2 weeks Ago
Autumn Nations Series: England v Australia Venue: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham Date: Saturday, 9 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT Coverage: Listen to live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. Exit, pursued by Asher. Joe Marler's haka-baiting England departure was not short of drama.
But the prop had long since slipped coach Steve Borthwick a stage direction to fill the vacancy he left behind. In December 2023, Marler was interviewed on the touchlines of Harlequins' win against Sale. "There is a young tight-head that has come off the bench for Sale," Marler told TNT Sport.
"And he's - mmm...
[tasty] "I have got a big thing about young, up-and-coming front-rowers - [like] Fin Baxter for us. But this guy, number 18, I like the look of." Asher Opoku-Fordjour, the number 18 in question, was a 19-year-old making only his second Premiership appearance.
At 18st and 6ft 1in, he is not big by modern proportions. The numbers alone did not demand attention. But Marler's hunch was on the money.
Opoku-Fordjour, now 20, was one to watch. Less than a year on he has replaced Marler in England's senior squad and is the figurehead for a new generation of England front-rowers. Like Marler, Andy Titterrell was instantly impressed by Opoku-Fordjour.
"In his first or second scrumming session, I can't remember who he was scrumming against but he gave him a few air miles in a training session," former England and Lions hooker Titterrell tells BBC Sport of Opoku-Fordjour's arrival into the England Under-20s set-up. Titterrell, who oversees forwards for the age-grade side, turned to coach Alan Dickens. "I said 'we have to have this kid involved at the weekend'.
" Opoku-Fordjour's power shows up in the wide, open spaces, as well as at set-piece close quarters. He played his boyhood rugby as a wing and still has a startling turn of pace. For both England Under-20s and Sale's senior side, his stampeding line breaks have become a familiar sight.
Sale boss Alex Sanderson summed it up earlier this year. "He's a tight-head prop with fast twitch. You just don't get them," he said, going on to compare their scarcity to "teddy bear", ahem, "manure".
"Ash has raw athleticism, power and explosiveness," agrees Titterrell. "You have seen glimpses of that in his ball-carrying ability - particularly against Ireland Under-20s in the 2023 World Cup. He has that pace and power.
" Titterrell is not the only 2000s front-row face to be shaping Opoku-Fordjour. Dorian West, part of the England 2003 Rugby World Cup squad that Titterrell missed out on, is Sale's forward coach. "You think of tight-head props through the years, you think of Julian White, Darren Garforth and Phil Vickery, those sort of lads," he tells BBC Sport.
"They are big men - they were massive. "Asher is not quite the same as them at the minute. He is more of a toned athlete, but immensely strong and powerful.
"It is looking really good for him with the shape and size he is now. He is a good professional and if he carries on developing and growing in the right way over the next few years, he is going to be some athlete. "He is nowhere near finished.
" Maybe because Opoku-Fordjour does not fit the old tight-head mould, he has also appeared on the opposite side of the scrum. While he plays tight-head for Sale, he switched to loose-head for England Under-20s, where Gloucester's Afolabi Fasogbon and Bath's Vilikesa Sela give England mammoth depth at three. The trio were hugely impressive in the team's age-grade World Cup win in the summer, with set-piece dominance splintering France in the final.
They are not the only reasons to be cheerful. Harlequins' 22-year-old Baxter made his Test debut in the summer. Team-mate Nathan Jibulu, 21, is poised to pressure central contract-holder Theo Dan, 23, at hooker.
Northampton's Tarek Haffar and Emmanuel Iyogun, both 23, are two more promising prop prospects. In all, England hope they have a golden generation lined up behind Marler and Dan Cole, who are nearing the end of their careers, and Ellis Genge and Will Stuart, 29 and 28 respectively. West believes that, once the transition is finished, Opoku-Fordjour would prefer to end up back at tight-head.
But in modern Test rugby, versatility can be the key that unlocks the next level and a place in a squad. West and Titterrell's day was different. Replacements were rarer.
Specialists stayed put. And the set-piece was more chaotic. Footage from their playing days provides amusement, rather than education, to their young charges.
"The lads laugh now when they see the footage of the games we played in," says West. "Back then the referee did not have much involvement in the engagement at scrums - you got together and got on with it. "There was more impact, a lot more scrums ending up on the floor and there was a certain amount of brutality involved in that.
"Even so, the players now are so much bigger and probably stronger than we were in the past. It is totally different things they do nowadays." Differing styles, but identical destinations.
Opoku-Fordjour and the rest are arriving fast on the international scene and, as in the scrum, will take some shifting once they are in place..
