By Mitch Phillips
LONDON (Reuters) – Running onto the Twickenham pitch to play for England against New Zealand is a thrill for any player but for Ben Spencer Saturday’s match will be extra special as he makes his first start after winning six caps off the bench over six years.
As a serial winner with Saracens, and now captaining a resurgent Bath to the top of the Premiership table and within a whisper of the title last season, there has never been any questions about the scrumhalf’s pedigree.
He had the misfortune, however, to be sitting behind regulars Ben Youngs and Danny Care for a decade and, when they moved on, suddenly found Jack van Poortvliet and then Alex Mitchell bumped up to first choice.
However, with the two veterans now off the scene and Mitchell out of the November series with a neck injury, Spencer will finally pull on that coveted number nine jersey on Saturday as a just reward for a flying start to the Premiership season.
“I’m really excited. It’s been a long time coming,” the 32-year-old told journalists. “I’m really looking forward to getting out there at the weekend.
“I guess you never really know until it does come but I’d like to think I’ve put myself in a position over the last few years to make it happen and I’m just delighted that it is going to and hopefully I can make the most of it.
“I’ve been fortunate enough over the last 12 months where I’ve had a good run in this team, maybe not the amount of caps I potentially would have liked, but being in the squad and around the team on a game day, you feel like you’re a part of the team.
“Whereas, before it was tough. I was in and then I was out or I was called in for the last game of a Six Nations or the World Cup final. It’s like it is over before it has begun.”
ENGLAND DEBUT
Spencer made his debut away to South Africa in 2018, playing the last five minutes, then the last eight minutes in the next test a week later, both won by the Springboks.
A year later he came off the bench for the last six minutes of the crazy 38-38 Twickenham draw with Scotland, but generally fell foul of former coach Eddie Jones’s preference for having only two scrumhalves in his squads.
That backfired spectacularly at the 2019 World Cup when injuries meant Jones had to call up Spencer to fly out days before the final, with him again playing the last five minutes in another defeat.
It was another five years before he was involved again, this time playing 34 minutes in the Six Nations defeat by Scotland this year, and then another 23 minutes in the 16-15 defeat by New Zealand in July.
His six caps have totalled 81 minutes and, as he is all too aware, he has yet to appear in a winning team.
One thing that probably counted against Spencer during the wilderness years was that he was considered a “quiet and steady” nine – basically a feeder for Owen Farrell – but his move to Bath and teaming up with Finn Russell seems to have brought a new fizz to his game and his on-pitch persona.
“On the pitch, especially at Bath with me being the captain, it has definitely brought the best out of me,” he said. “I think Finn oozes class and oozes confidence and that spreads throughout the team.”
Spencer will link up with similarly confident flyhalf Marcus Smith on Saturday and said he can’t wait. “They’re both really attacking-minded, which is great. They’re both ultimate showmen and like to get the team going forward,” he said.
“It’s been a really smooth transition. Marcus is really excited to get the combination going and Saturday should be good.”
(Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Ken Ferris)
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