LEICESTER tight-head prop Dan Cole has admitted the prospect of anchoring the England pack in a full international was not even on his radar at the start of this season.
But the 22-year-old has made such an impact in his breakthrough season at Welford Road he was yesterday named in England’s starting XV for Sunday’s RBS Six Nations clash with Italy.
Cole, who appeared off the bench as a second-half replacement in England’s 30-17 victory over Wales last weekend, makes his full debut in place of Bath’s David Wilson.
England manager Martin Johnson has made one other change for the Valentine’s Day trip to Rome, with Riki Flutey restored at inside centre following his recovery from a dead leg.
Selection for England completes a remarkable rise for Cole, who has made only 22 senior starts for Leicester. This time last year he was sent out on loan to first division club Nottingham.
Cole’s ambitions at the start of the campaign were limited to establishing himself at Leicester as a genuine rival to the Tigers’ tighthead veterans Julian White and Martin Castrogiovanni.
But a series of destructive performances – particularly against Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup and Wasps in the Guinness Premiership – thrust him straight into England contention.
“This is a big surprise because at the start of the year I wouldn’t have expected it,” Cole said.
“At the start of the season my goal would have been to establish myself in the Leicester side and become a reliable player that Cockers (Leicester dire.
“You are not going to play for England unless you are playing for your club and so that was my aim at the beginning of the season.”
Cole announced his extraordinary potential against Clermont Auvergne shortly before Christmas, when he dismantled the French international loose-head Lionel Faure.
Less than a month later he repeated the trick, this time against his new England team-mate Tim Payne as Leicester’s pack destroyed Wasps at Welford Road.
“The Wasps game got all the attention but it wasn’t a one-off. We had been playing well before then. The Clermont game was a big step forward,” said Cole.
“It was a big pressure game against one of the best scrummaging teams in Europe. It was about proving to everyone you can deal with those situations. We did all right and we won the game.”
Cole did more than all right but his response was typical of the no-nonsense attitude that has been bred among Leicester forwards down the ages.
England scrum coach Graham Rowntree, forwards coach John Wells and Johnson were all products of that Leicester environment and they see another hard-nosed graduate in Cole.
And Rowntree has no qualms about blooding him against one of the international game’s toughest scrummaging units.
“His temperament is his strength, he is tough but he doesn’t go around banging his chest,” said Rowntree. “We did think twice about playing him against Italy but we will take that chance because I know Dan can do it. He did a great job coming on against Wales last week and I have every confidence in him.”
England captain Steve Borthwick and lock Simon Shaw both missed training yesterday through illness while Lewis Moody and Wilson wore non-contact vests – but Johnson is confident they will all be fit to play in Rome.
Nevertheless, he has delayed the announcement of his bench until tomorrow.
England team: D Armitage (London Irish); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tait (Sale Sharks), R Flutey (Brive), U Monye (Harlequins); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), J Haskell (Stade Francais), L Moody (Leicester), N Easter (Harlequins).
