Angus Bell

Angus Bell is a loosehead prop who runs like a back, and Australia have never entirely known what to do with that.

The footage that made his name is not scrummaging. It is a prop beating outside backs in open field, which is a genuinely rare thing and which briefly threatened to define him as a novelty rather than a front-row forward.

The scrummaging came. It had to — no Test loosehead survives on mobility alone, and Australia’s set piece has spent much of the last decade under sustained pressure. His work at the hit is now the reason he starts, and the running is a bonus that opposition back rows have to plan for.

He came through the Waratahs and has been a fixture since his very early twenties, which is unusual at a position that normally takes until the mid-twenties to mature.

Foot injuries have cost him significant stretches, including surgery that ruled him out for extended periods.

He was born in 2000. A home World Cup in 2027 arrives at 26, which for a loosehead is close to the peak.