England again row Ollie Chessum says the worry of being chased down by Louis Bielle-Biarrey, France’s free-scoring, high-speed wing, spooked him as he went in for a 60m intercept strive in England’s 48-46 Six Nations defeat on Saturday.
Chessum, who scored two tries, arrange a 3rd and was England’s star performer in Paris, admitted he had “copped lots of stick” for not scoring nearer to the posts as he ran in unopposed within the 51st minute.
Fly-half Fin Smith missed the following conversion from out close to the left-hand 10m line and England in the end got here up simply brief in a 94-point epic.
“I used to be adamant that there was a purple scrum out lurking within the background that was going to convey me down,” mentioned Chessum.
“So I simply pinned my ears again and hoped that no-one managed to seize on to my coattails and convey me to the ground.
“I’ve copped lots of stick, I feel, for not heading towards the posts. My brother’s despatched me a couple of issues, however it was unfamiliar territory for me to be in a line-break scenario like that.
“I am certain Fin would have thanked me for it being a bit nearer, however I can not flip again the clock now.”
Bielle-Biarrey, who scored 4 tries in France’s win, was in shut attendance as Chessum picked off Matthieu Jalibert’s move on his personal 10m line, however neither he, Jalibert or full-back Thomas Ramos might tun and catch the Leicester man earlier than the road.
Chessum’s rating got here as no shock to Tigers’ coach Geoff Parling, who revealed that the 25-year-old’s prime dash pace has been clocked at 9.3 metres per second.
“As quickly as he acquired the intercept I knew he was going to attain as a result of I understand how quick he’s,” mentioned Parling.
“He strikes very nicely for an enormous man.
“I assumed he was distinctive towards France – he stored making an attempt to drive the workforce ahead and that’s what he does for us too.”
Chessum mentioned England’s final-round show was an enchancment however couldn’t masks a depressing Six Nations marketing campaign that returned just one victory from 5 matches and led to a fifth-place end.
“It was a irritating few weeks, there isn’t any hiding the frustration and frustration,” he mentioned.
“For the center of these three weeks [defeats against Scotland, Ireland and Italy], we had been nowhere close to the place we needed to be and that reveals within the desk.
“I do not find out about it being a standard-setter, however I feel [the France performance] simply felt extra like us and the best way we needed to play.
“It felt like the best way we have now performed for almost all of final 12 months.
“I suppose, from our perspective, we might need to try to bottle that feeling as a lot as potential.”
Chessum landed again at London Heathrow from Paris on Sunday lunchtime and he and Leicester team-mate Jack van Poortvliet took a taxi straight to Mattioli Woods Welford Street to catch the tip of Tigers’ 66-14 victory over Leicester within the Prem Rugby Cup last.
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