England’s second row giants Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum have informed Steve Borthwick they don’t need to be rested towards Chile.
Borthwick is predicted to overtake his beginning XV towards the weakest opposition England will face of their World Cup group marketing campaign, taking the chance to provide a few of his stars a breather.
Itoje and Chessum have began the final three Tests collectively, together with the Pool D victories over Argentina and Japan, and are candidates to be given the weekend off given the more durable assignments that lie forward.
But Itoje is keen to retain his place within the beginning XV – despite the fact that Chile are positioned twenty second within the world rankings.
“I always want to play. I want to put my hand up for selection, I want to play for England. If there is an opportunity to play, I want to play,” Itoje mentioned.
“You can’t take these moments for granted, you never know when the last time is that you’re going to play for England. I want to get as many caps as possible so I definitely would want to play.
“Steve has the big plan and he has to look after the whole squad, not just individuals. He is the final decision maker.”
The problem dealing with Borthwick is to make sure his key personnel are battle hardened for the quarter-finals, which England have all however reached after dispatching the Pumas and Brave Blossoms.
Yet the break week every crew observes at completely different levels through the World Cup signifies that after Chile their subsequent task is the ultimate group recreation towards Samoa on October 7.
Itoje may subsequently go three weeks with no recreation if he’s omitted from the crew that can be named by Borthwick on Thursday.
“A three-week break is neither here nor there. If I play – great,” Itoje mentioned.
“When you’re not playing you do way more fitness. The guys who haven’t been in the squad have been getting flogged – so that’s motivation enough to play,” Itoje mentioned.
“If I’m not playing I’ll be getting flogged. I’d much rather play because I don’t want to get flogged!”
Chessum, Itoje’s companion in England’s first selection engine room, is can be seeking to preserve his place, though the Leicester lock has a stronger case for inclusion as he’s on the comeback path from a severe ankle harm.
“You want to hold your hand up to play at every opportunity possible,” Chessum mentioned.
“I have not played a lot of rugby at all in the last six months so I want to keep playing.
“It is not up to me, it is up to the coaches so I will hold my hand up in training this week and it is up to them, the selection process.”
Chile are anticipated to be overrun in Lille on Saturday however Portugal and Uruguay have already demonstrated towards Wales and France on this World Cup that the minnows could cause a scare.
The match’s final nice upset was when Japan toppled Ireland 4 years in the past and Chessum doesn’t need England to be the following big-name scalp.
“If you sleepwalk into games or sleepwalk into anything in this World Cup you will get caught out and exposed,” he mentioned.
“You have seen from the games last week that there is not a big disparity between the teams – the tier-two nations have taken some of the best teams right to the wire.
“We will be firing on all cylinders in training and on the job to take the game to Chile.”
