It was entirely in keeping with Steve Borthwick’s first Six Nations in charge of England that their player of the tournament, Ollie Chessum, suffered a serious ankle injury that threatened his World Cup participation. Chessum was one of the few bright sparks of a disappointing campaign but a training ground injury before March’s Six Nations finale in Ireland left him with a race against time to be fit for England’s campaign in France.
It is credit to his powers of resilience that the 22-year-old has battled back against the odds having been told he could be sidelined for up to seven months, making his first start since March against Fiji last Saturday. That match did not go to plan – far from it – but if England are to fight their way out of their World Cup pool they will need Chessum to rekindle the form he showed earlier this year.
“I was quite emotional at the time,” says Chessum. “There’ve been days in the last five months where I’ve thought it doesn’t feel great, but getting back was always the goal. That was the first conversation I had with Steve pretty much once I’d seen the specialist, which was just get yourself in shape and get yourself back fit and we’ll talk then.
“It was a freak training incident. I got a tackle from behind, I got my foot caught. Initially, I thought I’d rolled it, but as I rolled over and the lads were around me, I saw them all turn away. That’s when I knew I should probably have a quick look – and my foot wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
“There were days when I didn’t think I’d be back fit in time to make it or you start to worry will it ever function the way it did before. That’s all just part of it.”
Chessum is well known to Borthwick from their time at Leicester and it was under the England head coach’s tutelage that he made second-row his home. Eddie Jones had tried with limited success to find a long-term replacement for George Kruis but Chessum caught the eye on his debut – stealing a lineout with his first touch when coming off the bench against Italy in the 2022 Six Nations – and made his first start in the decisive third Test of last summer’s tour of Australia.
Borthwick’s appointment led to Chessum’s breakthrough as a regular starter, only for injury to strike. It was another demonstration of how highly Borthwick rates Chessum that he picked him for his World Cup squad before he had made his comeback from injury and there is a determination to repay the faith.
“I realise I am very fortunate I have been selected having not played rugby for [so long],” says Chessum. “There are some great players that could quite easily have been picked over me. I am very fortunate the coaches have put faith in me and I can’t thank them enough for the support they have given me over the last few months.
“Off the field I was in constant contact with Steve and my coaches at Leicester, who are now coaches here. I am massively grateful they had the faith in me and now I am just hoping I can repay them.
“Any injury punctuates anyone’s momentum. The Six Nations was up and down for us as a squad. I was enjoying that Six Nations, it was the first time I felt like I was making an impact in the squad.
“I played in the previous season but I felt like a very small fish in a very, very big pond. I still very much am, but at least in the Six Nations I feel like I was having an impact on the team and being able to bring my game to the squad, and the injury definitely put a stop to that. I am hoping to pick up where I left off.”
