England centre strength sparks Ojomoh’s star turn against Argentina

Max Ojomoh said he had no choice but to play well in his England home debut against Argentina such are the range of midfield options available to coach Steve Borthwick.

Ojomoh only came into the starting team as a late replacement at inside centre after the injured Fraser Dingwall was ruled out on Friday.

But the 25-year-old Bath back, in just his second Test appearance, produced a man-of-the-match performance, scoring England’s first try and creating their other two in a 27-23 win over the Pumas at Twickenham on Sunday.

Ojomoh’s display has left Borthwick with a selection dilemma ahead of England’s Six Nations opener against Wales on February 7. 

“A year ago people were going crazy about a centre crisis,” said Ojomoh after England completed a November clean sweep.

“Now I’m seeing Seb (Atkinson), Fraser, Ollie Lawrence, Luke Northmore and a lot of 12s coming through and that kind of competition pushes everyone to perform at a higher level.

“Seb and Fraser have been excellent in their last games at 12 so I thought I had to try something out there.”

Ojomoh, the son of former England flanker Steve Ojomoh, added: “Only the lucky ones and the very, very good players get picked straight away, play well and keep their spot.

“It’s a very competitive position so there are a lot of contenders up there for one position on the field. If you are in form you keep going.”

Ojomoh opened the scoring with a well-taken score in the 10th-minute and set up tries for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Henry Slade.

Feyi-Waboso was the grateful recipient of a superb cross-kick from Ojomoh the Exeter wing caught the ball without breaking stride before sprinting across the line, while Slade benefitted from his centre partner’s hard run and flipped back-of-the-hand pass to score a key try.  

“My favourite bit was the cross-kick because I have never done that in the Prem,” said Ojomoh.

“I have tried when I’ve had penalty advantage and I have spooned all of them so it was a great time for it to stick. And to kick it to a very good friend in Manny—I’m glad he got the try.

“I was really surprised for the off-load. I saw Sladey and I was ‘nothing to lose, may as well have a crack’.

Victory over Argentina was England’s 11th win in a row and they now enter the Six Nations as title contenders.

“I’m very happy for the team that they have got four from four this month,” Ojomoh said. “It’s a great note to end on.

“It’s been a very good campaign from a very well-gelled squad. It’s good to be a part of.”