lineout really went.
“Charlie Ewels is a great leader and great organiser, and that helped greatly. It’s good to have experienced team members around me, and he’s very detailed, so to play with him and learn was class as well.
“It’s something I’ve never done before at this level, but yes, it’s coming along something I need to work on. Perhaps it needs a little bit more work if I’m honest, but I’m pretty comfortable with where I am.”
Pearson also hailed the mood in camp during the days leading up and during the game as new connections were made between players that he believes will benefit England long-term.
“It’s been a good vibe all week, and I think we’ve gelled really well as a team,” he added.
“Considering we’ve only been together a matter of days, I think the real bonus of being in a programme like this is that people are gaining experience when coming into an England team set-up for the first time.
“They might have never played with the person before and now these guys are building relationships, building up connections now and having different combinations.
“Rands (Harry Randall) and Charlie Atkinson have probably have never played before. They formed their relationship this week, and they’ve actually played 80 minutes together and done really well.
“So being an A programme brings players together in partnerships like that, and that can develop. Hopefully, when they play together or further down the line, where they’ve already got a mutual understanding of how each other play.”
Pearson’s support work in the wide channels was a real feature of his performance, and again, he’s quick to point out that this was something that the coaches asked him to do as part of his work-ons and a part of the game he is relishing.
Hopeful he’s done enough
“Yeah, there’s no doubt I enjoy doing it and again, that’s something different for me,” he said.
“The system we’re running this week was based on forwards holding the edge to try for us to spread a little wider offensively. The reality is that there were a couple of times I found myself in a bit of space, and I was able to work as the extra man, which was nice to see, given we’d planned for it.
“Some of the guys came down at the start of the week really and shifted their mindset into getting involved, getting stuck in and not hung up about not being involved against Scotland. So, just coming in and having that next job kind of mentality and just making sure that we came in and were able to contribute to the environment and put in a performance against Portugal, myself included, was important, especially knowing there’s a fallow week next week. After that, I am hopeful I’ve done enough to rejoin the squad when Steve announces it.”
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