Former England boss and current Bath coach Andy Robinson believes consistency of selection is bringing the best out of Will Stuart.
The 28-year-old has started England’s last nine Tests and will become the first player to make 10-plus straight appearances as the starting tighthead since Dan Cole managed an incredible 24 on the bounce – from the eve of Rugby World Cup 2015 through to the end of the 2017 Six Nations – if he’s selected in the No.3 jersey against Italy.
Since Cole’s epic run of endurance, Kyle Sinckler managed nine straight Tests, twice, in 2019-20 and 2022-23, before heading off to play his club rugby France.
With Cole left out of Steve Borthwick’s current squad, it has allowed Stuart to take on the mantle as England’s leading tighthead.
While Stuart still has a long way to go to challenge centurion Cole’s achievement as the cornerstone of the English pack, this is easily his most consistent run of starts in the national team, eclipsing the four-Test block he managed in 2022.
Stuart also will also reach the 50-cap milestone if he plays in the final two rounds of the Six Nations, yet his strong scrummaging and improved contributions in the loose rarely get mentioned.
Backing Him
“When he gets 100 caps like Dan Cole, that’s when they’ll start talking about him,” said Robinson.
“The thing about Will is that he’s always had this ability, it is simply backing him. What he has got now is someone backing him and he has shown what he can do.
“He is getting real consistency of performance which is so important playing Test rugby.”
After back-to-back, one-point wins against France and Scotland, Stuart is enjoying getting the same winning habit he has with Bath at Test level.
“For me winning and losing is very habitual. You lose a few games in a row and then you evolve from that, trying to get out of that rut and winning,” Stuart said.
“Even in tight situations, to win is a massive moral boost. When we were losing really tight games, you could feel the growth of the team. That was exactly the same scenario I felt at the end of last year.
“I could feel massive growth, I could feel like we were being competitive. We just needed the dam to break at some point.”
Calcutta Cup
England avoided an unprecedented fifth successive loss to Scotland to lift the Calcutta Cup for the first time in five years – and this time Stuart was able to celebrate the moment.
“The last one we won in 2020 was my first Six Nations and that was the storm year,” he said. “My mum and girlfriend weren’t happy.
“They came up, I didn’t come off the bench and then we get on a plane but they were stuck in Edinburgh because of the storm! They have refused to go back up since.
“A few of the games I have played in against Scotland have been really frustrating. The Covid one with the retro shirts…I came off and felt like we threw it away.
“Not to discredit Scotland, but I didn’t know how it ended up like that.”
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