Without a cap According to the most recent sources, Bristol Bears hooker Gabriel Oghre is set to be called up by England on Sunday as head coach Steve Borthwick gets ready for the summer tour that will take him to Japan and New Zealand.
Oghre was tipped for international honours by England vice-captain Ellis Genge earlier this season. The Telegraph reports that Oghre is now expected to be named in a squad of about 20 players from the six clubs not involved in the Gallagher Premiership play-offs that will convene at Pennyhill Park on Monday. Oghre joined the Bears in the summer after stints at Leicester Tigers and Bordeaux Begles following the collapse of his former club Wasps.
Oghre has been a mainstay for the Bears in 2023–24 as the team has had an incredible run of results since January to climb the standings and qualify for the playoffs on the final day of play. They crushed Harlequins 53–28 to give themselves the best chance possible, but other results, like Sale’s unexpected victory at Saracens on the road on Saturday, prevented them from going to the semi-finals.
Although Borthwick is drawn to 25-year-old Oghre’s explosive ball-carrying style of play, it’s interesting to note that, at Bristol, Pat Lam, who is a criminally underappreciated hooker, still prefers him as his primary hooker when he’s healthy. At the end of the season, Thacker was the leading scorer of tries for Bristol and had the highest lineout success rate (95 percent) in the Gallagher Premiership, connecting with a teammate on 96 of his 101 throws. But Oghre is no slouch in that department either, ranking fourth in the league with a 92.2 percent success rate in darts.
