Jack van Poortvliet knows that the road back to England‘s No.9 jersey will be tough, but in clubmate Ben Youngs he has the perfect guiding light to assist him on his onward journey.
The Leicester scrum-half admits he is eager to tap into the vast experience of England men’s most-capped player as he looks to work his way back into Test contention.
From game management and experience – to that of the finer details of controlling on-field tempo – it seems van Poortvliet is literally soaking up every lesson available from Youngs, determined to refine his craft and prove to Steve Borthwick that he belongs very much within the England set-up.
In what is an intriguing battle for a spot within Borthwick’s grand plan, the 23-year-old knows he can ill afford to let his guard down, especially with the competition red hot from the likes of Alex Mitchell, Harry Randall and Ben Spencer.
However, van Poortvliet – who has already appeared 16 times for his country – could not have a better sounding board than that of Youngs, who himself amassed a record 127 Test caps, the last of which came against Argentina in the bronze medal match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Mentor
“Lenny [Youngs] has been brilliant with me ever since I came through at 18,” said van Poortvliet.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of people to help me on my journey and Lenny with his experience he’s got, he’s helped me an awful lot, especially in recent years, where I’ve been in and out of the team or I’ve had injuries, he’s the one who has helped me get my confidence up, pushing me, just working with me in different ways.”
A knee injury sustained in the Champions Cup clash with Toulouse last month meant van Poortvliet had been forced to sit out England’s opening fixtures in this season’s Six Nations championship, but now fighting fit, he used last weekend’s A international against Ireland in Bristol as the perfect stage to deliver a telling reminder to the watching Borthwick of his proven powers.
“The ultimate goal is to get back consistently in the England squad,” added van Poortvliet.
“Steve has been really good with me. This was my first game back after the injury against Toulouse, so he wanted me to come in here and get some minutes under my belt.”
England A
As skipper of the Red Rose outfit, van Poortvliet did not disappoint in a 28-12 success.
He scored the pick of England’s four tries, a stunning individual effort, which saw him show the Irish defence a clean pair of heels from just inside his own half.
It was little wonder, therefore, he was all smiles following the fixture, adding: “You go around the changing room there, every one of them wants to play international rugby.
“We are all pushing hard, you could feel it within the group. Everyone wanted to go out and play well, not just individually, but also for the benefit of the team.
“I think the biggest thing we wanted from this week was to just enjoy it, which is exactly what we did.”
READ MORE: Playing for England A team a real eye opener, says George Hendy
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