England forward Jonny Hill has yet to receive clearance for a return to rugby, as the police investigation into an altercation with a Bath fan, following last season’s Premiership semi-final at the Rec, continues.
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The experienced second-row has been out of action for over four months, with Sale Sharks awaiting the outcome of the inquiry.
Sale Sharks Await Outcome
Sale Sharks head coach Alex Sanderson, speaking ahead of their clash with Gloucester on Friday, revealed the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Hill’s availability.
He said: “We have no clarity on Jonny with regards to the exact date he is going to return.
“It’s still with the authorities at the moment, and we have to wait for whatever judgement passes down from them,”
Lengthy Process Frustrating for Club
Sanderson expressed his frustration with the protracted process, noting that while the club has been proactive, they are ultimately at the mercy of the legal proceedings. “It’s not like we’re not chasing it up. We have got barristers on the case and have had since the start of this. It’s just a long process that is not conducive to professional sport.”
PREDICTION: Steve Borthwick’s England team to face the All Blacks in Autumn Series Opener
As with any predictions piece, the unpredictability of professional rugby injuries throws quite the spanner into the best laid plans. Just this past week, both George Ford and Maro Itoje were taken off the Saracens vs Sale Sharks battlefield with injuries, with Ford looking likely to miss more action that the stalwart England lock.
With that said, we dusted off the proverbial crystal ball for a look into the future and here is what we found. These are Ruck’s predictions for Steve Borthwick’s England squad, to face New Zealand in the opening match of the 2024 Autumn Series.
BACK THREE
15. George Furbank (Northampton Saints)
14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs)
11. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)
We commence the match day 23 with the outside backs, and we can’t see Steve Borthwick making any changes to his trio that took on the All Blacks in Dunedin back in July. Beginning with newly coronated Northampton Saints club captain George Furbank, the fullback missed out on the second Test at Auckland’s Eden Park, after suffering a back injury after a heavy coming together with New Zealand wing Sevu Reece.
Furbank was replaced by Leicester Tigers fullback Freddie Steward for the second Test, yet the Northampton man has been in impressive upon the return of the green, black and golds in recent weeks. Whilst Furbank may be a step away from the grade compared to Steward’s dominance under the high ball, the Saint’s versatility is what he really brings to the table, proving himself indispensable to Borthwick as Swiss army knife of covering options.
Tommy Freeman is our pick to resume ownership of the 11 jersey, with the Northampton flyer running out for his first full 80 minutes of the season, against Exeter this past Saturday. Freeman was amongst the England players that had a staggered re-introduction to their clubs, after the announcement of the Professional Group Partnership in September.
Freeman silenced the All Blacks fans with his try at Eden Park in July, and would want nothing more than to emulate this with a try-scoring roar from the Twickenham faithful this coming November. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso certainly left his mark in an England shirt this past Summer, as the Exeter Chiefs wing scored three tries on the tour, crossing over in each match against Japan and New Zealand.
Feyi-Waboso ensured that he left New Zealand with the All Blacks remembering his name, after Sevu Reece admitted to not knowing who the Exeter Chiefs man was ahead of the opening Test in the Forsyth Barr Stadium. Feyi-Waboso scored a brace of tries in the Chiefs defeat to Northampton this past weekend, as the wing is back firing at his best ahead of a return call to the England squad.
CENTRES
13. Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)
12. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)
Onto the midfielders, and there is some contention for places if Exeter Chiefs centre Henry Slade does not return in time from injury. Currently, Slade is in the midst of a lengthy road to recovery, after the Chiefs man underwent shoulder surgery following the England tour last Summer. Slade had initially injured his shoulder in a tackle attempt on Duhan van der Merwe, when the powerhouse wing scored his stunning solo try in Scotland’s Six Nations win against England at Murrayfield last February.
However, Slade was able to keep the injury maintained throughout the rest of the 2023/24 season, and was a key player in many of Exeter’s and England’s highlights. If the Devon native is unable to return to the England squad in time for the All Blacks test, then we predict Fraser Dingwall to get the nod to take up the 13 jersey. With Manu Tuilagi now ineligible for England, following his move to French club Bayonne, Dingwall could step into the outside centre slot, where he starred for the Saints last season in their Premiership title winning campaign.
Dingwall brings the added versatility to the midfield, with the prior capabilities of running out in both the inside and outside centre channels. Also bringing extra flexibility into the centre options is Bath’s Ollie Lawrence, who plays for the blue, black and whites at 13, yet has been recently utilised by Borthwick in the 12 shirt. Lawrence was England’s go to man in the inside centre for both the 2024 Six Nations and the latest Summer tour, and did it all whilst alternating back to outside centre in Bath’s run to the Premiership Final.
Lawrence’s Bath midfield partner Max Ojomah is a considerable shout for an England debut this Autumn, with the midfielder called into Borthwick’s wider training squad, that jetted out to Spain for a pre 2024 Six Nations camp. Ojomah is currently on the mend after sustaining a foot injury, so time will tell if he is fit for the senior England squad, or perhaps a run in the England A set-up, who return to face Australia A at the Stoop in November.