Standing just a few metres behind England’s back line during training this week, Steve Borthwick witnessed the evidence of why he describes Fraser Dingwall as a “glue player”.
“Things build around him,” Borthwick said. “The work he does almost goes unseen, but I see it. If you stand close, you stand just behind him in training, you can hear the talk. It is not loud ‘shouty’ talk, it’s loud small words and he is so clear. He sees things so fast. I think he is a really intelligent rugby player.”
Dingwall may be the least-vaunted player of the Northampton Saints back line, but his inclusion at inside centre to face Italy at Twickenham on Sunday is arguably as significant as Marcus Smith’s demotion to the bench for Elliot Daly’s return at full-back.
The 25-year-old Dingwall last featured for England in last year’s Six Nations – scoring the winning try against Wales on what was his second cap.
Borthwick has been steadily moving towards harnessing the best of the attacking exploits of last year’s Premiership champions. With Fin Smith having displaced his Harlequins namesake at fly-half, the promotion of Dingwall ahead of Henry Slade establishes a nine, 10 and 12 Northampton axis, and brings the number of players from the club in the back line to five out of seven. When George Furbank returns to fitness, it could easily become six out of seven.
“If I can find players that understand playing together, there is a natural benefit,” Borthwick added. “Things happen quicker. There are things that happen without anything needing to be said. The players understand it.
“So when I watch Mitch [Alex Mitchell] and Fin Smith and Fraser at nine, 10 and 12, their alignment and speed to position – the ball is getting to them without anything being called, without anything being said. There’s an understanding there that I think is enhanced by just how much time they’ve been together.”
Dingwall wants to ‘bring out the best in other people’
Dingwall laughs at his “glue” description. “He [Borthwick] said that to me before,” he said. “That’s something I’ve been told a lot and I don’t really see that as a negative thing, to be honest.
“One of my aims for this weekend is if I can go in and help everyone in that team play better then that’s a success for me. That’s why I see the ‘glue’ element of it around how you can tie up everything and bring out the best in other people.
“It’s understanding who’s around you and the strengths that people have. And then at times, it could be doing some ugly stuff to open up space for other people. Another key way you can do it is through what you see and then how you talk.
“So if you can feed as much information to the people on either side of you, then hopefully they have as much information as possible to then make really good decisions.
“So there’s loads of elements to it, but I think largely it comes down to knowing who’s around you, knowing what they’re good at, and then finding ways through what you’re picking up to bring it out of them.”
Interestingly, Dingwall said that the Northampton influence on England’s attack had its foundation in last year’s Six Nations, when Fin Smith and Furbank worked with England’s senior coach Richard Wigglesworth.
“We tried to grow our edge attack,” he added. “Furbs and Fin would have taken a massive role in that. They would have spent a lot of time with Wiggy with what things look like. It is also how we can coach it and get it on to the pitch and get everyone on board.
“It didn’t take long for everyone to have that shared understanding. But it is not just us. This attacking rugby isn’t a Saints-only thing. There are a lot of very attacking-minded people within the squad. It is just how we can get a shared understanding of what it looked like. At times it is about making it look a bit more like the Saints attack.”
Borthwick ready to take handbrake off
But one wonders how much licence they will have to play what they see, given their instinctive connectedness?
“The freedom has always been there,” Dingwall said. “At times, we have probably looked at games in different ways, to find ways to win. And so that’s why you might not have seen as much attacking rugby as normal. I definitely feel for this weekend, moving forward, there’s more and more emphasis on taking opportunities and moving the ball to the space wherever that might be at the right time and that could be kicking in behind, for example, but that also could be on the edge.
“There’s a lot of shared understanding around how this back line wants to impact the game, and how we can attack really well. It’s just, ultimately, going and putting it on the pitch.”
Just as they did last year in the second fallow week, England spent last week in York and the majority of the training sessions were spent on developing their attack.
It may have been arrestingly limited at times against Scotland, even if it got the job done, but against Italy, England seem intent on embracing an offloading game that proved so successful for France in their record victory in Rome.
“I want the players with ball in hand to move the ball and I want the players to keep the ball moving,” Borthwick added. “We’re playing against an Italy team that compete very hard at the breakdown. Why have breakdowns where they are able to compete hard? Why not keep the ball moving, keep the ball alive?
“We have players who are very, very good with the ball in hand and you can see some of the offloads. My job is to ensure they go on the grass and this shirt does not feel heavy. I think potentially a couple of weekends ago that’s what it did.
“I do think the point of difference for this team is going to be its athleticism and the way they move and the speed. It is not going to be around a big forward pack, that’s not going to be the case.
“So that’s where we have spent time last week and where we have spent time at the start of this week. We want to reap the rewards this weekend.”
‘The Duke’ with deceptive power
Sunday will mark Fraser Dingwall’s third cap and the cerebral centre has needed to be seriously patient. He was called into 10 camps, starting way back in January 2020, before a Test debut in Rome a year ago.
Dingwall has waited 12 months since his last outing for England, a try-scoring performance in the 16-14 win over Wales. Upon the return of Ollie Lawrence ahead of an ill-fated trip to Murrayfield, he made way – which is interesting. Because, now, Dingwall is seen as a replacement for Henry Slade, the man he partnered at the beginning of 2024 in a midfield lacking thrust.
This weekend, we can expect Dingwall to defend in the 13 channel. He is renowned as an intuitive operator anyway – during his time in the age grades, he was known as “The Duke” and led defensive meetings – but will be particularly well suited to the system that England have implemented this tournament, with more of a focus on connections rather than individuals shooting up aggressively to harry opposition playmakers. This is how Northampton Saints prefer to defend, which explained the struggles of Ollie Sleightholme in the autumn.
Lawrence has become a robust tackler, as well as an underrated breakdown threat, in the 12 channel. Tommaso Menoncello surged through Dingwall at Stadio Olimpico in the last Anglo-Italian meeting. Explosive though he is, the bristling Benetton bullet will find it more difficult to shrug off Lawrence. England’s centres are sure to receive a thorough work-out, because Menoncello and Ignacio Brex represent a formidable duo and combine as Italy’s biggest asset, yet there is a nice balance to a Dingwall-Lawrence double act.
In possession, Dingwall – like Northampton team-mate Fin Smith – is an understated facilitator. He will probably stand at first-receiver with Lawrence carving angles on his outside and Fin Smith sweeping around from a deeper position. Sleightholme and Tommy Freeman will be excited about the Northampton cohesion at 9, 10 and 12. Dingwall is unlikely to strike as many grubber kicks as Slade, especially when England spread the ball from right to left. Already, England appear set up to trust themselves more when going through phases.
Sam Vesty, the Saints head coach, explained earlier this season that Dingwall has learnt to manage a knee condition and three specific performances will have precipitated his return. Steve Borthwick could have turned to the Lawrence-Freeman enterprise that has appeared towards the end of a few matches following back-line reshuffles.
Dingwall helped haul Northampton right back into last season’s Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster at Croke Park. The hosts had stolen ahead 20-3, but edged home 20-17. In November, alongside Oscar Beard, Dingwall shone as captain of England A in a 38-17 defeat of Australia A. A month later, he was among Saints’ best players as they ousted the Bulls in Pretoria.
In each of those three matches, Dingwall blended typically intelligent and skilful touches with deceptive power in the carry. If defenders drift off him looking for different threats, he can punish them. His determination in contact mirrors the perseverance that has brought him to this point.
All in all, Dingwall is the sort of individual who allows back lines to become closer to the sum of their parts. And, on the back of a couple of dogged yet clunky triumphs, fluent efficiency is precisely what England are looking for.
