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Dan Cole provides candid admission on the future of his England career
By Josh Raisey
England tighthead Dan Cole is uncertain whether the epic 33-31 loss to France in Lyon in round five of the Guinness Six Nations was his last match of international rugby.
At the age of 36 and with 111 caps to his name, the Leicester Tigers prop is in the twilight years of his career, but has enjoyed an international renaissance since Steve Borthwick became England boss.
Having been in the Test rugby wilderness for three years after the 2019 World Cup final, Cole was recalled to the England squad for the 2023 Six Nations and has featured heavily since then.
Cole started against Scotland, Ireland and France in this year's Championship, and stood toe-to-toe with Les Bleus' gargantuan pack in Lyon. In fact, he has produced some of the best scrummaging performances of his career since his Test return, notably against the Springboks in the World Cup semi-final last year.
He was asked whether the match in France was the last for England on his For the Love of Rugby recently, to which he could not give a concrete answer, but joked that the decision might well be taken out of his hands.
"That answer I can't really give," he said when asked. "It might be, it might not be. As ever, I joke about it in camp but my international career is day to day. If I can get through the day, it goes to the next one.
"I've had eight weeks away from home, I have to spend some time with the family. They come first.
"I'll speak to Steve and the coaches and we'll go from there. That's if they want to pick me, which obviously there's a chance they might not, so therefore it might be my last game because they might not pick me.
"You never want to jump too far in the future. There's still a fairly big part of the domestic season to play, so my thoughts now move to Leicester and playing at home and trying to get as high up in the Premiership as possible.
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Latest Comments
Hopefully Joe stays where he is. That would mean Les, McKellar, larkham and Cron should as well. It’s the stability we need in the state programs. But, if Joe goes, RA with its current financial situation will be forced into promoting from within. And this will likely destabilise other areas.
To better understand some of the entrenched bitterness of those outside of NZ and NSW (as an example 😂), Nic, there is probably a comparison to the old hard heads of welsh rugby who are still stuck in the 1970s. Before the days where clubs merged, professionalism started, and the many sharp knives were put into the backs of those who loved the game more than everyone else. I’m sure you know a few... But given your comparison of rugby in both wales and Australia, there are a few north of the tweed that will never trust a kiwi or NSWelshman because of historical events and issues over the history of the game. It is what it is. For some, time does not heal all wounds. And it is still festering away in some people. Happy holidays to you. All the best in 2025.
Go to commentsNot surprised to see Barretts rating. He has always been a solid defender for the ABs but not particularly effective in attack situations.
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