As a fan, I've no idea what Dan Cole's salary looks like, but he earns every single penny.
Among the leading tighthead props in the world game, the Leicester Tigers front-rower is as durable as they come in the very toughest position on the field.
This weekend Cole moves past 70 caps for England, to go with 170 games for the Tigers. It would be interesting to know how many of those games have kept him on the pitch for the full 80 minutes. And interesting, too, to compare and contrast the figures with his rivals.
Last weekend, in the opening game of another Six Nations, Cole got through another 80-minute shift. This, against one of the hemisphere’s acknowledged leaders in scrummaging mentality and technique, the French. Les Bleus do not do ‘easy’ in their front rows. They pride themselves on the set-piece and, crucially, they usually have depth on the bench to continue the onslaught through a full afternoon’s Test match action.
Against this, Cole stood up, or rather stood up, bent down, pushed, made his hits around the field and kept getting back up to do it all again.
It is difficult to understate what it takes to put a 6ft-plus 19-stone frame through that kind of attrition.
But Cole, despite being criminally underestimated at times by the national media and the general public, has a record of full-time shifts to his credit in the harsh arena of the front row.
That shows the backing of men in the know, from Richard Cockerill through the bulk of his club career with Tigers through to Eddie Jones with an England team that has won 15 games on the bounce.
It starts at tighthead and to us that means starting - and finishing - with Coley.
.
Among the leading tighthead props in the world game, the Leicester Tigers front-rower is as durable as they come in the very toughest position on the field.
This weekend Cole moves past 70 caps for England, to go with 170 games for the Tigers. It would be interesting to know how many of those games have kept him on the pitch for the full 80 minutes. And interesting, too, to compare and contrast the figures with his rivals.
Last weekend, in the opening game of another Six Nations, Cole got through another 80-minute shift. This, against one of the hemisphere’s acknowledged leaders in scrummaging mentality and technique, the French. Les Bleus do not do ‘easy’ in their front rows. They pride themselves on the set-piece and, crucially, they usually have depth on the bench to continue the onslaught through a full afternoon’s Test match action.
Against this, Cole stood up, or rather stood up, bent down, pushed, made his hits around the field and kept getting back up to do it all again.
It is difficult to understate what it takes to put a 6ft-plus 19-stone frame through that kind of attrition.
But Cole, despite being criminally underestimated at times by the national media and the general public, has a record of full-time shifts to his credit in the harsh arena of the front row.
That shows the backing of men in the know, from Richard Cockerill through the bulk of his club career with Tigers through to Eddie Jones with an England team that has won 15 games on the bounce.
It starts at tighthead and to us that means starting - and finishing - with Coley.
.
