'Don't be fooled by the baby face'… England new boy Fin Baxter impresses on international debut as he leave his mark against the All Blacks

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When Fin Baxter was born, Dan Cole would have been preparing for his GCSEs. Now, this unlikely double-act is set to be charged with giving England a platform to level this series against the All Blacks.

The age gap between the novice Test prop and the veteran is 15 years, give or take. Baxter has just made his debut, while Cole made his 114th appearance in Dunedin – to match Jason Leonard’s record as the country’s most-capped male forward. 

They are at opposite ends of the career spectrum, but they are in contention to form a crucial alliance at Eden Park on Saturday, as England seek to solve the scrum problems which contributed to their agonising, one-point defeat last weekend.

Baxter entered the fray earlier than expected at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the series opener. Instead of being deployed as a second-half replacement for Joe Marler, he had to go on before the end of the first quarter. 

His experienced Harlequins team-mate had suffered a foot injury and will now miss the second Test, so Baxter is in contention to fill the void.

Prop Fin Baxter impressed on his international debut in England's narrow loss to New Zealand

The 22-year-old loosehead said he was 'so proud to represent England, and put in a good shift'

What was striking in Dunedin was how unfazed he seemed by the whole experience. The 22-year-old loosehead was presented with his ceremonial debut cap by Marler and was joined by his father, Ian, as he discussed the momentous occasion.

‘I’m so proud to represent England,’ said the rookie. ‘I’m so proud to have put in a good shift.’ 

Asked if it helped to be pitched into the maelstrom in a hurry, without time to over-think or worry, he added: ‘I guess. I just got on with it. Those are the cards that you are dealt and you don’t need to think, you just need to do.’

His performance was highly impressive in the challenging circumstances, with a striking tally of 16 tackles, plenty of carries, plenty of strong work at the ruck and a defiant attempt to cope with set-piece pressure. 

‘I wanted to be keep moving, run as hard as I could, hit as hard as I could in the scrum,’ he said. ‘And what about the carrying? ‘Yeah, I was happy with that.’

In all the commotion about a close encounter, Baxter’s assured arrival was somewhat overlooked, but it was highly significant. 

And in all the analysis of New Zealand’s scrum superiority, the impact of an untested debutant was largely assessed as part of England’s struggle for parity in one of the key battle grounds up front. But he played well – really well – and looked like he belonged.

Baxter (right) joined veteran Dan Cole (left) in England's forward line in Dunedin, with the duo looking to provide a platform for them to level the series against New Zealand

Marler paid tribute to the club-mate who replaced him, telling Mail Sport: ‘He took to the Test arena like a fish to water. The baby-faced assassin didn’t look out of place for a second on that field. 

'He will continue to learn the art of scrummaging, but he has every tool available to him. I’m looking forward to him backing it up this weekend – and here’s to many more caps. 

'Don’t be fooled by the baby face, there’s a proper Test match player behind that façade.’

There was a similarly positive assessment from Baxter’s scrum coach at Harlequins, former Wales prop idol Adam Jones, who said: ‘He was outstanding. He made 16 tackles and had lots of touches. He’s an exceptional rugby player.

‘In Test rugby, you have to be able to stop people dead in the tackle and he did that. They will know about him now – they’ll have seen that young face and had a shock. His defence was outstanding. 

'Knowing Fin, he will also be frustrated with how the scrum went, but there were many different factors on the other side. Hopefully, he will get better reffed at the weekend.’

Cole (left) and Marler (right) have praised the young Baxter's debut performance for England

Jones cast doubt on the legality of how All Blacks loosehead Ethan De Groot gained the upper hand on Will Stuart, which in turn had a knock-on effect on Baxter’s own scrum efforts. 

‘There was some questionable technique from the opposition loosehead and it wasn’t really reffed until one scrum in the second half,’ he said.

‘In fairness to Fin, if that is going to happen on the other side and the loosehead is stepping out as much as he was and dragging the England tighthead back and to the left, it’s hard for Fin to do anything about it really. He’s a clever kid and he’ll take the learnings from it.

‘He’s gone up now against one of the premier tightheads in the world in Lomax. What Fin never does in the scrum is bail out – he never kicks his hips to the left and, if it is getting hard in there, he won’t pop his head out. 

'If his feet are planted in the ground, he will keep his feet planted and he’ll put his head and neck under the tighthead’s chest. Then it becomes a fight to see who goes backwards or upwards. He will stay in the fight.

‘The scrums he had, he was staying in front of Lomax and wasn’t bailing out. For his first Test match, against one of the premier tightheads in the world, I thought he did exceptionally well. He looked like he had already played 20 or 30 Test matches.’

Harlequin's scrum coach, Adam Jones, said Baxter has learned valuable lessons from his debut

Jones suggested that the confident Baxter ‘will be fine’ if he is picked to start at Eden Park – and he anticipates that Cole will return to the starting front row to add his vital ‘nous’. The task is to put the pressure back on De Groot and force him to scrummage legally.

‘Whoever the tighthead for England is, they have to go after De Groot on the engagement,’ added the mighty Lion. ‘I’m talking old-fashioned; going hard on his neck and the back of his head on the engagement and get as much weight as possible on top of him.

‘If he is moving his head to the outside, as he was, it probably shows that he doesn’t want to put his head under the tighthead’s chest. 

'So, England have to put as much down-ward force on De Groot as possible and compromise him before he compromises them. 

He was the aggressor last weekend, so England have to be aggressive and make him scrum. Coley will come into his own, if they do that.’