Ahead of England's opening outing of this four Test series Eddie Jones was in fine form at Pennyhill Park and during Thursday's team announcement press day he shed light on a whole variety of topics.
It's fair to say that there have been a number of talking points this week so alongside a full match preview here's England's head coach's thoughts on Semesa Rokoduguni's exclusion, the progression of Kyle Sinckler, the inclusion of Tom Wood and about combating South Africa's physical size and power.
Semesa Rokoduguni
To most Semesa Rokoduguni is the Aviva Premiership's form winger and was a shoe-in for a starting jersey against South Africa. He has scored 5 tries in Bath's last 7 Premiership games and has caused every single opponent that he's faced all sorts of issues. Yet on Tuesday evening his name was one of the individuals returning to their clubs and it's fair to say that the decision to release Rokoduguni left a few mouths open in shock. Here's Eddie Jones shedding a little bit of light on his selection decision:
“I think he’s done well and he is going to play Test rugby and I’ll pick the opportunity when the best time is for him to do it, which I don’t think is Saturday,” said Jones.
“My gut feeling is that Marland and Jonny May are right for Saturday. It’s a different sort of game and there’ll be other Tests in November which will be right for Roko to play. I want him to play 30-40 Tests for England and to do that, I’ve got to make sure that what happened to him last time doesn’t happen again. So I’ve got to manage that player well, I want him to be right to play.”
As we’re all well aware Eddie Jones is someone that loves his cricket and often uses that context to explain his thinking and he continued:
“You can make your debut as a Test match batsman at the WACA against the West Indies and 4 quicks, or on the flat track in Melbourne against spinners. So, you want to pick the right time to bring a player in.
“He’s got things that other guys can’t do, but I want him to come in and I want it to be right. I want his first Test [under Eddie Jones' watch] to be a game where he plays really well and if he does that then his career will grow. But, if he has another experience like he did in 2014, then he won’t play Test rugby again and I want him to play Test rugby.”
Kyle Sinckler
With the amount of conversation that’s gone on regarding the omission of the likes of Semesa Rokoduguni and also Alex Goode to a lesser degree it’s gone slightly under the radar that Kyle Sinckler is taking his place on the bench and has the potential to earn his first cap. I say potential because we all know that Eddie Jones may go through the entire match and not choose to use members of his bench as Ollie Devoto found out. However in the front row that's less likely and the young prop has impressed the head coach of late:
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“We took Sinckler to Australia as a project player, to see what he was made of. He has got some attributes that other tighthead props don’t have. He’s got amazing acceleration and he’s got the ability to hit very good running lines. He’s got those un-coachable bits. But, he didn’t have the coachable bits as a tighthead prop, which is putting your head in and staying in there for long periods of time and being uncomfortable.
“He is starting to understand that that’s an important part of the game. We are so thankful to Harlequins for the job they’ve done with him. We should be thanking Wales because Adam Jones has done a splendid job mentoring him and teaching him how to scrummage, so he’s got those bits and pieces.”
Tom Wood
If you ask anyone that has met Tom Wood what he is like then they will tell you that he's a most articulate, diligent and honest individual. Since Eddie Jones' frank criticism of the Northampton Saint the back row forward has gone back to his club and worked extremely hard. Injuries have now afforded him the opportunity to start and England's head coach has clearly highlighted the contribution that he wants to see from his seven:
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"He gives us a good line-out option, he's got a good work-rate and we believe he can stop them on the gain-line.
“South African rugby traditionally has been about momentum. It’s about big ball carriers carrying the ball over the line and then playing off the back of that. Given the side they’ve picked, nothing has changed. They’ve probably gone back to the past to go to the future. So Tom has got a big role in that area to stop their ball runners, make the first breakdown as messy as he can, and then work hard after that.”
Eddie Jones continued and praised the enthusiasm that the 30-year-old has brought into the camp at Pennyhill Park:
"Wood's come in and he's so full of enthusiasm. He's got a bit of Rambo about him. He's got a bit of Rambo about him. He walks around the hotel with no shoes on, he's got bows and arrows round the corner, he's got chainsaws. He's so keen to be here and that's what you want. He's played 42 Tests but he's come in like it's his first Test and he's just busting to do well for the team. He's got big shoes to fill in terms of Haskell – and Hask will tell you that. He's got a big job to do."
Combating South Africa's size
If you take a look across South Africa's XV and bench then it pretty clear to see that they are going to try and out-muscle England. This isn't a secret and the question for Eddie Jones was how do you go about combating that level of size and power?
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| Springboks back in 2014 and their size and physicality remains |
"You have got to play smart. Playing against a physically aggressive side, you’ve got to play smart," said England's head coach.
"We’re not shying away from the physical side of the game, but when Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman, if he went toe to toe with him he was going to lose, he had to find other ways of getting around him. We don’t want to go toe to toe with them because that’s what they want to do.
"You never go into a game of rugby knowing what the opposition want to do, and then do that. Why would we do that? Ireland were brilliant against New Zealand because they gave them no unstructured position. The Kiwis therefore had to play off a structured position and the Kiwis aren’t as good off structured position."
"It’s about contesting that first piece of set-piece, making sure they don’t win the ball when they want to win it. They’re a very structured side South Africa. They play the game like a physical game of chess, like chess with steroids. They know exactly where they want to go and they do it with force. So we’ve got to be so good at first, not allowing them to win the ball in the right place; then secondly, on that second and third phase, not allow them to get momentum, then make them play from an unstructured situation.
"So it’s almost the opposite game that you play against New Zealand. Against New Zealand you want to keep your game as structured as possible, against South Africa you want to keep the game unstructured."
"It’s about contesting that first piece of set-piece, making sure they don’t win the ball when they want to win it. They’re a very structured side South Africa. They play the game like a physical game of chess, like chess with steroids. They know exactly where they want to go and they do it with force. So we’ve got to be so good at first, not allowing them to win the ball in the right place; then secondly, on that second and third phase, not allow them to get momentum, then make them play from an unstructured situation.
"So it’s almost the opposite game that you play against New Zealand. Against New Zealand you want to keep your game as structured as possible, against South Africa you want to keep the game unstructured."
Watch out for the full England versus South Africa Test preview arriving on Friday night ahead of Saturday's huge clash.
