Alex Coles proves why he belongs in England’s plans

Alex Coles returned to Argentina last week and reflected on the tour that changed his career and could lead to him being part of England‘s furniture for a while.

The second row started for Steve Borthwick‘s men against the Pumas in Santiago del Estero, the fifth time in a row he has been in the run-on XV.

Turn the clock back a year and Coles had been in and out of England teams before getting a chance on the tour to Argentina and USA to get his feet under the table.

And he did not need a second invitation.

Boss: England head coach Steve Borthwick
PICTURE: Alamy

Taking his chance

With Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum away with the Lions in Australia, and George Martin crocked, Northampton Saints’ Coles started the two wins over the Pumas in La Plata and San Juan and the 40-5 win over America in Washington.

After that he started three out of four November internationals and, at 26, looks like he will be a fixture in the squad for a while to come – and it all comes down to taking his chance last year.

When the big cats were away, Coles played and he looks like he is here to stay.

Coles said: “That was huge because before that I’d been sort of in and out.

“I made my debut in 2022 then dropped out of the squad for a while then came back in, playing a few games off the bench here and there.

“But without having extended minutes, it can be hard to prove yourself and earn trust.

“Having that ability while the Lions were away, and so many of our great players went to that tour, for myself and for a few other people.

“We spoke about the opportunity that it afforded us and I think you saw in how some of us have managed to play in those games and then keep putting ourselves forward for our shirts going forward this year.

“Often in sport, you see with everything, there’s a bit of luck in terms of injuries or chances to take an opportunity and it just so happened that with the Lions not coming, it gave us a chance to do it and it was massive for me.”

Learning curve: Alex Coles in action for England against South Africa
PICTURE: Getty Images

Foundations

And despite recent results – including four defeats out of five in the Six Nations – Coles reckons the effects of that trip last summer, which also injected new coaching blood in Lee Blackett and Byron McGuigan, are still being felt by the squad.

He added: “We saw some real good results from the Argentina tour through into the autumn and then we obviously wavered a bit in terms of the Six Nations with our results.

“But the foundations that were put in they’ve still been worked on the whole time.

“We as a team speak about always wanting to improve, always constantly wanting to build on what we’ve done.

“And even if we didn’t see the results in the Six Nations, I do feel like some of the stuff that was put in place over that summer has helped us in later games.”