Fraser Dingwall happy to be ‘the glue’ that holds England’s backs together - Iqraa news

England centre Fraser Dingwall wants to be “the glue” that helps Steve Borthwick’s side beat Italy at the Allianz Stadium after being selected for the first time in a year.

The Northampton number 12 won the last of his two caps during the 2024 Six Nations but will start alongside four of his club team-mates in the backs on Sunday after Marcus Smith and Henry Slade were dropped.

Smith’s demotion to the bench came as a suprise on Wednesday, particularly after he had acquitted himself well at full-back during the wins over France and Scotland that got England’s title challenge back on track following defeat to Ireland.

Elliot Daly has been drafted in to play 15 while Dingwall, who was part of 10 England camps prior to his senior debut against Italy last February, has been asked to be – in Borthwick’s words – the glue that holds the backs together.

“He’s said that to me before,” said Dingwall. “I’ve been told that a lot to be honest and I don’t really see it as a negative thing.

“One of my aims for this weekend is if I can go in and help everyone in that team play better than that’s a success for me. That’s how I see the glue element of it, how I can tie everything up and bring out the best in other people.

“It’s understanding who is around you and the strengths that people have. At times it could be doing some ugly stuff to open up space for other people. It’s what you see and how you talk, if you can feed as much information to the people either side of you then hopefully they can make really good decisions.”

A curveball selection given his long spell out of the side, Dingwall has long been seen as more of a facilitator for those around him than an impact player at Northampton.

He is tasked with greasing the gears of victory over Italy that would keep England in contention to catch leaders Ireland – who enjoy a four-point advantage – ahead of next weekend’s final round.

“There’s loads of elements to it, but largely it comes down to knowing who’s around you, knowing what they’re good at,” he said.

“I’ve always felt like I’ve been tracking up, I’ve always been progressing. Flash back a year, I played for the first time, came out of it when Ollie (Lawrence) was back fit and since then I feel like every campaign I’ve still been on an upwards curve.

“It would be very easy for me to sit back and say ‘I haven’t played again, it’s not moving how I want it to’, but I’ve felt like I’ve been moving closer and closer towards this since then.”

Dingwall will be in familiar company on Sunday, with Northampton team-mates Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme starting on the wings, as well as Fin Smith at 10 and Alex Mitchell at scrum-half.

“Having five of us in there is pretty cool for us and also the club,” said Dingwall.

“Connections you have off the pitch massively helps how you communicate with each other and how you can review things very quickly.

“There’s understanding how each other plays and how to bring out the strengths that each other have.”