Why ex-England player wants Steve Borthwick to be ‘bold’ and start ‘stunning’ teen against the Wallabies
The potency of Noah Caluori's attack play for Saracens has grabbed the attention of England's Steve Borthwick, inset
A former England player has called on Steve Borthwick to forget the ‘development’ deal struck at the weekend with Saracens over teen sensation Noah Caluori and instead pick him for a Test debut versus Australia on November 1.
The 19-year-old made a try-scoring Prem Rugby debut last month for Mark McCall’s side, coming off the bench to score in their round one win away to Newcastle. There was a second run the following week off the bench versus Bristol before he was shipped off to Ampthill to start in their October 11 Championship win over Cornish Pirates.
Caluori was a two-try scorer in that outing and his display convinced McCall to hand him his first Premiership start for Saracens in last Saturday’s match versus Sale.
It was an inspired decision as the England age-grade international scored an incredible five tries and was responsible for a sixth as he was high tackled in the air when contesting a kick, foul play that resulted in the awarding of a penalty try.
“Player profile coming soon”
So fantastic was the impact Caluori made in the destruction of Sale that England boss Borthwick was soon on the phone to McCall wanting to get the youngster along to this week’s three-day international mini-camp. Saracens reacted with a level of caution.
After all, Caluori’s progress is so rapid that when you click on his academy squad picture on the club website, a ‘player profile coming soon’ message comes up.
In the end, the compromise struck between club and country was for the teenager to head to Pennyhill Park on Sunday night for international training as an additional player on top of the 36 named in the official Test squad.
Stuart Barnes, though, wants Borthwick to tear up this ‘development agreement’ and instead go the whole hog by naming Caluori for a Test debut against the Wallabies on Saturday week.
Writing in The Times, Barnes suggested: “I am one of those who would have liked to see England pitch him into the full squad. Others will disagree. Caluori will divide the nation’s rugby fans between those with conservative or bold beliefs. The evidence of a stunning talent was gloriously unveiled against Sale, one of England’s better teams.
“By full-time, Sale had been reduced to a shambles, their usual energy dissipated by the incredible display of attacking rugby, pretty much exclusively carried out between the right touchline and the five-metre line. Caluori may cut infield, but his capacity to catch and turn cross-kicks into tries – allied with his silky yet powerful running style – originated on the right flank.
“His aerial ability is exactly what Steve Borthwick should crave. The cross-kick is the attacking weapon of this age. To possess someone like the 19-year-old Saracens player is to have a threat that forces opposing defences to maintain width.
“The sheer presence of a wing who leaps like a salmon stretches opposing defences and helps to create holes for midfield runners like Ollie Lawrence. It’s the paradox that explains how kicking helps the running game. A question of balance.”
Barnes went on to reference how Caluori nullified the Sale kicking threat posed by George Ford, one of Borthwick’s England co-captains.
“George Ford attempted to alleviate pressure with a cross-kick to space from his own 22. The ball bounced, stood up and was plucked from the night sky by Caluori. Sprinting infield, he picked out Ford, from where the kick originated, and left the Sale fly-half for dead, turning Ford’s thoughtful play into a Saracens try.
“The kid can terrify opposition kickers. He shocked TNT Sports viewers on Saturday night; now he has to stun the England head coach in his three days as a quasi-apprentice.
“On Saturday’s evidence, England should stick him straight into the starting XV to face Australia on November 1… if only it were that simple. The director of rugby at Saracens, Mark McCall, is pleading for the young man’s supporters to ‘take a breath’. He informs us there is much work to be done on his game.
“Of course there is, and if England were to blood him in November it is imperative that his inexperience, his apprentice status, remains firmly at the forefront of all our minds…
“Until the Saracens player steps up a level, we don’t know what limits there are to his game. We do know there is absolutely nothing to lose by picking him as a rookie.
“The England management team can make it clear that, should he struggle, they will not be adverse to what would seem to some a premature substitution… You learn most on the field, not the training ground.”