4. Will Porter (Harlequins)
Despite being just 24-years-old, Will Porter has bountiful Premiership experience and presents a veterans awareness of how to run his back-line. Currently under the tutelage of Danny Care at Harlequins, Porter came through the ranks at Wasps, and notched up over a half-century of appearances before the club entered administration. Porter arrived at the Stoop after a brief run in Bristol, and has been vying for Care’s starting jersey with his opportunities arising throughout the Rugby World Cup.
Porter got the go-ahead to start against Leicester Tigers, with Care returning to watch on as a replacement. Porter stamped his intentions to retain the number nine jersey going forward, and push for the same shirt in the England set-up. The scrum half scored a wonderful solo try against Leicester, catching the Tigers defence off-guard with a well sold dummy. With Marcus Smith set to lead an attack, Porter faked the pass to his first receiver, and slipped passed the hard-hitting England lock Ollie Chessum.
Porter then ignited the afterburners, and breezed out of sight for the back-peddling Dan Cole, with Care impressed by what he saw from the side-lines. Now that Ben Youngs has hung up his test match boots, a spot has become available amongst the England halfbacks. Care could soon be set to rival his Harelquins teammate for the jersey, with this try a key example of the underrated talents of Will Porter. Quins perch at the top of the Premiership table, with Porter a top contributor in their early campaign.