Fraser Dingwall: England's 'glue' player set to bind the Saints heavy back-line against Italy
03/07/2025 11:50 AM
England head coach Steve Borthwick has hammered home the importance of cohesion within his squad, with five out of his seven starting backs for this weekend residing from Northampton Saints. Fraser Dingwall is the latest Saint to join the England attacking line, with the centre set for his first taste of 2025 Six Nations action this Sunday against Italy.
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Dingwall is drafted in to start at inside centre, with no space in the match day squad for Henry Slade this time around. The Northampton man completes a back line that’s peppered in the green, black and gold of his fellow clubmates, as Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Tommy Freeman and Ollie Sleightholme also start for Steve Borthwick’s side.
It’s a bit of a busman’s holiday for Dingwall as he prepares to make his long awaited England return, only to go and play in a back-line alongside four regular faces from his Northampton Saints club. The midfielder expressed his excitement to finally join up with his East Midlands brothers, for a long awaited hit out on the Test match stage.
“It’s cool, isn’t it? I think having five of us in there is pretty cool for us, but then also the club. It’s a good recognition for what the club’s been doing over the last, however, many years. But also, it’s just quite cool to be able to go out there and play with people I know very well.”
“So there’s first of all, the connection you have off the pitch, which massively helps. How you just communicate with each other, and how you can review things very quickly. We understand each other and what each other need, how to settle someone who might overthink things, to then give very direct feedback to someone else who needs it.
“There’s then all the stuff around understanding how each other play, and so how to bring out the strengths that each other have and that can float into around, hopefully moving the ball. I think there’s a good understanding around what we do at club.”
“Collectively, if we can drive some of the attack and stuff that we do elsewhere into here, then that could only be beneficial, in my eyes.”
Northampton talisman Fin Smith is out to lead the England back-line, in what is the third consecutive start at fly half for the 22-year-old. Whilst plenty has been written about Fin Smith’s match winning kicks and expert ball distribution, the former Worcester Warriors man has also garnered quite the reputation as a fly half who loves the clash of contact. Dingwall expressed how impressed he has been with the tackling 10, who often tops the defensive charts for Northampton.
“He is making a lot. It’s weird, though, that that’s something that he always does. So even at Saints, he complains about making all these tackles, but if you actually watch him, he goes looking for a lot! I don’t think that’s necessarily a reflection always of how a team’s defending. I think it’s more about him, that he charges around and goes looking for it in defense, which is really cool. I think that you’ve got someone who’s gets excited both sides of the ball.”
After naming ‘Dingers’ in the starting XV to play Italy, Borthwick explained how the centre never fails to impress him with his rugby IQ. The England head coach described Dingwall as a ‘glue player’, who brings the best out of the players around him;
“Fraser is like a glue player. Things build around him.” Borthwick said, as he addressed a key change to his match day squad. “The work he does almost goes I would unseen, but I see it. If you stand close, you stand just behind him in training, you can hear the talk. It is not loud shouty talk, it's loud small words and he is so clear. He sees things so so fast.
“I think he is a really intelligent rugby player and again as we have talked about in the past about the centres about building some depth and building some other options there. This is another step in that direction and I feel now is the right time for that.”
Dingwall responded to the boss’ praise, with the 25-year-old excited to make his mark upon the Test match stage. It will be Dingwall’s first England cap since the 2024 Six Nations win over Wales, with the Saints man progressing on nicely from his recent run-outs as England A captain.
“He said that to me before. That’s kind of been something I’ve been told, I’ve probably been told that a lot. I don’t really see that as a negative thing to be honest. One of my aims for this weekend is if I can go in and help everyone in that team play better, then that’s kind of a success for me. So that’s how I see the glue element of it, around how you can tie up everything and bring out the best in other people.”
“I think it’s understanding who’s around you and the strengths that people have. At times it could be doing some ugly stuff that opens up space for other people. I think another key way you can do it is through what you see and then how you talk.
“So, if you can feed as much information to the people either side of you, then hopefully they have as much information as possible to then make really good decisions. There’s loads of elements to it, but it largely comes down to knowing who’s around you, knowing what they’re good at, and then finding ways through what you’re picking up, to bring it out of them.”
Whilst there is an abundance of Northampton cohesion waiting to be tapped into this Sunday, Dingwall’s centre partnership does not come under the vast umbrella of green, black and gold. Dingwall will start in the midfield alongside Bath centre Ollie Lawrence, with the two getting to grips in the partnership throughout the latest training weeks.
“He’s obviously someone who’s got unbelievable talents, and someone that can do things that not that many people can do. If I can kind of compliment him within that center partnership, to give him touches in space to put him into areas where he excels, then that’s part of my role.
“We’re lucky in our backs department. We’ve got so much talent and so many players who can do really exciting things. It’s just how we access that.”
“(We are) Spending time together, investing and reviewing things together. Staying connected when you’re on the pitch, just talking to each other the whole time as much as you can, getting a quick feel for how each other plays.
“Fortunate enough, I’ve known Ollie for a long time. We played maybe a couple of times together through age group stuff. So we’ve kind of grown up in and around the scene together. So, I fortunately know him pretty well too.”
Dingwall continued to then explain, how even whilst the England attacking line includes a litany of the Franklin’s Gardens faithful, the England playbook expands further than the Northamptonshire county lines. With the likes of Harlequins’ Marcus Smith and Sale’s George Ford bringing ideas to the England camp, the Premiership melting pot has come now up with some exciting attacking concoctions from across the country.
“To be clear, it’s not necessarily just us (Northampton players). This attacking rugby, it’s not just like a Saints only thing. I don’t want ever to feel like there’s a view, that this team could only ever attack with Saints people. There’s a lot of very attacking minded people within the squad.
“There’s so much understanding within the squad from the other fly halves. So both Marcus and Fordy both understand it really well. Both pushing it really hard. I think Fordy is someone who’s got unbelievable experience, but also just his knowledge and reading of the game, he’s someone who will drive those ideas as well.”
As mentioned earlier, this match will be Dingwall’s first of the 2025 Six Nations, and his latest since the second round of the 2024 Championships. Steve Borthwick has instead persisted with the midfield duo of Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade, with the Exeter and Bath axis combining for 13 straight Tests. The Slade-Lawrence combination ran through all of the Summer Tour in Japan and New Zealand and the latest Autumn Nations Series.
Despite his best efforts, Dingwall soon fell into a habit of missing out on the match day squads. The Saints man expressed how important England coach Kevin Sinfield was to the ‘non-23’ players, as the former rugby league star has a pivotal man-management role, that specifies upon the mentality of the England training squad members.
“Kevin has a massive role in terms of dealing with us at times, in terms of frustration. But also being a real good sound board around hearing people’s thoughts and giving honest reviews, around what he agrees with and what he doesn’t.
“Also, just helping you get your head round where you sit in selection and how you can find your way back in. I think he is an unbelievable man, but then also, as an ex-player, he has a good understanding of what that’s actually like. He’s pretty key to the non 23 guys.”
Dingwall is ready to take on the Italian midfield, which is arguably the best area of the entire Azzurri squad. Gonzalo Quesada is expected to start the Benetton brotherhood of Juan Ignacio Brex and Tomasso Menoncello, in a centre partnership that is becoming widley regarded as one of the world’s best.
“They’re a very talented duo and are both very good players in their own right. As a partnership they are building really, really nicely, and you’re seeing more and more stuff from them. The way they operate, to be honest, and how they interchange and bring out each other’s strengths.
“They offer a big challenge for for us to to face, but I think it’s something that we’re excited for. If you can get a kind of good wrestle of them, then you can limit how their whole team functions, or especially their back line. I think it largely is focused around those two bringing their back line into the game. It’s an exciting challenge.”
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QUIZ: Can You Name the 2023 Six Nations Fan Voted Team of the Tournament?
What can you remember from the 2023 Six Nations? The competition witnessed Ireland win their first Grand Slam since 2018, and Steve Borthwick take over the role as England head coach.
We have down the challenge for you today, to name the Team of the Tournament, as voted for by the fans. You have five minutes to piece together this XV of players, who all had stand out performances in the championship.
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