England have been given a fitness boost with Henry Slade set to be available for their Autumn Nations Series opener against the All Blacks.
Slade has returned home from a training camp in Girona and will play his first minutes of the season for Exeter Chiefs against Harlequins on Sunday.
The centre underwent shoulder surgery after England’s tour of New Zealand in the summer and has been racing against time to make the November opener.
But he looks likely to feature at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham next week and is a strong contender to start alongside regular midfield partner Ollie Lawrence in a major boost for Steve Borthwick, with Slade having emerged as a vital figure since being left out of last year’s World Cup squad.
His availability also serves as much-needed positive news for an Exeter side that have lost their first five games of the new Premiership season.
“Both he and we are keen for him to get some minutes on the weekend,” Richard Wigglesworth, England’s senior assistant coach, confirmed. “He’s going to train with Exeter, and then get some game-time this weekend.
“When you have the experience and class he has, and he’s used to the systems we run, it definitely speeds up the process.
“You see he is a really senior man in that Exeter team, which I think has added to his game. He’s an important part of the teams in which he plays, and that’s testament to how he has kept growing. It’s easy to stand still and he hasn’t done that. He’s important to us.”
England intend to make a late call on George Ford’s fitness with the fly half ahead of schedule in recovering from his injured quad.
Initial fears that the Sale playmaker may miss the autumn were allayed after Ford avoided surgery. Having travelled with the squad to continue his rehabilitation, he was able to take part in training on Wednesday, kicking high balls and moving relatively freely.
“George Ford is on the last stages of his rehab, so he’s getting involved in a lot of rugby,” Wigglesworth explained. “He felt really good straight away, and he’s very diligent with what he does. He’s been smashing all the markers that he needs to.”
Wigglesworth’s recent promotion to Borthwick’s first lieutenant came after a summer of upheaval that saw defence coach Felix Jones and Aled Walters, the head of strength and conditioning, depart the staff.
It leaves the former scrum half as a key figure as England look to build towards the 2027 World Cup, and he is happy within his role, even if he harbours long-term ambitions of being a head coach.
“Particularly Aled, who I was close to for a long time and is a friend, you miss him, but as a friend I am also happy he is doing what he wants to do. This is international sport, stuff happens and you just have to adapt and make it better and move on.
“It is not something I would be immediately thinking about right now but do I want to be a head coach? Yes. Does that mean anything else right now other than I just want to improve as much as I can and help this England team as much as I can? No.
“I am incredibly committed, as I was when I signed to help England. That is why I came and that is what to do. If that changes for any reason, it changes but I am a proud Englishman who is part of a group that can get significantly better than it already is – which is a fairly good job.”