The tension is rising, day by day, hour by hour. A long-awaited Rugby World Cup is creeping closer and these are increasingly taxing weeks for those desperate to represent England on home soil. For someone like Ben Morgan, awaiting his first match since a painful ankle break in January, the battle to prove his match fitness makes the waiting game tauter still.
In a perfect world the Gloucester No8 will charge out at Twickenham this Saturday and perform against France as if he has never been away. In reality, the 26-year-old will have about 45 minutes to show he is potentially capable of making a World Cup impact before, aerobically, his unaccustomed body gives up the impossible struggle.
It is a desperately narrow window of opportunity with wider ramifications for England, who need every available battering ram in the absence of Manu Tuilagi. If “Big Ben” suffers any form of relapse it will leave Billy Vunipola almost on his own as a storming ball-carrier at No8.
Nick Easter remains a fine, clever player but has slightly different strengths, while James Haskell and Tom Wood play most of their rugby on the flanks. Little wonder England’s forwards coach, Graham Rowntree, is as keen to see Morgan prosper as the player himself.
According to Rowntree, Morgan is itching to go – “He’s ready for a game, I know that from seeing him in the last couple of days” – but nothing is guaranteed. “He’s had a long layoff and it’s not been the easiest thing because it was a nasty injury. We’ll have to see how he performs at the weekend. We just need to get him back on the field playing rugby. We’ve trained intensely over the last five weeks and he’s not done all of that.
“Over the last 10 to 14 days, though, he’s done everything we’ve asked. We’re excited to see him play.”
You sense Morgan himself – England’s player of the last autumn series – also remains slightly unsure what will unfold. When it was put to him there must have been some dark days after his injury against Saracens at Kingsholm, the laconic reply – “It always gets dark around 5pm in January” – suggested he is not ready to bare his soul just yet.
He has found it easier to put his faith in hard graft, England’s physios and, if necessary, the hand of fate. “If it happens, it happens. I’ve not really got any particular goals in my mind, I’m just going to go out and play my natural game. We know we’re playing for places and there’s a World Cup just around the corner but, ultimately, all I can do is go out there and give it my all.”
Morgan is also encouraged by the knowledge no one has had a longer pre-season in which to prepare themselves. “It can become a bit tedious and frustrating but it was an opportunity for me to develop,” he admitted. “In a weird way, you come to enjoy that. The seasons are long and your body takes a lot of stress, so actually having this period off has probably done me the world of good.”
He has also changed shape “a little bit” as a result. “It can be boring stuff – you’re always looking out of the window trying to get out there – but it does allow you to get stronger in other areas,” said Morgan. “If you spend seven months in the gym your body will naturally change shape.”
He has only been back running for a month, however, and did not resume contact training until recently.
Rowntree is not expecting miracles. “We’ve got in mind a length of time we want to see him on the field, which is appropriate to the amount of time Ben’s been off,” he said. “He’s just got to come on and fulfil some basic roles for us, which he did exceptionally well against Australia last November. I don’t want to clutter his mind with trying to be the best No8 in the world. I just want him to get through the game and do a few things very well.”
France, of course, will have other priorities. “I don’t think we do friendlies with France,” said Rowntree, fully aware World Cup reality is looming for both countries. “Driving into Twickenham there will be a feeling of ‘Right, here we go’. These are must-win games.”
If Morgan – who scored two tries against Australia, one of England’s Pool A opponents, last autumn – can make his presence felt, both he and England will be mightily relieved.
