Once considered the future of England’s number nine position, Harry Randall has since fallen so far down the pecking order that he’s unlikely to be selected for the upcoming Nations Championship squad.
Jack van Poortvliet, Ben Spencer, Alex Mitchell, and even the youthful Northampton Saints scrum-half Archie McParland are all considered to be ahead of the Bristol Bears player in the pecking order.
That’s not to say that circumstances cannot change.
The Rugby World Cup is now less than a year away, and Randall is determined to earn a place on the plane to Australia next year. He knows the level of competition that comes with international selection, but isn’t afraid of hard work.
“I want to play for England,” he told the Bears website. “I’d love to get back in the England squad. I’d love to go to a World Cup. But, ultimately, I can’t pick myself.
“I’ve just got to keep knuckling down here and doing what I can do, hopefully keep playing well, and it’ll sort itself out whatever it may be. So that’s my focus. You know, keep doing what I can and, most important, I want to win here for Bristol.
“I want to get us into the playoffs and be where we want to be at the end of the season.”
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“The form of his life”
The 28-year-old has been showing the form that once earned him the England starting shirt, and Bears director of rugby Pat Lam has recognised that, saying Randall is in the “form of his life”.
“I think I’ve had a good start to the season,” Randall admitted. “A few bits of my game have come on nicely, so it’s very, very nice to hear [compliments from Pat].
“I’ve not got too much to say about it, to be honest. I just want to knuckle down and keep performing the best I can and help the team win on the weekend. So I just want to get on with my game and do what I need to do each week to be ready to go on the weekends.”
Part of his impressive form is arguably down to his partnership with fly-half, AJ MacGinty. The USA international’s experience and game management have given Randall the freedom to express himself in attack.
“It’s nice having AJ MacGinty outside me at ten; a really experienced head makes a whole lot of difference,” he explained. “I’ve praised him a lot; I think his rugby IQ is brilliant.
“I think having that ability outside me just to run the game gives me that license to go and express myself. So that’s really important. And I praised our forwards a lot this year. I think in the first few games especially, I thought they were unbelievable.
“It’s easy for all nines when you’ve got a good platform in front of you. So keeping those boys up front doing their thing and getting us to go forward and dominate up there, which makes a nine and ten’s life a whole lot easier.”
If Randall links up with England again, he’ll likely find the familiar faces of George Ford, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith at fly-half – all of whom he’s established a working relationship with in the past.
There’s a long season ahead, however, and anything can happen leading up to a World Cup.
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