Three weeks ago, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, the 20-year-old propping tyro, was called into the senior England squad for the first time after starring for the under-20s last season. In his first training session at England’s Pennyhill Park base, Opoku-Fordjour side-stepped two defenders, making a line break in the process, and showing what head coach Steve Borthwick described as “incredible athleticism”. Later in the same session, the prop required stitches to a cut above his eye and was also hampered by a dead leg. “Everyone was impressed,” Borthwick effused, as the modern duties of a prop forward – dynamic ball-carrying – fused harmoniously with the rough-and-tumble of the traditional front-row union.
With a game for England A under his belt last weekend, this Sunday, should Opoku-Fordjour emerge from the bench at Twickenham for England against Japan, he will make his highly anticipated Test debut. It might sound almost perverse to write that it has been a long time coming – but it is true. Opoku-Fordjour emerged as a devastating front-row force at under-20s level before impressing off the bench last season for Sale, receiving particular praise from a certain Joe Marler, the former England loosehead.
For England at age-group level, he played loosehead; for Sale, he played tighthead – and continues to do so, and he will wear the reserve tighthead shirt for England on Sunday. Now, however, Borthwick views Opoku-Fordjour as someone with that rare ability in the propping world of being able to play on both sides of the scrum. Not since Jason Leonard, or perhaps Matt Stevens, have England had someone who is capable, as Dan Cole so eloquently put it, of being able to carry out the rugby equivalent of “wiping your arse with your left hand”. Thomas du Toit, the Bath and South Africa behemoth, is probably the game’s finest modern exponent – and Du Toit was name-checked by Borthwick when asked about the potential of what might be England’s next propping jewel.
“I think the value of having a prop, with the ability to switch sides… you look at some other nations, and you look at the likes of Thomas du Toit, his ability to play on both sides of the scrum,” Borthwick said.
“That’s enormously valuable, especially when you start picking squads for the major tournament. You end up having different assets and different amounts of flexibility. I’m delighted that he [Opoku-Fordjour] played for the A team last week, having trained with us for several days – and he was able to play at loosehead there.
“He’s been playing at tight-head for Sale, and it’s clear most of the senior rugby has been played at tighthead, and he’s done really well. When I speak to Joe Marler and Dan Cole, and talk about some of the best props around, they give me a recommendation of Asher.
“They say, this guy’s a really good scrummager. You start going, ‘right, there’s something in this player’. He’s a guy who comes with great recommendations from experienced Test players.”
That is a fair assessment from England’s head coach – and two of the nation’s most experienced scrummagers. Statistics from Opta show that no prop has been involved in more scrum penalty wins this season than Opoku-Fordjour, with the Sale front-rower ahead of even Du Toit and Nicky Smith – regarded as two of the league’s best scrummagers – in this area.
At Sale, the view is clear: if Opoku-Fordjour can play both sides that would be great, but he is a tighthead.
“In my book, if you have someone who has the potential to be a top-class tighthead, you would go down that route – because they’re harder to find,” said Dorian West, Sale’s forwards coach. “They’re like rocking-horse s—.”
“Dan Cole is still going at, what, 45?,” he jokes. “The serious point is that there really aren’t that many about. I would say Asher is a tighthead first but he can play loosehead. But he has done so well at tighthead for us.
“He’s only 20 and he’s gone up against some decent players and more than held his own. He did really well against Beno Obano against Bath. He was on top of him and we were really pleased with how he went. He’s not quite there with technique and he still has bits and bobs to learn – as he’d be the first to admit – but his power and strength is ridiculous for a kid of his age.
“He’s a great lad. A lovely lad. He’s open to learning; he listens. He’s not full of himself. He gets his head down and does it in his own way.”
Scarily, for props around the Premiership and, now, around the world, is that West believes that Opoku-Fordjour still has some physical development to come. In other words, he’ll be a big lad when he grows up.
“Then, he’ll be a real handful,” West adds. “This is only the start for him.”
