South African forward eyes England call-up after qualifying
Rugby NewsThursday, 06 August 2020 at 08:43
Northampton Saints prop Francois van Wyk has declared that he would love to wear the red rose in the not too distant future.
After joining Saints in the summer of 2017, the 29-year-old has established himself as a first-team regular at Franklin’s Gardens in the front row.
“I’m English-qualified this month and that’s exciting because I’d like to have a good year now and hopefully things will work out for me,” van Wyk told the Rugby Paper.
“When I first came to England, I never knew how long I was going to stay and in my first year I was a bit nervous about whether I’d get contracted again.
“But once Chris Boyd arrived, along with our scrum coach Matt Ferguson, I stayed and they’ve helped me a lot.
“At Western Force I had injury after injury and only managed 20 games in four years, so mentally I was at a stage where I couldn’t deal with it.
"But coming to Saints has been the best thing ever for my career and I’ve played a lot of games in my three years so far.”
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5 foreign players who could be capped by England when rugby returns
Here are five players who could also pull on the white jersey in the near future:
1. Ruan Ackermann – Gloucester (South Africa)
His Dad Johan Ackermann, who departed as Gloucester boss for Japan earlier this month, confirmed that his son will be staying with the Cherry & Whites to persue international honours, and has already been in contact with Eddie Jones. The imposing number eight qualify for England on residency grounds in August 2020 -- just four months before World Rugby's new eligibility laws kick in.
2. Jason Woodward - Gloucester (New Zealand)
The New Zealand‑born full-back who joined Gloucester from Bristol in the summer has already been included in an England training squad. With Eddie Jones revealing he is looking for competition for George Furbank at full-back, Woodward could find himself winning his first full cap at some point in the future.
3. Ratu Naulago - Bristol Bears (Fiji)
The speedster took Super League by storm with Hull RFC, scoring 17 tries in 26 games, before signing with Bristol Bears for the 2020/21 Gallagher Premiership season. It will be a switch back to union for Naulago, who previously won the Premiership 7s title with Saracens. If he can hit the ground running, he'd be right in the frame for a call-up from Eddie Jones.
4. Cameron Redpath - Bath Rugby (France)
The son of 60-cap Scotland legend Bryan Redpath, centre Cameron was born in Narbonne, France. He was selected in England's 34-man squad for their 2018 tour of South Africa but was unable to travel with the squad because of injury. The 20-year-old, who recently departed Sale Sharks for Bath Rugby, has also represented England U20, scoring three tries in nine appearances.
5. Gerbrandt Grobler - Gloucester (South Africa)
Whether England would consider him as and when he becomes eligible remains to be seen but Grobler maintains an ambition to play at the highest level. “Obviously you wouldn’t turn it down [if Eddie Jones called]. I don’t think anyone would. You’ve got to have belief in yourself, otherwise why are you playing this game? You’ve got to have ambitions and goals but I’ll keep them to myself. There is always hope.”
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