Ethan Roots Seeks Return to England Squad Following Dip in Form

Exeter Chiefs flanker Ethan Roots, who was recognized as man of the match during his England debut against Italy in February, has expressed his desire to regain a place in the national squad after experiencing a decline in his performance towards the close of 2024. The 27-year-old made a notable first appearance against Italy in the Six Nations in February and participated in four of the team’s five matches. Subsequently, he was selected for the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand but did not play in any fixtures. The New Zealand-born forward acknowledged that his form this season has not been at its previous level, but he is committed to returning to the standard he demonstrated when he received his call-up nearly a year ago. “I’m pretty keen to get back in there,” he informed BBC Radio Devon. “I’ve had talks with Steve (Borthwick, England head coach) around it and we all agreed that the guy that they saw, even the guy that played in that Italy match, we haven’t really quite got back to that.” He continued, “That’s kind of what I’m pushing for now, just putting out performances that people look at and think ‘yeah that was Ethan Roots in the six jersey’, they don’t even need to see the name on the back, they know from how I play that it was me there.” Roots has participated in all of Exeter’s games this season, but his performance, much like that of his team, has seen a downturn. The Chiefs have suffered defeats in all seven of their Premiership matches and both of their European Champions Cup encounters, prompting Roots to reflect on the reasons for his reduced effectiveness: “I think one of the things was overcomplicating things for myself, just trying a little bit too hard to point where was it was detrimental for myself.” He added, “I’ve come out on the other side of that, learnt quite a bit about myself and I’m pretty happy to push on now.” He further stated: “When I first got here it was quite a meteoric rise for myself and the team, we sort of took everyone by surprise with how well we did.” Roots concluded, “The latter part of the year has been a lot more challenging, but it’s been equally rewarding in the fact that I’ve learnt quite a bit about myself and about the group of blokes around me as well.” He also mentioned, “I’ve enjoyed the entire year, but latter part of the year has been has been a lot more challenging than the beginning.”