Cole misses pal Marler but likes versatility of Opoku-Fordjour

As his close confidant and the first person to find out, Dan Cole was not entirely surprised when Joe Marler told him of his international retirement.

- Gerard Meagher

Indeed Marler's decision provoked an altogether different reaction. "He explained his reasons and all that, and I thought: 'Who the fuck am I going to room with, Joe? You've stitched me up here!'"

George Ford is the lucky recipient of the vacant bed but, more significantly, it is Sale's 20-year-old prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour who takes Marler's place in the squad. As Cole says, he will miss Marler, but the world keeps turning. He questions whether, at 37, he still belongs at the highest level almost on a daily basis and Steve Borthwick's decision to hand Opoku-Fordjour a first callup is symbolic of the changing of the guard. "I talk to one less person [now], so I talk to no one," Cole says. "For selfish reasons you miss him, as he's a good friend, but at the same time the team continues to move forward. He has gone out on his own terms, so is alive, well and healthy, so he's still my friend but he's not here."

Opoku-Fordjour is the first of a wave of bright new things to be included in the senior setup, with Gloucester's Afo Fasogbon and Billy Sela of Bath not far behind. What sets Opoku-Fordjour apart is his ability to play on both sides of the scrum. England see him as a loosehead, Sale as a tighthead - though that has softened recently with the Sharks pointing to his ability to do both.