England must learn from Ollie Hassell-Collins if they want new wingers to thrive

A year ago, Ollie Hassell-Collins was gearing up for his Test debut. Steve Borthwick had telegraphed the selection strongly by lavishing excited praise on the rangy wing during press calls.

Then of London Irish, though Borthwick had already recruited him to Leicester Tigers for the following season, Hassell-Collins started against Scotland and Italy. Barely halfway through February, before England faced Wales, he was out of the squad. A press release cited a “knee issue”, but Hassell-Collins returned to Premiership action as soon as March 3.

While he did train with England before the end of that Six Nations, and again during the World Cup build-up, the 25-year-old has not looked likely to add to his two caps. Twice over the past fortnight, each time in reference to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Warren Gatland has cited Hassell-Collins as an example of how a rookie can be picked and then “thrown out”. Friday evening felt rather poignant in that regard.

Back in Twickenham, across the A316 at the home of Harlequins, Hassell-Collins produced the most prominent performance of his Tigers career to date. While they also stifled their hosts in the kicking exchanges, Leicester continually spread the ball wide to outflank an aggressive, out-to-in defence. Hassell-Collins thrived. Even before the break and diving offload that set up Mike Brown for a crucial Tigers try, he slipped past tacklers and posed a constant threat. Afterwards, Hassell-Collins was asked how he felt about the past 12 months and his current England prospects.

“It was one of the highlights of my career,” Hassell-Collins said of the Scotland game. “I loved it. But, I suppose, I’m not there at the moment. I haven’t got time to worry about that. It’s time to focus on Leicester, get on the ball and do what I do. If it happens, it happens.”

Insiders at Tigers are confident that Hassell-Collins will return to Borthwick’s set-up should he continue to sharpen his game understanding, because his athleticism is extraordinary. If he does not, as Gatland has flagged, Hassell-Collins will qualify to represent Wales before the next World Cup. Either way, there is another question to consider. Just as important as what Hassell-Collins gleaned from his England experience is what the episode will have taught Borthwick.

The difficulty of learning on the job

“My super-strength is getting the ball,” Hassell-Collins said on Friday, when explaining the ways in which his role at Leicester has differed from the one he enjoyed in an expansive London Irish side. “I’ve had to add a few bits. Maybe we kick a bit more here at Leicester, so I’ve added the chase and trying to get the ball back.

“But I can’t shy away from why they signed me in the first place, which is carrying. There have been bits and bobs I’ve added, but nothing too major.”

Dan McKellar saluted the skill and power of Hassell-Collins, stressing that these attributes were accentuated because Tigers moved the ball well against Harlequins; as well as they have all season. From a first-half line-out, a classic midfield play featured Hassell-Collins sweeping around into a third wave…

…before slicing through midfield:

Later on, Jamie Shillcock flipped him a gorgeous offload. After half-time, Brown found him with a rolled kick-pass across the opposition 22. With 10 minutes remaining, slick interplay between Handré Pollard and Dan Kelly outflanked Harlequins – known in modern coaching jargon as ‘taking the edge’ – and released Hassell-Collins:

Tigers sometimes went wide quickly with long, deep passes. They trusted Hassell-Collins to surge back in-field, often beating defenders who were tracking across, and set a target for his forwards. In this respect, he seemed like a focal point, as he often was at Irish. Indeed, according to Stats Perform, Hassell-Collins picked up 16 attacking touches against Harlequins. This was more than in any other appearance since the beginning of last season:

For England, notwithstanding the dearth of space and fiercer defences in Test matches, Hassell-Collins was a peripheral figure, especially in phase-play. Borthwick spoke about players translating their ‘super-strengths’ from club level to internationals. Ben Earl and Joe Marchant were among those to establish themselves and achieve this, for example. Conversely, it felt as though the less assured areas of Hassell-Collins’s game were put under the microscope and his chief attributes were not allowed to shine. His comments about the kicking game on Friday night suggested he was learning on the job.

One early exchange in the loss to Scotland sticks in the memory. During a long kicking rally, Hassell-Collins was urged to run by a swell of crowd noise. Scotland’s chase engulfed him and forced a breakdown penalty.

From the ensuing line-out, England conceded a try. Frankly, it is difficult to remember too much else from Hassell-Collins’s first two England outings. Against Italy, as the table above demonstrates, Stats Perform registered a paltry total of three attacking touches for him. Hassell-Collins was replaced 15 minutes into the second half.

Henry Arundell did get a start in Dublin at the end of the 2023 Six Nations, but it was telling that Borthwick relied on Elliot Daly and Jonny May as his front-line Word Cup wings. Experience and solidity in aerial battles were viewed as key assets. Max Malins bagged two tries in Borthwick’s first game before fading out of the picture. May, an injury replacement for Anthony Watson, has now retired from Tests. Watson is still sidelined, offering scope to shake up the back three.

Can team tactics accommodate a debutant?

There is always an element of the unknown regarding how an uncapped newbie will fare in a Test match. Coaches cannot have complete certainty. But as much as they must be confident that an untried player is ready, their team tactics also have to be ready – or willing – for that player to shine. A year ago, England did not seem prepared to showcase the strengths of Hassell-Collins with any regularity. He did not get time, either, to settle into the team and for team-mates to become accustomed to him. This is always a gradual process, which is underway at Leicester. On Dec 3, for instance, Hassell-Collins touched the ball only twice in a 47-3 win over Newcastle Falcons that was inspired by muscular mauling. One of these touches was a two-metre trot over the try-line to score.

If we assume that either Freddie Steward or George Furbank will wear 15 in Rome, there remain a number of candidates to fill the wing spots. Besides Daly, who would provide continuity on the left, Borthwick could turn to Feyi-Waboso, Tommy Freeman, Tom Roebuck, Oscar Beard or Will Muir. Muir, who replaced Ollie Lawrence in the squad, has spent his time at Bath almost exclusively as a left wing. The others, along with Steward, are potential right wings.

Now for team tactics. There will be plenty of aerial work and chasing of kicks. Defensively, one suspects that Felix Jones will urge wings to be aggressive tone-setters by rushing in-field. In phase-play, they should feel comfortable with roaming around the pitch to hunt the ball. Feyi-Waboso, compared to the explosive Sevu Reece by Will Greenwood, enjoys bustling carries close to the breakdown. Roebuck is proactive for Sale Sharks and Beard has grown up as a centre.

Freeman has three caps and there have been encouraging signs. He involved himself intelligently during the second and third Tests against Australia in the summer of 2022. Freeman’s most recent cap, in the loss to South Africa that autumn, was forgettable. But he has seemed to find another level for Northampton Saints this season.

Of course, wings always look better as part of a team who move the ball to space, as Tigers did on Friday. Do that consistently over the next couple of months and England will build on the foundations of Borthwick’s first year. Wherever he watches from, Hassell-Collins might just give a wry smile.