{"id":57793,"date":"2025-04-28T15:32:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T15:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57793\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T15:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T15:32:15","slug":"max-ojomoh-headlines-potential-debutants-and-new-coaches-appointed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/57793\/","title":{"rendered":"Max Ojomoh headlines potential debutants and new coaches appointed"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Charlie Elliott<\/strong><\/p>\n

For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need,\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe to The Rugby Paper<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0website, digital edition<\/a>, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

England have three Tests to play this summer, travelling to Argentina to face Los Pumas twice and then facing the USA.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With it taking place in the same summer as the British and Irish Lions, there will be key players missing, and a few\u00a0new faces\u00a0potentially joining as a result.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many see it as an opportunity for Steve Borthwick to\u00a0blood\u00a0some new talent and create\u00a0a\u00a0new look\u00a0team built around some of the strong young talent coming through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee Blackett and Byron McGuigan have been appointed as staff, and could also\u00a0be able to stake their claim as\u00a0international\u00a0coaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is a rundown\u00a0on\u00a0how things are shaping up for England, with some of the new talent that may be coming through.\u00a0<\/p>\n

New Coaches\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bath<\/a>\u2018s\u00a0attack coach Lee Blackett and Sale<\/a> Sharks<\/a> defensive coach Byron McGuigan have joined Steve Borthwick\u2019s setup ahead of the tour, with both bringing unique experiences and ideas to the squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blackett had head coach credentials, being the boss at Wasps<\/a> when they reached an unlikely Premiership final in 2019\/20.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Blue, Black\u00a0and Whites have the best attack in the league with 83 tries and 568 points scored.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This will be more of a simple swap as England\u2019s current\u00a0attack coach, Richard Wigglesworth,\u00a0is off on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Head coach of England A for their 28-12 win over Ireland<\/a> A, he is widely known as being one of the most innovative coaches in the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Byron McGuigan has been one of the biggest unsung heroes in the entire Premiership this season, as he has\u00a0revolutionised\u00a0Sale Sharks\u2019\u00a0defence\u00a0following his promotion to\u00a0defence\u00a0coach\u00a0in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After a shaky start to the season for Sale, since he has come in, the impact has been night and day, with Alex Sanderson\u2019s side now looking likely to qualify for the top four.\u00a0<\/p>\n

McGuigan wants front foot\u00a0defence, but not to the extent of the \u2018blitz\u2019 that has now effectively been banished, meaning that his style could prove to be a happy medium in adapting to a new era for Steve Borthwick.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both appointments are exciting for England, and it will be interesting to see how they get on in the Americas<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Max\u00a0Ojomoh\u00a0<\/p>\n

Centre is the position that England have the most questions about, but also with a lot of talent that this tour could hugely benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ojomoh\u00a0is the perfect representation of that; he\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0been given much of a chance for England, but has been in great form for Bath so far this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speedy and technically brilliant, putting\u00a0Ojomoh\u00a0alongside a powerful runner could be a hugely positive partnership that Steve Borthwick could\u00a0utilise\u00a0going forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Joe Carpenter\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the most underrated players in the Prem so far, Carpenter has been hugely consistent for Sale Sharks this season, and with the new addition of Byron McGuigan, his chances have been boosted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The fullback\u00a0is one of those players who would be good enough to play at the top level, but\u00a0not quite good\u00a0enough to force his way in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He can do the basics well and has flashes of quality with the ball in hand, but it would be interesting to see if his qualities can translate to Test level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Afolabi\u00a0Fasogbon\u00a0<\/p>\n

Young prop\u00a0Fasogbon\u00a0is the next big front row talent coming out of England, with this season being his breakout year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Super confident and extremely talented,\u00a0his wave on Ellis Genge at the start of the season was a sign of just how much he believes in himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Part of the new generation of props who are not only super powerful, but technically very solid, it is only a matter of time until\u00a0Fasogbon\u00a0gets some international credit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

Arthur Clark\u00a0<\/p>\n

Young lock Clark was very unlucky not to train with England in January, after he was called up but broke a bone in his foot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gloucester have surprised everyone this season with their super attacking rugby, which has only been made possible by the\u00a0hard work\u00a0of the forwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Maro\u00a0Itoje\u00a0certain to miss out due to being on the Lions tour (almost certainly)\u00a0and George Martin being injured, there will be a space available for someone to take the\u00a0reins\u00a0and make an impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Importance of future development\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

A lot of talent is coming through the ranks and with this tour being less results-focused than a lot of the other fixtures that England play,\u00a0it\u00a0provides\u00a0a way to give the youth a\u00a0chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This tour\u00a0provides a chance for Steve Borthwick\u00a0to experiment for the future,\u00a0and with a few key positions needing a bit of work, it could give players the opportunity to get their foot in the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freddie Steward<\/a> has been questioned a lot at fullback, and as mentioned, Joe Carpenter would be the logical inclusion for this tour, after Marcus Smith<\/a>\u2018s positional experiment\u00a0there for the Six Nations went well, but not seamlessly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The main position that this tour is going to\u00a0help with\u00a0is in the\u00a0centres.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ollie Lawrence is injured, but his partnership with Henry Slade<\/a> has been questioned at Test level in general.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Candidates<\/p>\n

There is Fraser Dingwall, who was called up for the Six Nations, a consistent performer who may not have\u00a0star\u00a0quality but\u00a0is consistent and can deliver solid performances whatever the scenario.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then you have Max\u00a0Ojomoh, who as mentioned is much more exciting and if put with a powerful 13, could properly form a formidable partnership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seb Atkinson for Gloucester could be that powerful player, as the 6ft 2\u00a0centre\u00a0is such a strong runner and has been unreal with Chris Harris for the Cherry and Whites this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

George Skivington admitted that he\u00a0has\u00a0spoken\u00a0to Steve Borthwick about him, so a chance could be on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Younger players Joe Woodward and\u00a0Rekeiti\u00a0Ma\u2019asi\u00a0White are outside shouts, but if Borthwick wants to take a risk and blood a couple of huge talents, then these two could be on the plane to the Americas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aside from the\u00a0centres, whoever is selected on this tour would have\u00a0a great opportunity\u00a0to put their\u00a0name\u00a0properly in the hat for some consistent Test appearances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> British and Irish Lions stock risers and fallers \u2013 Taulupe Faletau rolls back years to put himself in contention<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Charlie Elliott For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need,\u00a0subscribe to The Rugby Paper\u00a0website,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[10105,186,5012,748,393,5014,4884,678,6875,2384,4209,16,15,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-57793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-bath","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-england","13":"tag-gloucester","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-premiership","17":"tag-sale-sharks","18":"tag-six-nations","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114416317712212380","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}