Wasps' star Elliot Daly selection for England has been long overdue says Dai Young
The prodigiously talented centre's chance with England in the Six Nations has been a long time coming after stunning performances for Wasps
Wasps centre Elliot Daly is set to make his long-awaited England debut against Ireland at Twickenham tomorrow.
The 23-year-old has replaced Bath’s Ollie Devoto on the bench, ironically as a result of a concussion the Exeter-bound No.12 suffered against Wasps last Saturday.
The calls for Daly’s inclusion have reached a crescendo in recent weeks due to his sustained run of outstanding club form.
Despite this, he only forced his way onto the bench after proving his ability to cover the inside centre role in addition to his No.13 berth and wing to new boss Eddie Jones during training on Monday.
Daly’s club boss Dai Young admits to being totally one-eyed about all his players, but nonetheless endorsed the centre’s international claims enthusiastically.
“Elliot has shown against the best in Europe what a threat he is, and has caused them all problems,” Young said.
“In addition, he does the bread-and-butter stuff you expect from an international centre very well, and his defence is excellent.
“I don’t pick the England side, and I am obviously biased, but it must have been hard not to pick him so far.
“Selection is always out of your hand as a player, and all he has been able to do is keep playing and he has done that very well.”
Unfortunately for Daly, Jonathan Joseph who scored a hat-trick against Italy in round two of the Six Nations, is also a specialist outside centre, and unsurprisingly he retains the starting shirt against Ireland.
Joseph has been England’s outstanding performer over the last two years, after replacing the injured Manu Tuilagi who had impressed to a similar level over the previous couple of seasons.
This has curtailed Daly’s progress, but his club captain James Haskell believes his teammate has gathered substantial Premiership and European experience over this period, which can only hold him in good stead.
“Elliot has been a great player for us for a long time, and has a lot of experience for such a young guy,” he said.
“He is very talented and it’s been a bit of a mystery why he hasn’t had opportunities before now, but he’s really put his hand up and shown what he can do in recent weeks.
“He has just keep knocking on the door through his Wasps performances, when he has done brilliant things week after week.
“He is a great team-player, and very passionate. He has started talking a lot more on the field, and is developing into a leadership role for us. As team captain you want players who’ve got experience to front up and not be shy to talk, and he is now doing that which is great for us.”
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