Max Ojomoh adds to Borthwick’s England midfield selection headaches with fantastic first start in Argentina win

Josh Graham

The Bath centre had a fine second outing for his country at Allianz Stadium on Sunday

Max Ojomoh probably couldn’t have scripted a better first start for his England career.

The Bath centre was a late call-up at inside-centre for Steve Borthwick’s side after Fraser Dingwall failed to recover from the side issue he picked up in the 33-19 win over the All Blacks.

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Ojomoh, whose dad Steve won 12 England caps at flanker in the nineties, scored within ten minutes after Guy Pepper pressured Juan Cruz Mallia into a rash offload which the opportunistic Ojomoh collected and raced home to score.

The 25-year-old, who made his debut against the USA in the final game of England’s summer tour, then turned provider with a perfectly weighted cross-field kick for Manny Feyi-Waboso, showcasing why he has stepped in to play at fly-half for Bath in the early part of the season.

After the Pumas fought their way back into the game in the second-half, Ojomoh pulled off a very important offload close to the line to allow centre partner Henry Slade to score to give England a 24-16 cushion with 13 minutes remaining.

Ojomoh was partnering Exeter Chiefs’ Slade in midfield on Sunday after Dingwall and Lawrence – who dovetailed so well against New Zealand last week – were both sidelined by injury.

That epic win over Scott Robertson’s men appeared to suggest the Dingwall-Lawrence partnership would be the way forward for England, who have chopped and changed their centres both due to injury and selection in recent times.

However, Ojomoh’s standout, Player of the Match, display in the 12 jersey may give Borthwick food for thought moving forward towards the Six Nations.

England will hope to have Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson fit again for that campaign after he impressed at inside-centre in the 2-0 win down in Argentina during the summer.

Not since Manu Tuilagi have England had a regular No 12 with Slade mostly appearing at 13 and the experienced Chief also appears to be looking in from the outside as Sunday’s win marked his sole appearance in the Quilter Nations Series.

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