{"id":772187,"date":"2026-07-01T13:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T13:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/772187\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T13:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T13:55:10","slug":"alex-coles-seeks-higher-meaning-in-englands-clash-with-kolisi-and-hard-edged-boks-england-rugby-union-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/772187\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Coles seeks higher meaning in England\u2019s clash with Kolisi and hard-edged Boks | England rugby union team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The general view in South Africa is that England do not fully understand what they are up against. To be a Springbok is to represent the hopes and dreams of millions and feel a uniquely powerful force. Siya Kolisi must have been taken aback, consequently, to be approached after a Test at Twickenham by a young English opponent seeking to arrange a chat on the subject of racial unity.<\/p>\n

The curious Englishman was the Northampton<\/a> forward Alex Coles, a player far removed from the average rugby jock. The son of two Church of England vicars \u2013 his mum, Olivia, writes her sermons on a Friday so she can attend his Saturday matches \u2013 he is a similarly firm believer in having a purpose in life beyond the weekend\u2019s result.<\/p>\n

With a degree in politics, philosophy and history followed by a law conversion and, at present, a masters course in sports law \u2013 \u201cMaybe in the future I\u2019ll end up representing Henry Pollock if he does something wrong…\u201d \u2013 Coles\u2019 sporting prowess is not his only forte.<\/p>\n

Tackling big ideas \u2013 as well as big human beings \u2013 does not faze him in the slightest. \u201cIn my dissertation for my undergraduate degree I looked at whether South Africa\u2019s recent World Cup wins had any impact on race relations,\u201d he says. \u201cThe famous 1995 victory and Nelson Mandela\u2019s presence was seen as a big moment for unifying the country. I wanted to see if there has been a similar effect following recent results and found some evidence of that. It\u2019s really interesting to look into it and see how important that sport is for that country as a whole. It\u2019s fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I get why the noise was there but it does drain you,\u2019 says Alex Coles of England\u2019s Six Nations campaign. Photograph: Sandra Mailer\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Which is why, having won his third cap for England in the autumn of 2022, he sought Kolisi\u2019s first-hand testimony. \u201cHe wouldn\u2019t have known who I was but he agreed and kindly gave me 30 minutes of his time. So I\u2019ve got some of his quotes in there. It just really re-emphasised to me how much [representing South Africa] means to them. It\u2019s a massive focus of collective and individual pride for those players. When you play South Africa you know they\u2019re going to be well up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turned out the examiners weren\u2019t entirely bowled over \u2013 \u201cI didn\u2019t get as good a mark as I\u2019d have liked. Maybe we\u2019ll send it back\u201d \u2013 but England unquestionably have a smart cookie at the heart of their pack in the absence of their rested skipper, Maro Itoje. The 26 year-old does not always dominate the limelight \u00e0 la Pollock but his all-round contribution as a shrewd lineout operative and galloping presence around the field has been increasingly prominent.<\/p>\n

In the season just gone, Saints did not lose a single Prem game in which Coles featured. He was also influential in the final win over Exeter<\/a>, to no one\u2019s surprise. \u201cI think he\u2019s been brilliant for England as well,\u201d says Phil Dowson, Northampton\u2019s director of rugby. \u201cThe way he thinks about the game is different. He\u2019s incredibly driven, incredibly smart and consistent. If you get those three things together it allows you to do a pretty good job.\u201d<\/p>\n

skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Sign up to The Breakdown<\/p>\n

The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

double quotation markOne of my big \u2018whys\u2019 is having something competitive to go after. A goal, a purpose. It adds a meaning to life.<\/p>\n

Coles says his parents \u2013 his father, Alasdair, is a consultant neurologist and honorary chaplain at Addenbrooke\u2019s hospital in Cambridge \u2013 have contributed to his own inner drive. \u201cAt the moment I don\u2019t have that religious purpose but I see in their lives that sense of \u2018something else\u2019 that you\u2019re driving towards and gives you meaning. It\u2019s so powerful. I\u2019m not trying to compare rugby to that but it\u2019s always been very important to find a purpose in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winning the domestic Prem title with Northampton was the latest step along that road and Saturday\u2019s encounter with Kolisi and the hard-edged Boks will reveal exactly how far he still has to go. \u201cYou always have the belief you can do it but the more experience you get helps add credence to that belief. I\u2019ve just got to keep trying to develop my game and show what I can do when I get a chance, rather than trying to be someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another stepping stone was a trip to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in April where he could rest his body and mind after a gruelling few months. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t some deep awakening but it was beautiful there. From the outside you wouldn\u2019t realise how important those rest weeks are sometimes. I\u2019d basically played in most of the games for Saints and England and I was pretty physically and mentally screwed.<\/p>\n

Alex Coles scores England\u2019s fourth try \u2013 his first for hs country \u2013 against France on 14 March. England lost at the death, a fourth straight defeat. Photograph: Adam Davy\/PA<\/p>\n

\u201cThat England [Six Nations] campaign, especially, was really tough. We put a lot of physical, mental and emotional energy into that and then to get those results and the reaction \u2026 I get why the noise was there but it does drain you. The injury was a bit of a blessing in disguise in that sense \u2026 I\u2019d had a decent run of games and being a forward it\u2019s attritional stuff. I\u2019m definitely feeling more fresh towards the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is ready and willing to front up to the muscular challenge posed by the Boks. \u201cOne of my big \u2018whys\u2019 is having something competitive to go after. A goal, a purpose. That\u2019s really important for me. It adds a meaning to life. I don\u2019t want to go from day to day just treading water. It\u2019s nice having something on the line. That gets you out of bed in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could it be the turn of the Educator, one of his nicknames at Northampton, to teach Kolisi and co something new this weekend? The Coles family will not be alone in saying a quiet prayer to that effect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The general view in South Africa is that England do not fully understand what they are up against.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-772187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}