Barrow and Ewels pushing for Saxons inclusion

Top quality locks are in anything but short supply in English rugby right now.

The Saracens duo of Maro Itoje and George Kruis were the exemplary pairing during the Six Nations, whilst both Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes were more than able deputies should injury or a drop in form have struck Itoje or Kruis.

Thanks to age and injury respectively, both Geoff Parling and Dave Attwood seem out of the England mix at the moment but do provide another test-calibre pairing should Eddie Jones require them. The Leicester combination of Ed Slater and Graham Kitchener has long been touted as good enough to prosper at international level and Matt Symons of London Irish and Exeter’s Australian-born lock Mitch Lees are also two players worthy of consideration.

With three proven test combinations, plus four more established and effective second rows waiting in the wings, finding new talent at the position is unlikely to be one of Jones’ priorities moving forward, but that doesn’t mean new talent won’t find him.

There are two new kids on the block set to make the England engine room an even more competitive spot over the coming years.

Enter Leicester’s Dom Barrow and Bath’s Charlie Ewels. At just 23 and 20 years of age respectively, they both have time on their side, but are already playing like men in a hurry to make the step up to the next level.

Barrow enjoyed two fine seasons for Newcastle Falcons before making the move south to Leicester last year. Despite heavy competition from the aforementioned duo of Slater and Kitchener, as well as Mike Williams and Mike Fitzgerald, Barrow has been one of the highlights of the Tigers’ season. His versatility and ability to play on the blindside flank has increased his opportunities and he has taken them with clinical efficiency.

As for Ewels, his opportunity came through an injury to Attwood earlier this year and the former England U20 captain has not looked back since being given Bath’s five jersey. The youngster has run Bath’s lineout with the control and composure you would expect of a much more experienced player and has shown incredible work rate around the park with and without ball in hand.

Both players graduated from the England U20 side and have Junior World Championship-winners medals to show for it. Barrow was a key component of the side which broke England’s duck at the competition in 2013, whilst Ewels was the foil to Itoje in England’s 2014 triumph, before taking over the captaincy in 2015, leading England back to the final of the competition.

The pair have both taken to senior rugby with ease and have skill sets which would complement each other extremely well. Barrow is the Bakkies Botha – or Danny Grewcock if you want to keep it English – of the pair. The Yorkshireman brings relentless physicality to pitch, whether that is with his tackling, rucking or carrying, and certainly fits the traditional ‘enforcer’ stereotype. Ewels, meanwhile, is the Victor Matfield. His lineout work is sublime and even at just 20 years of age, he has all the hallmarks of a great leader on and off the pitch.

With so many players to bypass in order to move into contention with England, this summer’s Saxons tour to South Africa provides the perfect opportunity to test the mettle of these two rising stars. There have been suggestions the tour will be limited to, or at least focusing on, U23 players, making the pair no-brainer selections for Jones and interim Saxons coach Ali Hepher. Even if the tour doesn’t focus on younger players, the duo still make perfect sense as Jones looks to build towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup and develop three genuine test-calibre options in every position.

The tour would allow them to test themselves against what it is likely to be a very strong South Africa A side. The likes of Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will be with the Springboks, but there’s a chance they could go head-to-head with a proven test player like Pieter-Steph du Toit. If not, they would still face great competition from players such as the swiftly-rising RG Snyman or the ever-consistent Stephan Lewies.

In another era, both Barrow and Ewels would have won test caps in the recent Six Nations and though the plethora of options in the England pecking order may seem unfortunate for them, both are the type of characters to thrive on that competition and ensure it brings the best out of them moving forward.

That said, the coaches at Leicester and Bath might be quietly relieved if these two continue to slip under England’s radar, such has been their impact this season.

If one thing is for certain, it’s that England’s engine room production line just keeps on whirring.