‘He’s on their radar’ – England prodigy’s Test credentials outlined following ‘standout’ PREM display
Afo Fasogbon (right) is yet to win his first senior Test cap, but has featured in England training camps in the past
Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington has lauded the display of England hopeful Afo Fasogbon, with the tighthead prop again showing his Test credentials in their win over Exeter Chiefs.
The 21-year-old front-rower was met with a standing ovation at the end of his blockbuster 77-minute shift in Gloucester’s 34-31 victory over the Devonians this weekend, which follows a trend of strong individual performances against the likes of Bristol Bears in recent weeks.
Fasogbon has previously been capped at England A level and featured in Steve Borthwick’s extended training squad, but is yet to win his first senior Test cap. He also featured on 16 occasions for England U20s between 2023 and 2024.
‘He’s on their radar’
However, that could soon be about to change, with Fasogbon yet again positioning himself into the Test reckoning at a time where England are short on tightheads as well.
Will Stuart and Trevor Davison are both ruled out for the rest of the season with respective Achilles and knee injuries, both of which required surgery, while Asher Opoku-Fordjour has also struggled with knocks across the campaign.
“I thought he was great,” Gloucester boss Skivington said of Fasogbon’s display against Exeter. “77-minute shift for a tighthead, and to dominate the scrum, is big. He was one of the standout guys this week. I felt he was well-prepared for this game, actually.
“He has sort of shot out the blocks (in his career), and has felt the effect of playing week-in and week-out in the PREM, but I actually think his form in the last period when the team hasn’t been going so well has been really strong.
“I’m seeing Steve (Borthwick) in the next 10 days,” the Gloucester boss continued. “I’m sure he’ll be part of that conversation. He’s on their radar.
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“He knows what they need to see from him to push through, and today wouldn’t have done any harm.”
While Fasogbon’s individual performance deserves plenty of praise, his efforts in the scrum were simply part of a much wider scrum domination for the Cherry and Whites.
“We set the markers out at the start of the week,” Skivington added. “This is not a tactical or technical week; this is about how much you care, and I beat that drum a fair bit.
“If I hadn’t seen that, I would have been pretty upset, and I wouldn’t have known what buttons to press next week. That is the team we know we are, the Gloucester team we would like to put on the pitch all year, but haven’t.
“It was important we did that today. They didn’t have a choice, but they still had to go and do it.
