Graham Rowntree hopes Ben Morgan can rediscover the form that lit up England’s autumn when he makes his long-awaited comeback from injury against France on Saturday.
Morgan starts at number eight for the opening instalment of three Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in what will be his first appearance since breaking his leg for club Gloucester in January.
The fracture was a cruel blow as little over a month earlier he had produced the best rugby of his career, with three tries against Australia and Samoa seeing him crowned England’s player of the series.
The 26-year-old has been involved in full contact training for the past fortnight – he only resumed running last month – and Rowntree insists France’s visit to Twickenham is the time to gauge his progress.
“Ben is ready for a game, I know that from seeing him over the last couple of days. He’s trained exceptionally well,” England’s forwards coach said.
“He’s had a long lay off and it’s not been the easiest thing because it was a nasty injury, but he’s trained well. He’s in the shape of his life.
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“We’ll have to see how he performs at the weekend. We need to get him back on the field playing rugby. I can’t wait to see him with the ball in his hands at the weekend.He’s ready and has had a great attitude. We’re excited to see him play.
“He had a very good autumn series with his tries and we’d like him to continue that form, although he has been off for a long time.”
England are using the first of two matches against France – the second is staged in Paris a week later – to examine combinations and give players game time, but Rowntree insists those objectives must not be achieved at the cost of victory.
“We want to win the game – it’s France at Twickenham. We want to win all of these warm-up games,” Rowntree said. “We want to see all the stuff we’ve been doing on the field come together.
“And it’s a big opportunity for many guys, in fact for all of them.
“We’re looking at different combinations, so there are a lot of things that are up in the air for people.”
Centre Henry Slade, flanker Calum Clark and hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will make their Test debuts, while Bath’s code-convert Sam Burgess will have a chance to impress in the centres alongside Slade.
England must submit their final 31-man World Cup squad by August 31 before concluding their programme of warm-up matches against Ireland at Twickenham on September 5.
