England Rugby’s 2018 started in wet and windy conditions at Brighton College today, if we look ahead to this time next year then the side will be entering a World Cup year and we all know that the next 12 months will pass in the blink of the eye.
For England’s head coach 2017 was all about ‘increasing the depth of the squad’. This message was set early and permeated throughout the year with Eddie Jones’ selection for the tour to Argentina the most obvious expression of that articulated aim.
As you’d expect 2018 has a different role when it comes to his side’s continued development and progression towards their ultimate goal of lifting the William Webb Ellis Trophy on the Saturday 2 November 2019.
“2018 is when you win or lose the World Cup. In terms of your planning, preparation, developing a team that is tough enough, resilient enough, and adaptable enough to win a World Cup.”
It’s clear for everyone to see that England’s progression since Rugby World Cup 2015 has been marked. I think that it’s fair to say that even the most optimistic of England fans wouldn’t have predicted the national side to have thrived quite as much as they have done since that difficult time. That said the job isn’t done yet and Eddie Jones has his sights firmly set on further evolution and progression during 2018 and 2019.
“The game is evolving. I think that defence is going to evolve over the next 24 months, sides have defended a certain way and I think that is going to change with some law interpretation changes. We want to be at the head of that queue of how you defend.”
England’s head coach finished that statement by saying that he wouldn’t go into more detail than that, understandably he doesn’t want the intricacies of his thoughts on the game’s evolution out in the pubic domain. They are to be kept tight within the camp in order to give the side their own advantage.
“Attack again will be a consequence of defence changing – you need to be able to attack in a number of ways. What stands out to me, particularly knowing the varying environments we could find in Japan, the first two games will be under a dome [Sapporo v Tonga, and Kobe Misaki Stadium v USA] so they will be almost perfect conditions. Generally in those sorts of conditions a kicking game is important and a running game is important. That seems contradictory but it’s not.
“Then in Yokohama and Tokyo we could be playing in pouring rain, like today. Therefore your short game becomes so important, your ability to punch holes and to play through holes. So, developing that adaptability and awareness of how to attack depending on the conditions is so important for us.”
In Eddie Jones mind that doesn’t mean developing two totally different XVs instead it’s about taking his squad and ensuring they have the required adaptability and durability to thrive in both environments.
When it comes to his squad, for so many a hot topic of discussion right now is England’s captain, Dylan Hartley. Personally, I’ve observed that since the Northampton Saint took over as captain, the level of scrutiny on every particular regarding his role has been vast. From my perspective I believe that it has been, and is, perhaps just a little too intense.
“It’s been a tough time for him. When you are captain of a club that is struggling, a club that has just sacked their coach, it becomes a difficult time. I think that has been reflective of his play but as the very good players do - they compartmentalise things – and he’s done that terrifically well, come in and led with effervescence, trained well, he’s been good.”
Not being part of the squad at Northampton Saints I wouldn’t like to comment and make assumptions about the atmosphere or mood in their camp right now. Instead what I will say is that I expect that a few days in a different context, away from the pressures and stresses likely present at club level, may have been fortifying and revitalising and I for one believe that we’ll see Dylan Hartley have a storming Six Nations Championship.
On the topic of club rugby then Eddie Jones also shared his perspective regarding the lie of the land and highlighted what he is focusing on when we see him sitting in the crowd at Premiership grounds up and down the country.
“I don’t watch club rugby to assess them on how they play at clubs. I watch club rugby to assess how they are going to play at international level, which is completely different. Some guys can be outstanding club players and be poor at international level. Some guys can be poor club players and outstanding international players.”
Two players that have been identified as international players of the future are England's apprentices; Marcus Smith and Zach Mercer. With regard to the Bath Rugby man the national head coach said that he has ‘got to find a body’. In other words, highlighting the fact that the back row forward is still a young man with some physical development to go. When it comes to Harlequins’ stand-off then Eddie Jones was the most explicit that we’ve heard him regarding the potential route forward for the teenager;
“Marcus I don’t think is ready to play Test rugby I think that he is miles away. He’s got some fundamental flaws in his game that he understands and that he’s got to work on. He’s a young kid learning his trade.
“We want to develop him as a player. I see him as an important investment for English rugby. We'd ideally like to get him right for the World Cup because then he fills a role as a third stand-off for us.
"The only way we're going to develop him is to allow him to play for Harlequins and then bring him into camps and try and put extra work into him.”
England’s head coach will name a squad for the Six Nations on Thursday 18 January and of course the first of their Six Nations matches arrives on February 4.
The aims of this camp were to set the tone for the coming weeks and to focus on that game against Italy. Beno Obano and Gary Graham gained their first call ups and both ‘really impressed’ the man critiquing them with the latter being likened to Chris Robshaw;
“He reminds me a bit of Robshaw so he is not an out and out seven, he is a good tough boy, he has got a nice demeanour about him, hungry, very impressive.”
Right now all of Eddie Jones’ charges are heading back to their clubs with the task of showing him that they sit firmly in the ‘outstanding international players’ category. Over the next 12 months the collective task will be to continue to develop on the steep upward trajectory that we’ve seen occur since the 57-year-old and his coaching team took over and ultimately, finish a year when ‘you can win or lose a World Cup’, in a position to win it.
