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Toby Flood: 'Horrible and nasty' duo made difference for England
By Liam Heagney
Toby Flood has hailed the influence of Leicester duo Ollie Chessum and George Martin in firing up England in the Guinness Six Nations.
Steve Borthwick’s squad enjoyed a March renaissance which saw them upset the double Grand Slam-chasing Ireland and come within a late penalty kick of winning away in France and finishing in second place.
Chessum started the tournament as the second row partner to Maro Itoje. However, with Martin making his return from injury as a round three replacement against Scotland, Borthwick decided to shift Chessum to blindside for the closing two matches so that Martin could be included as a second row starter.
The decision worked a treat as Chessum and Martin flourished in those games and their performances have now been acclaimed by Flood, the retired England out-half, who told OLBG: “They do look to the manor born.
“I saw on social media about Ollie’s output on a Wattbike. There were raised eyebrows at the incredible things he was doing. Athletically he is a freak. He is the natural heir to Courtney Lawes.
“I remember seeing Martin in the corridors at Leicester and I was talking to Matt Smith, an old teammate who was the academy coach at the club. Matt doesn’t give out praise easily, but he pointed at George and said, ‘He’s proper.’
“The pair of them provide the grunt and just whack people. They are horrible and nasty in the best possible meaning. You have to have that when you come across big packs like France. You need to have people who can repeatedly go to the well. They really look serious. You can sense when someone has got it and they do have it.”
Flood claimed that the selection of both Chessum and Martin as starters allowed Maro Itoje to contribute better than he had done in February. “Maro was difficult and mischievous; he looked like he was beginning to enjoy his rugby again.
"Those two playing as they did free up Maro to go about his business and not worry about other parts of his game he might not be so proficient at.”
Flood, meanwhile, compared the influence of George Ford as the No10 as similar to the effect of football’s Mo Salah with Liverpool. “I have always been a huge fan of George’s. He is a fantastic player. He is slight so people will target him, but his ability in terms of understanding the game is up there with the best.
“He is another coach on the field. They talked about Jordan Henderson being that for Liverpool before he left, telling everyone what to do and people asking him. Mo Salah would be very similar.
“George still has time on his side. He has only just turned 31. He can easily make another Rugby World Cup. To have him in amongst that squad with his knowledge and with Marcus Smith as back-up, they have quality and the luxury of two players who are very, very good.”
Flood named Tommy Freeman as his breakthrough England player and Ben Earl as his England player of the tournament, while he named Ireland out-half Jack Crowley as his top player overall.
“Tommy Freeman just looks natural at international level, a player who can fit in incredibly well. He looked like he didn’t miss a beat. He looked like somebody very much at home in the international arena. He didn’t look worried about the expectations.
“There were question marks about Ben before the tournament about whether he was big enough and powerful enough as a No8, but his feet, movement and ability to beat a man were outstanding. He was just so consistent.”
Regarding his best overall pick, Flood explained: “I have a big soft spot for Thomas Ramos but it is hard to look past Ireland and Jack Crowley who fitted into Johnny Sexton’s shoes very comfortably. He was impressive and managed with ease what everyone felt was going to be a difficult transition.”
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