CHESSUM ANALYSIS

Ollie Chessum has been a revelation for England - Sam Larner assesses his skills

-  Sam Larner

1 EXTRA WORK

The job of a lock rarely involves long runs and exciting attack. Courtney Lawes managed just two tries in more than 100 England caps, Alun Wyn Jones just nine in over 150 Welsh caps, and Sam Whitelock seven in more than 150 All Black caps. Chessum is scoring at above a try every ten matches for England and shows more than enough in the deeper stats to show that he can accelerate that scoring rate.

Part of that will be thanks to his flexibility in his positioning. He has predominantly played in the second row but more than a quarter of his matches have come in the back row. As rugby becomes more positionless, it’s likely even second-rows will need to become key contributors in attacking play.