Cole came in for criticism after his performance when replacing Sinckler in the finalAs we are all acknowledging daily, the Covid-19 pandemic is putting everything else in perspective. It might not be a misuse of italics, here, to say that it has even done that for the World Cup final too. Losing a World Cup final would be traumatic for anyone though there cannot be many more personally harrowing final experiences than that experienced by Dan Cole, the England tight-head prop, nine months ago. Yet this was Cole yesterday: “As we’ve found out recently, there are bigger things in life.”Just as a reminder: Kyle Sinckler, the first-choice England tight-head in that World Cup final, lasted until the third minute of the game before being withdrawn with a head injury and on in his place came Cole.

Source: The Times August 11, 2020 16:06 UTC