{"id":406526,"date":"2026-02-04T00:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/406526\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T00:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T00:42:18","slug":"three-redheads-in-the-same-scrum-that-would-be-very-cool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/406526\/","title":{"rendered":"Three redheads in the same scrum? That would be very cool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Playing for the British & Irish Lions is the pinnacle, an experience for which every player would want to be at their physical peak. <\/p>\n

The reality is that a Lions tour comes at the end of a gruelling season, and, at times, players have no choice but to ignore their own discomfort.<\/p>\n

In Australia last summer Ollie Chessum could not walk without being unsettled by the pain from a deteriorating foot injury. His plantar fascia \u2014 a thick band of tissue that runs the length of the foot, supporting the arch \u2014 was close to rupturing. <\/p>\n

\u201cFrom step to step and day to day, just constant pain, I wouldn\u2019t wish it on my worst enemy,\u201d he says. \u201cWhether I was just walking to the bathroom or running in a game, I could feel it every step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somehow, he succeeded in coping with the pain that was shooting through one of his size-15 feet, to the extent that he won selection for all three Lions Tests against the Wallabies, coming off the bench twice and starting the series-clinching second Test in Melbourne. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been going on a while, so I think it just got to the point where I learnt to ignore it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt just became sort of normal. But it was painful and I was probably only at about 80 per cent of what I could be. <\/p>\n

\u201cTraining with the Lions was quite light to start with, but the last few weeks went up in intensity and it was fairly bad come the second and third Tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much of a challenge, both mental and physical, was it to be approaching a career landmark in a diminished condition? \u201cFrustrating,\u201d he said. \u201cI always felt I was going to be able to play through it. But there\u2019s only so long you can have modified practice and missing out certain elements of training before that slowly starts to affect the way you\u2019re playing. So I was certainly glad to get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After months of attempting to manage the injury, the plantar fascia finally ruptured during England\u2019s win against Fiji at Twickenham in November. Chessum, as a result, missed the victories over New Zealand and Argentina, and spent six weeks out before returning to action for Leicester Tigers in December. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere was almost a feeling of relief when my foot finally went,\u201d he said. \u201cYou never want to miss games, but I\u2019ve come back now in a better place than before. The body feels good and I feel fresh, which is nice going into the Six Nations<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against Wales on Saturday, Chessum, 25, had expected to start at lock alongside Maro Itoje<\/a>. It would have been the 18th time they had done so, and Chessum has already become Itoje\u2019s most regular second-row partner, having surpassed the 15 Test starts the England captain shared with George Kruis in the final match of the Six Nations last year (also against Wales). <\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Chessum, top left, helped the Lions to a series win down under\u2026 and Itoje, third left, shows him how to celebrate<\/p>\n

INPHO\/DAN SHERIDAN<\/p>\n

The duo also started together for the Lions on that memorable night in Melbourne. But with Itoje beginning on the bench against Wales, as part of his reintegration into the squad after taking time off to attend his mother\u2019s funeral<\/a>, the pair will be separated, at least temporarily. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we complement each other really well,\u201d Chessum said. \u201cMaz has a game that is built around that nuisance. He\u2019s a real nuisance at the breakdown, which is something my skill set doesn\u2019t lean towards. But then I feel like I do the running side \u2014 I\u2019ve played a lot of No6. So we fill the holes that each other have in our games really, that\u2019s the way I see it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf my 30 caps, probably 25 or 26 have been playing alongside Maro. So that partnership\u2019s 25-plus games deep and we\u2019ve really got to understand each other. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always new faces, but there\u2019s a real consistency around the squad now, which obviously helps in terms of building partnerships. Coming back into camp at the start of a tournament, it means you can probably hit the ground running that little bit quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stability provided by Itoje and Chessum\u2019s partnership has benefited the whole team. But in Alex Coles, Chessum will hardly be packing down beside a stranger. <\/p>\n

Coles, 26, is in rich form for Northampton Saints and enjoyed an impressive autumn for England, starting alongside Chessum against Fiji, then with Itoje against the All Blacks and Argentina.<\/p>\n

\"Ollie<\/p>\n

Chessum was one of the tryscorers in Leicester\u2019s 57-14 thrashing of Bayonne last month<\/p>\n

INPHO\/TOM MAHER<\/p>\n

Now that he has become such a part of the furniture in England\u2019s pack, it is easy to forget that Chessum was one of the game\u2019s late developers. After playing football and cricket in his younger days \u2014 he was, unsurprisingly given his frame, a handy centre back and a nippy fast bowler \u2014 he picked up rugby at his Lincolnshire state school, Carre\u2019s Grammar in Sleaford, and then at Kesteven RFC. <\/p>\n

He did not make it into Leicester\u2019s academy at 16, but the Tigers, the club he had supported as a boy, kept an eye on him and he came of age playing the 2019-20 season in the RFU Championship for Nottingham, aged 19.<\/p>\n

Leicester picked him up the following season, he finally filled out into his 6ft 7in frame and became part of Steve Borthwick\u2019s rebuilding operation at Welford Road. That process quickly gathered pace in Chessum\u2019s second season and the Tigers won the Premiership title, propelling Borthwick towards the England job and Chessum towards international rugby. Less than two years after playing his first Premiership match, he came off the bench for his England debut against Italy in Rome.<\/p>\n

This season he became captain of Leicester, a proud moment for a player who had watched with his family from behind the posts in the West Stand at Welford Road. <\/p>\n

\"England<\/p>\n

Chessum takes some stopping, much to the annoyance of Scotland<\/p>\n

DAN MULLAN\/RFU\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum and my little brother still sit in the same seats, just under the big screen,\u201d he says. Two of the contingent do not need to pay for tickets any more, as Lewis, 22, is also in the Leicester squad.<\/p>\n

Dylan, at 18 the youngest of the three brothers, is a member of the Tigers\u2019 academy. Any scouts watching youth rugby in Lincolnshire would have noted the Chessum parents \u2014 Paddy is 6ft 5in, Michelle 6ft 2in \u2014 and reckoned they were on to something.<\/p>\n

Lewis is another red-headed lock who, at 6ft 9in, stands two inches taller than his club captain. He captained England Under-20 and recently spent a loan spell with Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars in Japan. He is injured at present, but when he returns there are hopes of seeing the Chessum brothers packing down in the Tigers\u2019 second row. <\/p>\n

\"Leicester<\/p>\n

Chessum was appointed Leicester captain this season\u2026 and will be a crucial cog for England in the Six Nations<\/p>\n

MICHAEL POWELL FOR THE TIMES<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Lewis have been here four years and we\u2019re still yet to play a game together,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cI\u2019m hoping and praying that whenever he\u2019s back fully fit, we\u2019ll get an opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dylan, meanwhile, can play at lock and at No6. \u201cHe\u2019s 6ft 3in or 6ft 4in, but he might still be growing, I don\u2019t think I stopped until I was 20 or 21,\u201d Ollie says. \u201cMaybe he could play No6 at some point with me and Lewis. That would be pretty cool, wouldn\u2019t it? Three redheads in the back five.\u201d<\/p>\n

That would certainly be one way of developing chemistry in the Tigers pack. In the meantime, Chessum is focused on further developing his partnership with Itoje and enjoying his return to full fitness as part of an England team looking to extend their 11-match winning streak and win the Six Nations for the first time in six years. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s probably even more of a target on our back this year, which is strange to say because everyone always wants to beat England,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow that we\u2019re in good form they\u2019ll want to beat us even more. But there\u2019s a real desire to keep that form going and to take that next step; we really want to get our hands on a trophy we\u2019ve not had our hands on for a long while now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Playing for the British & Irish Lions is the pinnacle, an experience for which every player would want…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406527,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-406526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406526\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}