The smell of freshly cut Twickenham grass emanates from Dan Cole when he sits down, sporting training kit and clutching a pair of boots, in a windowless room beneath the home of English rugby. Having ticked off the first session of another demanding week in international camp the prop easily pivots from the training field to fielding questions from the gaggle of writers huddled around him.
Tucking the black leather boots under his chair, Cole proceeds to bat back the ensuing inquiries with the confidence and humour of a player who has been there, seen it and done it in elite rugby. The 36-year-old’s England journey is a story well told; particularly the narrative arc from a difficult 2019 Rugby World Cup final against South Africa, to a phenomenal individual display in the one-point defeat by the Boks in last year’s semi-final.
Four months ago at Stade de France, the Leicester tighthead’s rock-solid scrummaging was a crucial factor in England’s dominance of the eventual world champions for much of that tense last-four encounter. Even so, it was easy to assume that a player who turns 37 in May would join the likes of Ben Youngs, Jonny May and Courtney Lawes in hanging up his international boots after the tournament.
Cole reveals that a conversation in Paris with the head coach, Steve Borthwick, two days after England’s exit prompted his decision to continue. Personal loyalty to Borthwick, whose tutelage at Welford Road revitalised the front-rower’s career, was a significant factor.
“I had a conversation with Steve,” Cole says. “After Courtney announced his retirement in a press conference Steve pulled me aside and said: ‘Are you planning any press conferences or announcements?’ I said: ‘I’ve got to speak to my wife … and to you, Steve, because if you’re not going to pick me, then I will [retire].’” Cole chuckles at the memory. “He said: ‘I’d like you to have the option.’ I was like, fair enough, because I owe Steve a lot. And here I am.”
If he features as expected in next Saturday’s Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield, Cole will have amassed 109 international caps. Only three England men have more: his close friend (and now podcast co-host) Youngs tops the chart with 127, Jason Leonard has 114, Owen Farrell 112.
Since his debut 14 years ago Cole has witnessed several transformations of the set-up – and was dropped after the 2019 World Cup, when building a “New England” was an oft-quoted mission statement from Eddie Jones’s squad. But with Borthwick, and time to plan and build towards the 2027 World Cup in Australia, things really are changing.
Felix Jones is on board as assistant coach and there are several new faces in the squad including Chandler Cunningham-South, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ethan Roots.
“Steve has deliberately been quite direct in saying this is a new team,” Cole says. “There are some old people in it, but it is a new squad, new direction. There is a core of young players who will take the thing on through for the next four, eight – or longer than that – years. There are a lot of young guys, new faces, and it is trying to make sure everyone is connected and feels part of a team. Once upon a time it was: ‘This is how we do it, like it or lump it’. It is a lot more engaging to the players, the younger generation who can’t concentrate for two minutes.”
Meetings must be kept “short and sharp and to the point for the social media generation,” Cole says, as music blares out from an adjacent room while England’s squad continue their work. Cole doesn’t know who is DJing but says “there is a music committee – I’m not going to name them”.
Jones won two World Cups with the Boks and Cole says he is bringing his own character to training. As the Irishman implements a new blitz defence England will aim for three Six Nations wins from three against Scotland. “He has a different personality to Kev [Sinfield],” Cole says. “Different intensity. Kev is probably a lot calmer whereas Felix is more frenetic.”
As a senior player Cole’s own training intensity has changed with age – increasing rather than dropping off. “It’s best to get the adrenaline going, get into the session as quickly as possible and then finish. As you get older, it’s the stopping and starting,” he says. While a second grand slam of his career remains a possibility, thoughts do occasionally turn to retirement, even if one potential avenue has already closed.
Cole’s wife runs a florist, and though he does not get involved – “I have zero creativity” – he has offered future assistance. “I told her: ‘Once I am retired I will be the delivery boy’, but she was like: ‘I don’t want you meeting the customers’.”
Is this his final international campaign? Cole is unsure. “I haven’t thought about it so far.” When the time finally arrives, his absence is sure to be keenly felt by Borthwick and England.
