Hendre Fourie's mastery of the breakdown is needed to stop England stalling

Clever move: Hendre Fourie’s presence in the England squad is thanks to adding guile to his game while at Leeds
10 April 2012

Neil Back is convinced Hendre Fourie is the best ball-stealing flanker in the Premiership and will show that against Italy at Twickenham on Saturday.

Given that Back is Fourie's boss at Leeds, his support is to be expected but his opinions carry extra weight as he was England's open-side flanker in their 2003 World Cup triumph.

Last Saturday, the day after England beat Wales, Fourie confirmed his recovery from a calf injury by scoring a try for Leeds and making another against Northampton in the LV Cup.

As a result, the 31-year-old was today named in England's match squad for the Six Nations clash and although James Haskell has retained the No7 shirt, Fourie is expected to come off the replacements' bench at some point.

Fourie is the only specialist open-side available to England team manager Martin Johnson, who is waiting for Lewis Moody to return from injury to increase his options in this key role.

Back has worked closely with Fourie, imparting vital information gained from winning 66 caps on how to become a force in the position at Test level. And the Leeds head coach believes that his man's strengths at the breakdown are just what England need, which is why he thinks he should be starting against Italy.

"It is all about the balance of the back row and while all three guys [Haskell, Tom Wood and Nick Easter] did well against Wales, they needed a fetcher, a player who can also get over the ball and slow it down for the opposition and force the attacking side to commit more bodies to the contact area," said the Leeds coach.

"It means that when that attacking side moves the ball, they have only 10 bodies trying to find a way past 13 defenders and England lacked that kind of player against Wales."

Back has seen Fourie adjust to deal with the change in emphasis from referees who 12 months ago loaded their decisions against the ball carrier but now allow more time for players trying to be positive to keep possession - reducing the chances of turnovers.

"There is more leniency in the approach of referees to the attacking team in the contact area compared to last year when if a tackler got hands onto the ball it would lead to a penalty being awarded for holding on against the defending side," said Back.

"Now, the ball carrier has more time which means that unless you are incredibly strong and have an excellent technique, you will not stay on the ball as the tackler.

"Hendre is able to compete because he gets into good positions, shifts his body weight and height to ride those initial hits. He has worked really hard to get into great physical shape and that's the story of Hendre's game in the two-and-a-half years since I met him. He is now a dedicated professional and the strength we saw from the start has been supplemented by other skills, which is why he is now an international No7.

"The key to playing in that position is to know how far you can push things because you are operating right on the edge and can tip over. Hendre doesn't give that many penalties away.

"The downside of having him with England is that he can't play for Leeds and the same is true of Steve Thompson, who is also in the match squad. Their success sends out a very positive message and, hopefully, he won't be the last from this club to get the call."

Fourie's four caps all came last November, when he made three appearances as a replacement and one start in the win over Samoa. Now, the South African-born flanker, who qualified on residency, will experience the Six Nations for the first time and is looking to make the same impact as blind-side flanker Wood, who made his England debut in Cardiff.

"Tom has shown how to take advantage of an opportunity that comes your way," said Fourie. "It's hard to make it into the squad but once you are there and performing well it's difficult for other guys to get back in.

"My focus has been on getting the calf ready for this week and trying to get my place back in the 22. Being involved again is great and I'm looking forward to taking my chance."

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