BRAD SHIELDS finally met his new England teammates – weeks after being allowed into their WhatsApp group.
The New Zealand-born flanker arrived in South Africa on Monday night and is one of Eddie Jones’ most controversial picks to date as he still plays outside of the Premiership, despite qualifying through English parents.
And although he was meeting most of his teammates for the very first time, he had been in contact with them on the Red Rose WhatsApp group as part of a crash-course in settling into his new job.
Scrum-half Ben Youngs said: “I didn’t know much about him.
“But he was welcomed in, stood up and told us about himself.
“We have a squad Whatsapp group and he has been talking on that. I’m sure he will settle in straight away, he will be fine.
“He got his 100th Super Rugby cap the other day, so he is a guy with a huge amount of experience and his knowledge of how South African teams play will probably be paramount to our preparations this week.”
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Boss Jones reckons the 27-year-old is even ready to make his Test debut on Saturday.
At the end of the series Shields will go back to New Zealand, before joining Wasps later in the summer at the end of the Super Rugby season.
And Jones added: “Brad is a big strong player who does the basics well – he’s a good number six who has a high work rate, tackles well, carries well, and is a good line-out option.
“We know a reasonable amount about him and I’ve had various conversations with him. Now it is about him coming to the team and adding value – he is available for selection.”
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