England A set up is ‘critical’ for development – Mark Mapletoft

By Ollie Aust

Mark Mapletoft was at the helm for the first England A fixture of the season, as they ran out 38-17 winners over Australia A at the Twickenham Stoop last Sunday.

This was the second fixture for England A in 2024, having beaten Portugal 91-5 in a clash in February.

Through these fixtures, the RFU have reintroduced a stepping stone between the club game and its international counterpart, which they hope will prove highly beneficial in long-term player development. 

After the match, Mapletoft discussed the importance of having this system back in place, telling the Rugby Paper: “It’s critical. You know, it’s way outside my pay grade to work out why or know why it wasn’t in place in the first place. I don’t think it’s really been up and running properly since 2016, which is way too long.

“I think everybody hopefully understands that not all U20 players become internationals but most internationals have played U20s.

“That’s kind of the really simplistic way of looking at it, bar one or two who have missed the system or come from a different system, that is typically how it works.

“But therefore, by being an U20s player doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve made the transition. What you do is you transition from U20s into playing for your club, that’s kind of how it works.

“And then Steve [Borthwick] will pick on form, you wouldn’t expect it any other way, that’s why you play Premiership rugby, European rugby, to win trophies and put yourself in the shop window to play at the highest level.”

Utilising it

Whilst Mapletoft, the current England U20 head coach, was clear on the significance of the A team programme, he also spoke about the careful approach required to utilise it correctly.

He added: “We’ve got a lot of pathway staff that have now been working for the last four years together, there’s an awful lot of alignment.

“We’ve had some great collaboration with Steve and the senior staff. So, you know for me that shows that there’s deliberate practise around how we are going to utilise this opportunity… it’s not easy. Great to see him [Steve Borthwick] here as well watching today.

“We’ve got a real balancing act to make sure that we expose the right players at the right time, and often their form for their clubs will go a long way to determine whether you know they get those opportunities. And I don’t think it should be any other way.”

Despite the long break in fixtures before this year, it seems the RFU is now working to incorporate the England A side back into the English rugby calendar, with a further game scheduled against Ireland A during the Six Nations window. 

Hopefully, by frequently playing such games, England can ensure the exciting prospects like Henry Pollock, Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Afolabi Fasogbon, can really make an impact for the senior England side when their time comes.

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