MONSTER truck fan Teimana Harrison has been ordered to build a road-block to stop Fiji.
A strip-down and tune-up was needed following his last start — a nightmare against Australia that saw him hooked after 31 minutes.
But now Harrison is full of gas and will wear the No 7 shirt that has troubled recent England back-rowers — bar James Haskell.
Boss Eddie Jones loves New Zealand-born Harrison for his ‘mongrel’ attitude and the Northampton Saints forward even describes himself as ‘Just a brother from the gutter trying to find my way’ on his Twitter page.
And even though he has cut off his famous dreadlocked mullet, Harrison still stands out at England’s training base.
Parked among the Range Rovers and super-cars at their five-star training base is Harrison’s gigantic truck, on which he spends hours souping-up.
Still a raw rookie in Premiership as well as Test terms, with just 59 club games and two caps to his name, Harrison’s job at Twickenham tomorrow is all about the beast, not the beauty.
Jones said: “Teimana needs to be a stopper. He needs to stop the Fijians on the gain line.
“That’s what Haskell’s done so well and now we need another guy to stop opposition on the gain line.
“Tom Wood did a great job for us last week and we are looking to see how we can increase the depth in that seven role. Teimana has gone away after the Australia tour, worked on his game and built himself up so this is a great opportunity for him.
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“He’s physically better equipped, has worked particularly on his tackling technique and did a lot of good work with coaches Paul Gustard and Jason Ryles in Portugal.”
As well as chatting about the gameplan with Harrison, Jones has also been intrigued by his crazy choice of car.
The Aussie boss said: “I asked him about that and whether it is legal or not!
“Teimana’s not from a great pedigree in terms of his rugby. He didn’t go to a great rugby school, didn’t play in the age-group teams and just 12 months ago he was in the academy at Saints. It is quite a rise for him.”
As part of that rise, dealing with the shock of being subbed so early in the Third Test against Australia is something Harrison has had to come back from.
But Jones said: “I don’t see it as a big deal. I use players in the best interests of the team.
“And we look after the players if they are emotionally distraught afterwards.”
One man Jones did not have to think twice about picking after he proved his fitness was No 8 Billy Vunipola. Elliot Daly also comes in on the left wing, with Fiji-born Semesa Rokoduguni on the right and Alex Goode at full-back in a new-look back three.
Wasps centre Daly is out of position — but Jones does not reckon he will look out of place.
He added: “To have a guy who can cover three positions seriously in a World Cup squad is enormously important.
“That is what we are trying to develop — players who can play a number of positions.”
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