Joe Heyes has revealed his "infatuation" with Dan Cole ensured that pledging national allegiance to Ireland over England was never an option.
Heyes started last Saturday's victory over Australia and will be in action when Fiji visit Allianz Stadium in this weekend’s second autumn international to continue his breakthrough 2025.
But the Leicester prop might have turned his back on England had his mum Rachel, a former Ireland basketball player, succeeded in persuading him to choose green over white.
As an emerging tighthead at Leicester, the opportunity to learn from Tigers and England great Cole – who retired last season aged 38 – made the decision a formality.
"My mum’s Irish and my mum and dad divorced so my dad wasn’t in the house. It was an Irish household in Nottinghamshire and she was always pushing me to play for Ireland," Heyes said.
"But I’ve chosen the right side and she’s incredibly proud of me. I might have upset my mum in the process, but my dad’s English, I’m English and I was born here, so it was an incredibly easy decision.
"I started playing rugby when I was 15, came to Leicester and from day one it was Dan Cole – I was infatuated with that man.
"Dan was the guy. Starting tighthead for England and Tigers, you’d just get excited every time someone dropped a ball because it was like, 'Coley’s going to scrum now’.
"For a young tighthead prop going through the Tigers system it was mostly about scrummaging and defence.
"Those two things are my standard now – if I go well in the scrum and in defence, then I’ve had a good game. That’s what Dan brought and that’s what Tigers respect and want from their props."
Whether Heyes starts or finishes against Fiji depends on if England continue with the ‘bomb squad’ tactic of stacking the bench with forwards after the introduction of five British and Irish forwards around the half-hour mark turned the tide against the Wallabies.
Head coach Steve Borthwick names his team later today, at which point he will know if full-back Freddie Steward and wing Tom Roebuck have recovered from their respective hand and ankle injuries.
If they are ruled out, Marcus Smith is favourite to start in the number 15 jersey with Henry Arundell the front-runner to come in for Roebuck in what would be his first England appearance since the 2023 World Cup.
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