‘Reckless’ England forward reveals Steve Borthwick’s ‘clear’ selection requirement as he targets ‘something special’ this Six Nations
Bevan Rodd spoke openly about his England ambitions and scrummaging success with Sale.
As Sale’s scrummaging has become a focal point of their Investec Champions Cup turnaround, James While caught up with powerhouse loosehead prop Bevan Rodd as he heads to England’s training camp in Girona, accompanied by his front row club colleagues, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour.
Reckless Rodd
Rodd’s impact around the pitch in a rugby match has never been doubted. Blessed with brilliant hands and an impressive work-rate, the Sale prop always contributes in any team he represents.
But, the question has always remained around the 24-year-olds ability in the tight; this season has seen a turnaround in his set-piece form as Rodd matures physically and his form, as a result, has been absolutely compelling.
“Well, Dickie (Luke Cowan-Dickie) joining Sale is a blessing, to be honest,” Rodd observed.
“It’s about teamwork and we have learned so much from him. He’s very good in the tight and works hard at it. Obviously, he’s a British and Irish Test Lion so that speaks for itself. And in terms of Asher (Opoku-Fordjour), everyone at Sale knew of Asher’s potential last year, and it was just a case of when, not if, he was going to show it in terms of in the Premiership, in the Champions Cup, and now internationally.
“We seem to work well as a unit- but at times we can be, well, I call it ‘reckless’, at the minute in terms of attacking and that can be a downfall as well as a strength. But we’re learning to be more selective and more disciplined in choosing when to really attack.
“As soon as we get that bit right in terms of discipline, I reckon we’ll take that extra step. As I say we’re just a bit reckless at the moment, going for every scrum, and that’s probably more my fault than the other two!
“Dickie is not young but Asher’s still only 20, which is wild, and playing week in week out at tighthead as he’s doing is unheard of. I’m 24 and Dickie is, I think, 31 so the average age brings up a bit with Luke! He’s the old man! But it’s exciting and hopefully, everyone stays around and we can continue their partnership and perhaps contribute from an international perspective.
“Obviously, personal goals are aligned to team outcomes so mine would be to win the Six Nations competition. It’s exciting, one of the best competitions in the world and I’m thrilled to meet up with all the lads again. Frustratingly, I missed out on the Autumn and didn’t perform in the summer like I wanted, but exciting to be back in the mix and hopefully I can do something special with the group.
“It’s an honour to be picked for England. It’s the highest level of rugby and it has to be one of the best things in my career thus far. When you’re younger it’s all about your club, playing for Sale but then once you nail that down, the focus is on self-improvement and that has to be playing for England, the ultimate goal.
Scrummage Improvement
“England have made it very clear that the key for their props is scrum first. If you have their extra ability around the park, it’s always good, but having that scrum-first mentality is something England Scrum Coach Tom Harrison and Steve Borthwick have always spoken about.
“Having that scrum focus can lead to many opportunities, like we saw in our match against Toulon. We had a scrum on the 22 won the pen, and we scored off it. And we’re seeing the set piece can go a long way to winning games.
“I’m the first to admit, obviously, my scrummaging last year wasn’t as good as it should have been this year. I’ve been working on it really hard – me, Asher, Dickie as a unit. As I said, it’s turned into a reckless scrum now, where it’s good at times, but there’s times when discipline is an issue, especially for my side. We just need to work on that timing that ‘reckless’ ability never being passive, and hitting that sweet spot of consistent dominant scrummaging.
“In terms of personal development, England’s front rowers work well together as a propping group and we share and care. If you look at Ellis Genge as a good example, he’s playing well and dominating for Bristol.
“We talk about the reasons for that with Gengey, learning from him, and we work with Tom, Steve, and at Sale, Dorian West and Alex Sanderson, focusing on improvement not as individuals, but as a unit within the team.
“You celebrate and learn from your good days. Against Stormers and Frans Malherbe, it went well for me and I’ll take the good from that. But I’ve had days where it’s not going well. You must always remember your bad days and shouldn’t hide from those either as you learn as much from those as your good days.
“In terms of Sale’s representation in the England squad, it’s well deserved in my opinion. There’s a lot of people that like to take the p**s about the club, that we’re a proxy South African side! But that’s rubbish- we have that big, strong group of English lads who drive it, like the Curry brothers, Roebuck, Carpenter, Quirke and the like, great northern lads who take a huge pride in Sale Sharks rugby.
“For me, what I will enjoy is meeting up with those guys in an England context, but learning from the other faces there too, as we grow together.”
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