After a summer tour where plenty of new caps were handed out across the Guinness Men’s Six Nations teams, is there scope for any more when it comes to the full-blooded November fixtures?
We look at some names who might get their hands on a prized Test cap in the upcoming Autumn Nations Series (see all the mouthwatering fixtures here).
Warren Gatland’s hand has been forced since his return to the Welsh job when it comes to exposing new players to Test match rugby (Dafydd Jenkins being one success story). Wales are fresh off a difficult summer tour to Australia (one new cap: Gloucester’s Josh Hathway), before which they capped four players against South Africa at Twickenham.
One player who missed out on the summer campaign due to injury was Cardiff wing Theo Cabango, whose likely international bow was put on hold due to a hamstring injury suffered in a URC match against the Ospreys. His clubmate, Josh Adams, has been full of praise for the 22-year-old whose brother, Ben, is a Welsh football international: “He's a talented kid and you can't teach what he's got. He's lightning quick, can skin a man in a phone box and he understands the game. His rugby brain is good.”
Ireland have capped the fewest amount of players in recent times, with Andy Farrell opting – successfully, as results would have it – for a settled squad. Leinster fly-half Sam Prendergast looks set to be the long-term successor to Johnny Sexton’s 10 jersey, and the performances of second/back rower Cormac Izuchukwu for Ulster have promised much. Both travelled to South Africa over the summer – and will return in October with Emerging Ireland – gaining valuable experience of a winning culture, and look to be serious contenders in the very near future.
Whilst not an area of concern per se, Ireland might also look to replenish their front row stocks soon, and Leinster loosehead Michael Milne could be part of that process. The 25-year-old has been in camp with Ireland before, and was a member of Ireland’s 2019 U20 Six Nations-winning team. He’s long been learning the tricks of the trade from one of the greats in Cian Healy, which bodes well for the future of the Irish pack.
Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada doesn’t currently have too many areas to explore but, as with Ireland, he may seek to bring through a new loosehead. Luca Rizzoli looked odds-on to earn his first cap during the 2023 World Cup, but a long ban while playing for Zebre against Cardiff put that to bed. Danilo Fischetti and Mirco Spagnolo are the only tried-and-tested players at number one, meaning Rizzoli may finally get that cap this Autumn Nations Series.
A summer tour to the Americas always meant Scotland were going to bring through a whole raft of new players, and no fewer than 10 uncapped players were named in their squad. Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Ben Afshar was among them, but didn’t get any game time in a jersey that Scotland seem to always manage to fill with top-quality talent.
The 21-year-old Afshar has acquitted himself well in sporadic outings for the Warriors, and his attributes could make him a natural fit for the fast-paced and physically demanding international stage. He has leadership experience too, having co-captained Scotland in last year’s World Rugby U20 Trophy, and stood out during that same year’s U20 Six Nations. His youthful exuberance could serve Scotland well – even if it’s just needing someone to bring the tunes.
More than any of the other five nations, France have an embarrassment of riches from which to pick new caps – although because they can doesn’t mean they should. Still, if we were to speculate ahead of a blockbuster trio of Autumn Nations Series fixtures for Les Bleus, there’s a handful of players who may have crossed Fabien Galthie’s mind.
One of those is Toulouse centre Paul Costes, 21, whose breakthrough season included starting in the European Champions Cup Final win against Leinster and coming off the bench in that stunning Top 14-clinching match against Bordeaux. Costes has known nothing but success in this formative stage of his career, and time in the France set-up should take him to the next level.
Lock Matthias Halagahu is only 23 but made his Toulon debut back in 2020, and trained with the French squad during this year’s Guinness Men’s Six Nations. He’s even been entrusted with the captaincy at Toulon, where he recently had his contract extended, and took no time in winning over the Stade Mayol faithful. Halagahu would likely have been capped during the summer tour to Argentina, but for a foot injury from which he is still recovering.
It should only be a matter of time until we see Exeter Chiefs back rower Greg Fisilau in an England jersey. The 21-year-old, who has had 11 outings with England U20 and featured for England A this year, scored a try from number eight against Leicester in the opening round of Gallagher Premiership Rugby. Whether it’s to provide competition to Ben Earl or anyone else in Steve Borthwick’s back row, Exeter have a stick of dynamite on their hands that is ready and waiting to be deployed on the Test stage too.
