Seb Atkinson credits England call-up to 'freedom' at Gloucester

Seb Atkinson of England during a training session at Pennyhill Park on May 21, 2025 in Bagshot, England. (Image: Dan Mullan - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images) This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.
Seb Atkinson believes the 'freedom' he has been given by Gloucester's coaches this season has been key to his first senior England call-up.
Atkinson has had a brilliant season for the Cherry & Whites and was one of 14 uncapped players in a recent training squad assembled by Steve Borthwick ahead of this summer's tour of Argentina and USA.
The centre's stock has been rising for a while, having made his senior debut for Worcester in 2021, and he hopes to crown it with an international debut this summer.
"You never expect a call-up, but I'm really proud," he said.
'Credit to the team and the coaching staff at Gloucester for what they've done this year.
"They've given us the freedom and the exposure for me to play the way that I feel I play best, so cheers to them and hopefully I can keep moving forwards.
"We had some dark times last year where people were frustrated, we weren't performing the way that we felt that we could, but credit to the coaches.
"They gave us the opportunity to express ourselves and play freely. With the squad that we've got we've really taken that into our own hands this year and played some enjoyable rugby."
Join us at @allianz_stad as England XV take on France XV 👊
Get your tickets now 👇 — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) May 23, 2025
The Bromsgrove native has taken the freedom and run with it, ranking top in carries, tackles, passes, and post-contact metres and second in total metres, line break assists, and try assists among Premiership centres this campaign.
He also broke Beauden Barrett's 'bronco' test world record earlier this season, clocking in at four minutes and eight seconds.
"I guess I can verify it," the centre said. "We did one during the Six Nations training block. I wasn't expecting that time at all.
"Our training had been pushing us to a level where I was able to achieve that, but I still surprised myself by a good 20 seconds or so."
The coming tour to the Americas, which is preceded by a clash with a France XV on June 21, could be Atkinson's springboard into a long and impressive international career if he transfers his domestic performance into an England shirt.
Steve Borthwick knows how important these tours can be and has identified Argentina as an opportunity for players to put their hand up.
"The example you'd use would be 2017,' he said. 'Players emerged in that series against Argentina and really staked their claim two years out from the World Cup and became really important, influential players for England at the 2019 World Cup.
"I have no doubt there will be players who emerge and stake their claim this summer, and say 'I want to be part of that team in 2027'. I'm looking forward to that. The enthusiasm, the energy and the excitement they bring is really, really impressive."
England XV face France XV at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday 21 June at 3:15pm. Tickets from £25, please visit www.englandrugby.com/xvtickets

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The Herald Scotland

36 minutes ago

• The Herald Scotland

Josh Kerr: Getting to the top is the easy part, staying there is tough

While retaining his place at the top of the men's 1500m tree is far from easy, Kerr is as well-equipped as anyone to manage it. There are few better examples of Kerr's ability to live up to both the hype and the pressure than his last outing; earlier this month, at the Grand Slam Track meet in Philadelphia, the Scot was in a lowly sixth place with just 200m of the 1500m to go. Twenty seconds later, he'd won the race, beating the Olympic champion in the process. It was a performance that illustrated Kerr's desire, desperation even, to continue improving year-on-year, which is not always easy when the standard you've set is being the best 1500m runner on the planet. 'For sure, it's easier to get to the top than stay at the top,' Kerr says. 'When you're trying to get to the top, you can take multiple attempts whereas when you're trying to stay at the top, every person on the planet is gunning for you every single race. 'Getting to the top, you're exploring what works for you, and to stay at the top, you have to keep adapting and get the balance right. 'I've learned so much over the past three years and now, I've got a real wealth of knowledge about what works for me and what doesn't. Each year, I up my level of professionalism and improve the way I live my life, the way I train and the way I race.' 'I've built off last year and I feel the strongest I've ever been. I'm working on my speed now so I think it's going to end up with some pretty awesome performances.' (Image: Getty Images) The 27-year-old from Edinburgh has evolved into one of the faces of track and field. His world 1500m title in 2023, which was bookended by Olympic bronze and Olympic silver in 2021 and 2024 is, to date, the high point of Kerr's career and kick-started a rivalry with the Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen which brought an audience to the sport whose attention had been captured by the back-and-forth between the pair. Both Kerr and Ingebrigtsen, however, failed to become Olympic champion last summer with American Cole Hocker producing one of the upsets of Paris to claim the 1500m title. Given Kerr had begun last year stating explicitly that his aim was to become Olympic champion, his Olympic silver was, on paper, a failure. But a personal best time and a British record in the Olympic final softened the blow somewhat and over the months that followed Paris 2024, Kerr came to accept that he's not always going to be able to live up to the standards he sets himself. And he hasn't, perhaps surprisingly, used that defeat in the Olympic final as motivation for this season. 'Olympic silver produces very mixed emotions,' he says. 'I've shown up every year for the last six years and run either a season's best or a personal best in major championships finals and that's the best I can do. I have no control over what anyone else does. 'Yes, if I don't win, I'm not happy with how my year went. That's a pretty tough standard to meet and it's one I'm not going to meet every year because I'm a human being. 'When you set those standards, you have to be strict with yourself but I love what I do and if I wasn't getting paid to do it, I would still do it because I'm so curious to see how far I can push my body and see if I can keep putting on these performances in high-pressure environments.' (Image: Getty Images) Kerr has raced six times so far this year, all of which have been at Grand Slam Track meets. The new venture, set up by Olympic running great, Michael Johnson, was developed with the aim of revitalising athletics and bringing it to a new, wider audience. Kerr has been one of the most prominent faces in Grand Slam Track this season and on the track, the Scot certainly lived up his billing, winning his first Grand Slam Track title at the second meet in Miami last month with impressive performances over both 1500m and 800m (and taking home $100,000 as a result) while at the most recent meet in Philadelphia, Kerr produced one of the most thrilling performances of the weekend with his aforementioned surge from sixth place to first in the 1500m. This race in particular highlighted one of the major selling points of Grand Slam Track which is that athletes will be racing to beat each other rather than merely chasing fast times, which is what, to it's detriment, the sport has widely focused upon in recent years. Grand Slam Track has lofty aspirations to change the face of athletics and while not all of the initial aims have been fulfilled, Kerr retains the belief that it's been, and will continue to be, a very good thing for the sport. 'The first meet was the first meet. We weren't sure how it was going to go and in some respects, the organisers wanted it to be the Super Bowl but that's very hard to do,' he says. 'What was so awesome about it, though, is that it was continually being tweaked to make it better. And as athletes, we had an awesome time. We got treated like professionals and we raced against the best athletes in the world, which I really liked. 'Recently, we've been running time trials a lot and I wouldn't say that becomes boring but it is very difficult physically and mentally to keep running like that. In the 1500m at Grand Slam Track, we provided some really great entertainment and that's what people like watching. 'So I feel like Grand Slam track is on a really good trajectory, and I'm excited to see how it looks next season.' A sizeable bump in the road for Grand Slam Track has been the cancellation of the fourth and final meet, which had been scheduled for next weekend in LA. It is, says founder Michael Johnson, a 'business decision' and while many have used the meet's cancellation as a stick with which to beat the project, Kerr feels none of that pessimism. 'There's always going to be positives and negatives at the start of every new venture and Grand Slam track is just trying to find its way. And actually, I think dropping LA this season is the right decision,' he says. 'It's easy for audiences to sit and critique but I feel like Grand Slam Track was good because it was improving with each meet. 'There's always going to be some negatives around a decision like the one to cancel LA but, at the end of the day, they want to put on the best track meets in the world and elevate the sport, which can only be a good thing.' The cancellation of next week's event means Kerr's competitive appearances will be sparse between now and the World Championships in Tokyo in September, at which he'll be defending his world 1500m title. On his schedule between now and his world title defence is only the London Athletics Meet next month and the British Championships in August. This will, he is confident, ensure he's in the best possible shape both physically and mentally when he arrives in Tokyo later in the season. 'The year is planned out to make sure I'm at my best for Tokyo and that's all on track,' he says. 'My sessions are coming together and everything else is coming together too so I can't complain with where I'm at. Things are going to plan as of right now and the aim is absolutely to retain my world title.'

Scotsman

37 minutes ago

• Scotsman

How Austin MacPhee became 'perfect fit' for Portugal as Aston Villa coach claims Scottish first

Former Hearts and Scotland coach helps Ronaldo and co to Nations League title Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... When news emerged that former Scotland set-piece coach Austin MacPhee had been recruited by Portugal following an international sabbatical due to his father's ill health, the initial reaction was to wonder whether he had signed up for the easiest job in the world – or should that be least enviable? Showing Ronaldo how to take free kicks? You're having a laugh, surely? Now, having spoken with the man in question in the aftermath of Portugal's Nations League triumph nearly a fortnight ago, the first thing to point out is that MacPhee is not solely a set-piece coach, although this is now his specialist subject. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He is 'assistant head coach' to Roberto Martinez, a title he shares with Ricardo Carvalho in a three-pronged frontline coaching staff. The perhaps unlikely trio have produced almost instant results while at the same time earning some 'historia' for Portugal for good measure. They are the first country to win the Nations League twice, something the tee shirts Ronaldo and co pulled over their heads after defeating Spain with a 100 per cent success rate in the penalty shootout two Sundays ago referenced. 'Campeoes Faz Historia' read the slogan on their chests - champions make history. Portugal players and coaches celebrate with the Nations League trophy after defeating Spain in the final. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation Such an achievement isn't to be sniffed at of course. However, what really counts as true football heritage, as the kids like to say, is the status now claimed by MacPhee as the first Scottish male to win a senior international football tournament. Ever. Put that on a tee shirt, why don't you. It's unlikely MacPhee will do that although he did wear his medal at breakfast with his family one morning for a laugh and then forgot to take it off as he went out to take out the bins, to funny looks from the neighbours. 'It is very heavy,' he reports. It's good to know such details given Scotland are a million miles away from winning international tournaments that aren't played in Japan, sponsored by a Japanese beer and involve just three countries, including the mighty Bulgaria. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Simply qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years will be the aim come this Autumn. Nothing is guaranteed in terms of Portugal, who are in a group with Republic of Ireland, Armenia and Hungary, but having beaten Germany – in Germany – and then Spain to claim the Nations League title, hopes are understandably high. Not simply to qualify. They have designs on winning the damn thing. 'Since I came into the camp for the Nations League it's been, 'Can we practice winning the World Cup?' says MacPhee. 'Right from my first conversation with Roberto Martinez it was about can we all contribute to trying to win the World Cup? That is what he said to the players: 'We have a week here (in Germany) to practice what it's like'. 'The trust you have in the depth of the Portuguese squad and the fact you have an icon in the world leading the team in the summer shows the kind of special generation that we have got and the absolute belief.' Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates give their attention to assistant coach Austin MacPhee at the tactics board. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation From Forfar failure to Ronaldo coach Ah yes, the 40-year-old phenomenon that is Ronaldo. A potentially tricky if talented customer, one might imagine. And yet he and MacPhee, who at 45 is nearer the veteran superstar's age than anyone else in the Portugal camp, appears to have already struck up a good rapport. The Scot by his own admission is a 'failed Forfar Athletic footballer', although does that even matter these days anymore? Martinez's own career was moderate. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As for Ronaldo, there's an interesting piece of footage from the win over Spain, when the already substituted superstar is seen joining MacPhee on the edge of the technical area – recipe for disaster, perhaps? Memories stirred of the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France, when some felt the injured Ronaldo had been disrespectful to Fernando Santos by being so animated on the sidelines, at one stage even standing in front of the head coach while issuing instructions to his teammates. In the case of his interaction with MacPhee, however, it seemed clear he was adhering to the chain of command. There was no sense of oneupmanship. 'He was just talking about the delivery, it was a free kick – whether Bruno (Fernandes) should shoot or Bruno should cross,' recalls MacPhee. 'There was no right answer in this particular situation.' MacPhee is already learning Spanish to help aid dialogue with his manager at Aston Villa, Unai Emery, so he might wait a while before downloading the teach yourself Portuguese app on Duolingo. He won't want to confuse things. Still, he has been witness to the force of Ronaldo's stirring dressing- room addresses, which, naturally, are delivered in Portuguese. 'You can see that when he speaks in the changing room after the game before the manager, it is very powerful,' he says. 'Also how he is in terms of respect for everyone. It's the little things. Everyone wears the same kit. Everyone sits down for dinner. No one stands up to get their dinner until everyone has sat down, including the kit man and bus driver, everyone. That has very much been driven by him and Roberto.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Austin MacPhee imparts some advice to Cristiano Ronaldo during a Portugal training session. Pic: Portuguese Football Federation | Portuguese Football Federation Scottish set piece influence MacPhee's influence can also already be traced. Eagle-eyed set-piece afficionados might have recognised an old routine in extra-time of the final against Spain, when both teams were striving for a winner while locked at 2-2. Neither side were able to find a goal but Portugal came close with a free-kick routine that Hearts and Northern Ireland have already employed to good effect when MacPhee was on the staff. For Fernandes, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes, read Sean Clare, Jake Mulraney and Steven Naismith, who combined to score the second goal for Hearts in a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in February 2019. The trick is successfully relaying a message to players of different skill - and perhaps intelligence - levels. The concept of space is the same in the Scottish lower tiers as it is on the highest rung of international football. Providing players can recognise this, MacPhee's own limited playing credentials are not a factor. "I go back to what I learned at St Mirren,' he says, with reference to his time coaching under Danny Lennon, who he also helped at Cowdenbeath. 'Every player only asks themselves one question, 'Can this person help me?' Of course, you have to be able to engage – set pieces is an area of football that is perceived as less entertaining. It is more enjoyable to play five v fives than it is to do set pieces. But sometimes an engaging physics teacher can make physics more fun. And a bad PE teacher can manage to make PE not very enjoyable, when it should be enjoyable. That's more or less my philosophy.' Fast forward to many of the world's finest footballers frolicking with MacPhee at the Allianz Arena as they celebrated Portugal's latest international crown. This was an altogether happier, not to say cathartic, experience for the Scot, who nearly a year earlier was in the dugout for Scotland's 5-1 humbling by Germany (Scotland's goal came from a set piece) in the opening game of Euro 2024, when Ryan Porteous was sent off just before half-time. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It helps when you keep eleven players on the field, as Portugal did. It also helps when four members of their squad had won the Champions League with Paris-Saint Germain the week before, which highlights the company MacPhee is now keeping. Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez. Cr: SNS Group. | SNS Group How Martinez found his 'perfect fit' While the Fifer has now earned the right to be considered among the best in the world at what he does, circumstances do often play a part. Thomas Tuchel's appointment as England manager started a chain reaction that saw MacPhee approached by Martinez. Anthony Barry, who worked with Martinez at both Belgium and Portugal, was poached by Tuchel, with their relationship dating to Chelsea days. Martinez was now a coach short. It didn't seem impossible that Martinez and MacPhee might already know each other – the Portugal manager enjoyed a brief spell at Motherwell, after all, and is married to a Scot, Beth. It turns out they didn't, which seems novel in a world where positions are often offered on the basis of pre-existing relationships. Of course, Martinez was aware of MacPhee, who has overseen set pieces at Villa for four years, but his name emerged following 'an open search', which is how the Portugal manager himself described it to The Scotsman. 'We highlighted from a very technical point which areas we wanted the new staff member to focus on,' he explained via text message as he flew to the United States, where he is a member of Fifa's technical study group at the Club World Cup. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We used AI to find the best performing team in Europe in those technical areas - and the answer was Aston Villa,' he added. The league tables spell this out. Villa currently have the best record in the Premier League for defending corners: they concede just one every 97 on average when the world average is one every 29. They lead the way in Europe's top five leagues in the past two seasons for goals scored from set-pieces, with 45. Martinez explained that they then started to find out more about MacPhee's career and 'his human quality'. Very quickly, he added, 'he became our perfect fit'. Some further investigation uncovered the fact that the only goal Portugal had conceded from a set play in their Nations League campaign last year had come against Scotland, when MacPhee was still involved. 'It made sense very quickly,' writes Martinez. He was appointed in February, before a 5-3 aggregate win over Denmark in the Nations League semi-final. Aston Villa set-piece specialist Austin MacPhee joined Roberto Martinez's backroom team with Portugal in February. (Photo by Nick Potts/PA Wire) Written in the stars Paramount above all this in the process was an improvement in MacPhee's father's health, which meant taking on further responsibilities became possible. Concerns regarding his dad's cancer diagnosis had led to him stepping away from Scotland in September. 'He has a letter saying he should be dead in November,' says MacPhee. 'He is now very much alive, swimming up and down the pool in the Fairmont (outside St Andrews) and playing golf and going to the pub and following Dunfermline – telling me about the poker champion who has bought Dunfermline.' Understandably, Villa were very keen for MacPhee to broaden his horizons and make some new, talented connections in the process. As he puts it, 'you have a relationship with some of the best players in the world who you might want one day to sign'. There could be no downsides. It also seemed written in the stars. When he was offered the post, MacPhee's son Dino, who was once on the books at both Hibs and Hearts, had just accepted a place at the University of Lisbon, where he will start studying business and entrepreneurship in the coming academic year. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad MacPhee couldn't say yes to Martinez quickly enough. It helped knowing that the majority of the Portuguese squad, including Ronaldo while in his second spell at Manchester United, had already felt the impact of Villa's set-piece proficiency, as have many of Portugal's England-based players. It's hard not to be slightly wowed by MacPhee's trajectory. Eleven years ago he had just joined up with Northern Ireland, having met Michael O'Neill at an Aberdeen game. He wasn't yet known as a set-piece coach per se but when 11 of the 16 goals Northern Ireland scored en route to qualifying for Euro 2016 were from set-pieces, it was clear something was changing in football. Now those such as Bernardo Silva are eager to reply to messages about MacPhee's influence. On the day he was named among the substitutes as Manchester City opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over Moroccan side Wydad AC, Silva responded by text to a request for some information on how the players have enjoyed working with MacPhee. 'As you know, set pieces play a major part in football nowadays,' he replied before taking his place on the bench. 'We are creating a lot of problems for our rivals since he joined, so honestly it has been a pleasure for all of us'. He added that the 'message and ideas are very clear - simple but at the same time very effective'. He referenced a photo that circulated on social media showing Silva pulling pints next to MacPhee following the Nations League victory. 'The one thing to say,' he added with a laughing emoji, 'is that he's not very good at pulling pints – I am better!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Former Scotland set piece coach Austin MacPhee with captain Andy Robertson during the match against Switzerland at Euro 2024. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group / SFA Switching from Scotland MacPhee, who played football in Romania, Japan and the United States, is not finding it strange switching from Scotland, where his heart clearly lies as a former Tartan Army member who travelled to support the team at France 98 in a Renault 5. 'I have been seven years with Northern Ireland as well,' he says. 'I think you become connected with a group of people with a common identity and a common goal. Of course, it is different. I am not Portuguese. But I think you can care more but you don't necessarily try any harder is the best way I can describe it. "I tried as hard as I could for Northern Ireland, I tried my best. I tried to do the same with Scotland. In the big moments there is slightly more euphoria and in the bad times there is slightly more hurt, probably, because you are thinking of all your family and friends from Scotland, there is an extra thing. It's slightly different. 'One of my dreams as a wee boy was to go to a World Cup,' he continues. 'I have never done that. I've experienced the Champions League, the Conference League, the Euros. This season we are playing in the Europa League. I've done the Nations League, worked abroad. The World Cup is the missing experience, the one I've not had.'

Wales Online

41 minutes ago

• Wales Online

How to watch England v France for free today with game not on TV

How to watch England v France for free today with game not on TV England host France at Allianz Arena Twickenham on Saturday with the game not on television England head coach Steve Borthwick (right) during a training session at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham (Image: Adam Davy/PA Wire. ) Attentions may well be fixed on the British & Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer but there is a fair bit of international rugby on the agenda too. Steve Borthwick's England kick off their schedule with a match against France at Allianz Stadium Twickenham this afternoon. ‌ The Red Roses are facing Argentina in a two-Test tour to South America this summer and this match against the French will give Borthwick the chance to experiment with new combinations. ‌ Following that trip to the southern hemisphere they play a one-off match against the USA in Washington. With a total of 13 players away with Andy Farrell's Lions squad, other England squad hopefuls will see this as a golden opportunity to lay down a marker to Borthwick for future selection. This will be the first time England play since the thrashing they handed out to Wales at the Principality Stadium; they ended their Six Nations campaign with a 68-14 romp in Cardiff and finished second in the standings. Article continues below France head coach Fabien Galthie has named an 'A' team squad for the visit to London, which is still littered with rising talent. However, no major broadcaster has picked up the rights for this one. This is how you can catch the action. What time in England v France kick-off? England v France kicks off at 3.15pm on Saturday, June 21, at Allianz Arena Twickenham, London. ‌ What channel is it on? The match is being streamed by rugby site RugbyPass TV. You can watch the game for free by setting up an account. Coverage will begin just before kick-off. Full line-ups England XV: Carpenter; Roebuck, Slade, Atkinson, Feyi-Waboso; Ford, Spencer; Baxter, George, Heyes; Coles, Isiekwe; Hill, Pepper, Willis Replacements: Dan, Rodd, Davison, Cunningham-South, Kenningham, Dombrandt, Quirke, Beard ‌ France XV: Attissogbe; Duguivalu, Fickou, Gailleton, Moustin; Le Garrec, Hastoy; Fischer, Guillard, Tixeront; Auradou, Duguid; Erdocio, Barlot, Slimani. Replacements: Marchand, Mallez, Bamba, Taofifenua R, van Tonder, Woki, Jauneau, Berdeu What have the coaches said? Borthwick: 'Last week, as we were trying to get him (Immanuel Feyi-Waboso) through the final stages of his return to play, I had to man-mark him myself, which is a pretty tricky job. Article continues below 'He's full of enthusiasm and energy, it's boundless. You have to pull him out of things because he'll just jump straight in. 'He trained really well, he's excited to be back on the pitch and excited to be back in a white shirt.'