England plan debut for Asher Opoku-Fordjour, the 20-year-old next-gen prop

Asher Opoku-Fordjour is set to make his England debut against Japan this weekend as Steve Borthwick looks to blood the next generation of props.

Telegraph Sport understands that the 20-year-old has been named among the replacements as England look to end their Autumn Nations Series on a high on Sunday following a run of five successive defeats.

Opoku-Fordjour started in England A’s 38-17 victory against their Australian counterparts last Sunday but was replaced early in the second half. Borthwick name-checked him as a player of interest.

Despite being deployed at tighthead for Sale Sharks, he is viewed as a loosehead by England and was a star of the Under-20s World Championship-winning team in the summer.

Joe Marler’s retirement at the start of the autumn campaign has diminished England’s propping stocks and 37-year-old tighthead Dan Cole continues to decide his future on a campaign-by-campaign basis.

However, their loss may be offset by a potential golden generation of young props, led by Opoku-Fordjour, Gloucester’s Afolabi Fasogbon and Bath’s Billy Sela.

Opoku-Fordjour first came to prominence playing against Marler in the Premiership in December 2023. In an interview with TNT Sports, Harlequins’ Marler said: “There is a young tighthead that has come off the bench for Sale. And he’s - mmm… [tasty].”

Very few modern props can seamlessly switch between loosehead and tighthead and his long-term position is set to be a test case of the new spirit of collaboration between Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Football Union since signing the Professional Game Partnership.

Speaking this year, Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson told England scrum coach Tom Harrison that the club would not be budging on their stance.

“He sees Asher as a loosehead,” Sanderson said. “I disagree. I think we have a lot of looseheads with good mobility and a bit of fast twitch and it’s an easier position to get technically right. Asher can work at tighthead and that is really rare, as rare as teddy-bear s---. He could be a good loosehead but similar to others in his position like Bev [Rodd]. He could be an exceptional tighthead given his mobility and his ability to stick in the scrum.”