Saturday, 14 December 2013

Nowell tipped to solve England"s wing problems



Nowell, 20, has made five appearances for the Chiefs this season and is yet to score a try but he is held in high regard, both at Sandy Park and at Twickenham.


After helping England Under-20s to their first ever Junior World Championship title this summer – on the back of a breakthrough season with the Chiefs – Nowell was promoted to the Saxons squad.


A raft of injuries – most notably to Ben Foden, Christian Wade and Marland Yarde – has left Stuart Lancaster with limited options out wide for the RBS 6 Nations and Baxter believes Nowell can make the step up.


“I think England should pick their form players and believe their own eyes a little bit,” said Baxter. “He’s a natural rugby player. You could almost pick him anywhere.


“You get the impression he hasn’t got express pace but you never see him get caught. Against Toulon he turned and caught their winger, Rudi Wulf, within five strides.


“There are not many wingers who are going to leave him for pace defensively. And the truth is he beats so many first defenders he doesn’t have to kick too much.


“Sometimes there seems to be a little fear about pushing through with some of our guys, but all of them could drop into the England environment and perform. What are Jack’s performances saying? They’re saying he’s a good player.”


Article source: http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/story/208765.html


Nowell tipped to solve England"s wing problems

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