Bath Rugby winger Henry Arundell was hailed by England head coach Steve Borthwick after bagging a hat-trick of tries against Wales in the Guinness Six Nations on Saturday 7th February.
Bath Rugby’s Henry Arundell scored a hat-trick of tries for England here at Allianz Stadium, London, against Wales in the Guinness Six Nations on Saturday 7th February | Photo © Richard Briggs
Arundell achieved his treble in the opening 35 minutes at Allianz Stadium in London, helping the hosts to a 29-0 lead at the interval. England went on to win the Round 1 encounter 48-7.
Joining Arundell in the England starting XV were Blue, Black & White back rows Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill.
Among the England replacements was Bath skipper and scrum-half Ben Spencer, who came on for the final 14 minutes.
The Wales starting XV included Bath prop Archie Griffin. The 24-year-old tighthead played for the opening 50 minutes.
Arundell’s hat-trick was the first scored by an England player since he went over five times against Chile in 2023.
Borthwick said of the former London Irish and Racing 92 man: “We all know Henry is a player who has incredible ability running with the ball, and his ability to find the line is excellent.
“What I’ve been really impressed by is, over the last number of months, his attitude to go and improve other aspects of his game.
“He’s gone away post-autumn and worked exceptionally hard on some other areas and he’s come back to the Six Nations as an even better player.”
England captain Jamie George echoed Borthwick’s take on Arundell.
“He’s been brilliant,” said George. “He really reminds me of [former England and Gloucester wing] Jonny May in so many ways in terms of his diligence and preparation and the way that he trains, the way that he’s gone away and developed so many different areas of his game.
“When you’ve got a player like that on the field, it just gives everyone else so much confidence that if we work hard in the middle and create space for someone like that, he’s going to capitalise on it.”
Next up for England is a visit to Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh, to take on Scotland on Saturday 14th February (4.40pm).
The Scots are smarting from an 18-15 defeat away to Italy in Round 1 on Saturday 7th February, Bath fly-half Finn Russell kicking a penalty and a conversion for the travellers.
England squad to face Scotland in Round 2:
Starting XV: 1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), 3 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), 4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, captain), 5 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), 6 Guy Pepper (Bath), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath), 8 Ben Earl (Saracens), 9 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), 10 George Ford (Sale Sharks), 11 Henry Arundell (Bath), 12 Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), 13 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), 14 Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), 15 Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers).
Replacements: 16 Jamie George (Saracens), 17 Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), 18 Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints), 19 Alex Coles (Northampton Saints), 20 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), 21 Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints), 22 Ben Spencer (Bath), 23 Fin Smith (Northampton Saints).
Meanwhile, two Bath players turned out for Scotland A in their 24-24 draw with an Italy XV in Rieti on Friday 6th February.
Blue, Black & White centre Cameron Redpath played for the full 80 minutes – and back row Josh Bayliss came off the bench in the 47th minute.
Redpath notched the third of the Scots’ four tries, touching down in the 48th minute for a score whose conversion left Italy A 19-14 behind.
