"Impressed or Dropped" - The Last 5 England Players Who Debuted in the Six Nations

With the 2024 Six Nations marking the start of the new Rugby World Cup cycle, we are officially on the road to Australia 2027, and Borthwick will be looking through his promising young talents to make an early name for themselves. Borthwick initially called up seven uncapped players into his wider training squad, and later added a further two in Max Ojomoh and Will Muir from Bath.

Harlequins' Oscar Beard and Sale Sharks wing Tom Roebuck miss out on a test match call-up, but we will see the England debuts of back row Ethan Roots (Exeter Chiefs) and inside centre Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), as they are set to start against Italy. On the bench, Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints) and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (Exeter Chiefs) are all primed and ready to make their England debuts as well.

But what happened to the five latest players to make their England debuts in the Six Nations? Did they remain a feature of the squad, or have they since drifted off to the wayside and will miss out on the upcoming tournament, Here are the last five England players, to make their test match debuts in the Six Nations.

Harlequins hooker Jack Walker had to bide his time for a senior England call-up, despite being an impressive breakout player of the England U20s set-up. Walker captained the England age group side through the 2016 U20 Six Nations, and led the team to glory in the same year's U20 World Championships. After graduating the age grade system Walker signed with Bath, and after subsequent loans to London Scottish, he was picked up by Harlequins in 2021.

It was at the Stoop where Walker began to gain serious traction for an England call-up. He was brought into Eddie Jones' wider training squad in 2022, but was later released back to his club ahead of the Six Nations. It took a changing of the management to hand Walker his debut, as Steve Borthwick brought the hooker in to camp the following year, and awarded him with an England debut at Twickenham against Italy. Walker was named on the bench in all five of England's 2023 Six Nations matches, but only accrued a total of 28 minutes of game-time.

The Harlequin struggled to get past Jamie George for starting contention, and had further push backs when Saracen young gun Theo Dan was introduced to the squad. Walker was selected in the 2023 Rugby World Cup squad, yet only played in England's pool stage walkover win against Chile, in a 26 minute replacement appearence. Walker has been left out of the fold for the 2024 Six Nations, with Jamie Blamire preferred to replace the injured Luke Cowan-Dickie amongst the hookers.

Similarly to Jack Walker, Ollie Hassell-Collins made his England debut in last year's Six Nations Championships, but has since fallen out of the fold for this season's competition. Hassell-Collins had been on the England radar since June 2021, when Eddie Jones called the winger into the fray, ahead of the team's Summer internationals against the United States and Canada.

With the British & Irish Lions away in South Africa, it was a surprise to see Hassell-Collins unused for the England tests against the two North American sides. The former London Irishman remained in fine form with the Exiles, and was recalled to the squad by Jones for the 2022 Six Nations. Yet once again, 'OHC' was unable to get onto the pitch, and had to wait for third time to be the charm, under the new rein of Steve Borthwick. Hassell-Collins was at his recent peak ahead of last year's Six Nations, and started England's opening round defeat to Scotland at Twickenham.

The wing would then start in England's aforementioned win against Italy, but was promptly dropped by Borthwick for the rest of the tournament. Hassell-Collins was also released mid-way through England's Summer preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and played no part in the bronze-medal campaign. Now at Leicester Tigers, Hassell-Collins remains in strong form, and with 10 tries this season (in all competitions) he is forming a good case for future England inclusions.

The only player to make their England debut during the 2022 Six Nations, Leicester lock Ollie Chessum has had a strong recent run within the national squad. Given the chance by Eddie Jones for England's away victory over Italy, Chessum made a replacement appearence in the 33-0 shut-out. Coming off the bench for Tom Curry, Chessum began his England career in the back-row but swiftly progressed to lock for the following year's tournament.

Chessum formed a solid partnership with Maro Itoje, with the two starting in the second row for every match of the 2023 Six Nations. The lock duo packed down the England engine room, and seamlessly interlinked around the park like they had been playing together for decades. Chessum was a star man of last year's Championships, yet suffered an unfortunate ankle injury in the fourth round defeat to France. The lock battled back through physio, and after a lengthy spell on the side-lines, made his comeback in time for the Rugby World Cup.

The Leicester man was amongst England's best players in France, and was integral to the side's bronze-medal winning run. Chessum scored a crucial try to turn England's favours against Samoa, as the Pacific Islanders looked set for an upset to close out Pool D. Chessum was dropped to the bench for England's semi-final defeat to South Africa, with George Martin's relentless tackling utilised from the off. Chessum's Tigers' teammate misses out on the 2024 Six Nations through injury, with Ollie named in the England five jersey, to play Italy in Rome tomorrow.

With three England caps to his name since 2021, Beno Obano has been on the fringes of the national squad for the best part of the last four years. The Bath man has been named in Steve Borthwick's squad for the 2024 Six Nations, and will look to achieve a more consistent run of selection throughout the upcoming championships. Obano's England career began as far back as 2018, when Eddie Jones named the loose-head for the Summer tour to South Africa. However, an untimely back-injury halted Obano's debut hopes, and the prop soon lost momentum heading into the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Obano continued to ply his trade at Bath, and became a household name for the fans in blue, black and white. His stock continued to rise at the Rec, and Obano was rightfully recalled into Jones' England squad for the 2021 Six Nations. The prop received his full test debut in the opening round defeat to Scotland, yet that 12 minute replacement appearence was his sole contribution of the tournament. Obano would go on to play in the Summer tests against the United States and Canada later that year, yet additional injuries hindered his hopes of future England call-ups.

The 29-year-old has been back to his very best this season, with Bath reaping the rewards of the front-rowers performances. With his litany of injuries now firmly in the rear-view mirror, the 2024 Six Nations could be the time for Obano to stake his claim to the future of the England number one jersey.

Joe Marler has been picked to start at loose-head against Italy, with Ellis Genge amongst the replacements. However, consistent performances and an impressive work rate would certainly put Obano in Borthwick's plans, for when 33-year-old Marler calls time on his international career. The rumours on Marler's England retirement where circulating following the Rugby World Cup, yet the Harlequin is set for future test caps for the foreseeable future.

We move one spot along the Bath front row from Beno Obano, and put a focus on hooker Tom Dunn for our fifth and final entry. Cast your mind back to the largely forgettable Covid 19 pandemic, when the 2020 Six Nations were put on pause after the world went into a state of lockdown. Some eight months after the tournament began, the competition was able to continue for the final round in October 2020.

Amidst the lateral flow tests and face-masks, the tournament was finalised as England were crowned champions behind the closed doors of the Stadio Olympico. Bath hooker Tom Dunn was called up for an England debut, yet his appearence lasted all of one minute as he replaced Jamie George in the 34-5 win in Rome. The hooker would remain amongst the England squad for the Autumn Nations Cup, with replacement run-outs against Georgia, and another minute long cameo, this time against Ireland.

One of the most underutilised England talents in recent years, Dunn has not been a playing feature of the national team since that Autumn, yet Borthwick did call-upon the front rower as injury cover for the 2023 Six Nations training squad. In a similar case to Jack Walker, the hooker looks to have fallen down the Premiership's pecking order in Borthwick's eyes, with Newcastle Falcons' man Jamie Blamire given the call to replace Luke Cowan-Dickie for this year's competition.