BAGSHOT — If Henry Slade thought his Test days were numbered by the advance of Ollie Lawrence, Fraser Dingwall and Tommy Freeman as England centres, with young bucks like Seb Atkinson and Max Ojomoh bubbling under, he hasn’t let it show.
Maybe it’s the reassurance of being awarded one of his country’s 25 enhanced Elite Player Squad (EPS) contracts for this season, that gives Slade a guaranteed annual payment instead of match-by-match fees, as well as affording greater medical oversight to the England head coach Steve Borthwick.
But Slade was acclaimed by Borthwick on Wednesday as a role model for being a dogged trainer and valued team-mate while not getting picked for the first three autumn internationals – and now the 32-year-old has been called up for the fourth and final one, against Argentina at Twickenham this Sunday.
There were promising signs in the centre pairing of Dingwall and Lawrence in last weekend’s 33-19 win over New Zealand, but Lawrence failed to finish it due to a hamstring strain.
Lawrence limped off against the All Blacks (Photo: Reuters)A similar fate befell Freeman when the Northampton Saints wing was tried at No 13 in the 25-7 win over Australia in the first autumn match.
Added to the injury last month to Atkinson of Gloucester, who impressed when he started England’s two summer Test wins at No 12 in Argentina in July, it has seen Borthwick’s best-laid plans ripped asunder.
England have also looked at centres Luke Northmore, Oscar Beard, Angus Hall and Rekeiti Ma’asi-White at senior and A levels in recent months.
But Slade has not gone away, just as he kept persevering after he was left out of the 2023 World Cup by Borthwick – the centres in the pool game with Argentina were Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant, who have since joined clubs in France.
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Slade subsequently regained his England place, and he started the first Test in Puma country in July, clocking up umpteen tackles in a fine performance, only to break his hand and miss the second game.
For much of his career of 73 England caps, the question has been the degree to which Slade brings the lithe excellence of his displays for his club Exeter Chiefs, and how England might find the combative power to complement him.
The same question will be tested again by the Argentinians this week, as injuries have hit England’s backline hard, with the tall wing Tom Roebuck also unavailable.
But Borthwick has come to an overall conclusion on the subject, saying on Wednesday: “If you look at English rugby right now, one of the things we don’t have, that England teams had previously, is tremendous size and tremendous power.
“We play the game a bit differently from what has been done before. You have got to run – so having players like Fraser Dingwall and Henry Slade in the centres, who will run defensively and attacking-wise, is crucial.”
Slade has excelled in starting all Exeter’s five Premiership matches this season in their rise to third in the table, with the quality Australian inside centre Len Ikitau alongside in rounds four and five.
Slade has also stepped up as a front-line goal-kicker in the two years since Joe Simmonds departed Sandy Park.
He scored 22 points, including a silky try with a cool grubber kick into the corner, in Chiefs’ 39-12 rout of Gloucester just before this international window.
When Borthwick announced his team in the England camp on Wednesday morning, he paused to talk about Slade.
Ex-England scrum-half Danny Care this week described Slade as the best-looking man in the England squad, but it is a different kind of modelling Borthwick is keen on.
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“Henry has missed out on selection for three weeks and he has trained as hard as he can to help the team and push his own game,” Borthwick said. “That didn’t used to happen. Players who are selfless, role-modelling it to the young players, is crucial. I value these players.”
Coincidentally, another 73-cap man, Elliot Daly, is also back for England, in his first match since breaking his arm playing for the British & Irish Lions in Queensland on 2 July.
England starting XV vs Argentina: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Spencer; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Alex Coles, 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl.
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Marcus Smith.
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