England are going into this Six Nations Championship with no less than 13 players unavailable due to injury or disciplinary reasons therefore you can understand Eddie Jones’ selection decisions taking a while to finalise.
England's head coach said that he was up to 'version 26' on this squad and was still refining it at 10:30pm the evening before announcement day. Eddie Jones never calls those that are included, ‘they can find out through you guys’ were his words. Instead, he speaks to those that have missed out and explains why. In this article I'm going to shine the light on a few specific areas that England's head coach discussed during squad announcement day at Twickenham Stadium.
When it comes to the list of those that are injured or suspended then Eddie Jones is anticipating that we will see a few faces coming back into the mix over the course of the Six Nations but not all. Of course we know when suspensions finish and if required Joe Marler is allowed to train with England during his time on the sidelines which may be prove to be useful given the lighter nature of the national side's resources at loosehead prop.
Injury wise Charlie Ewels 'should be back in at some stage', Nathan Hughes isn't rehabbing as quickly as they would like but is targeted to return 'halfway through possibly' and Ben Te'o will be assessed next week. Eddie Jones didn't like to comment whether or not the centre may be playing for Worcester this weekend, so we'll watch that space. Mike Brown is not likely to train fully in Portugal as he has 'some blurred vision' and has been to the surgeon and when it comes to Billy Vunipola the update, word for word, was that 'he is definitely a 12-weeker, potentially.'
One area that Eddie Jones afforded more clarity on was his decision-making around the scrum-half position and the number of scrum-halves that he has in camp.
“We are very clear who would back them up -- we have conversations with those players. There are three back-up half-backs Robson, Wigglesworth or Vellacott, who's really impressed me of late. We've been in conversation with those three guys and if the situation is we need another half, we can call one of those depending on what sort of half-back we want.
“I see them pretty regularly. It's difficult having more than two half-backs in a camp because then you limit their training time and training time is so important for us. That's one of the reasons. When we've got an extended period of training time, I'll bring more half-backs in.”
In this particular squad Jack Nowell is specifically listed as an 'inside back' and has chance to showcase to Eddie Jones that he can add another string to his Test bow.
"It just gives is more options. See that we’re down to seventh or eighth at loosehead. We know about 2015 RWC. We want to have four or five options. Jack is a great little wing. We know that. Potentially he can play full-back and if I can find out that he can play 13, he becomes a great squad player for us."
When it comes to England's resources up front it's a straight shoot-out between Lewis Boyce and Alec Hepburn for a place on the bench against Italy and England's head coach was very clear that both have the potential to cut it at Test level.
"100 per cent. They both have the potential. You’ve got to remember: international rugby, you have talent that comes into the room, and once you get in the room it’s how hard you work and how much you want it and how much effort you are prepared to put in. These boys have all got talent. There another 35 players in England who have the talent to play international rugby, it’s whether they’ve got the desire, the ability to dig deep when it hurts….”
“You just look at loosehead props now, what they’re required to do. It is amazing. You’ve got someone like Mako Vunipola, he’s 125ks, that’s big enough to be a Sumo wrestler. He makes 20 tackles a game, carries the ball 10 times, cleans out 20 times, scrums 15 times, lifts in the line-out 18 times. What those guys do now, compared to what a prop did 10 years ago, has increased at least two-fold. So because of that, they’re in pain the whole time. That’s hard work. It’s hard work to do. So the test is the mental part of it, whether they can keep doing that. Whether they can get off the floor quickly and get back in the defensive line. It’s not about talent.”
I'd like the finish with the answer that Eddie Jones' gave to the question asking if the forthcoming competition is a tougher test than the recent autumn internationals. His words were as follows:
"It struck me when I was in Australia, just how much interest there now is in the Six Nations. There’s this bubbling enthusiasm about the game here and you’ve got the rise of Ireland, the rise of Scotland and you’ve got Wales who have been a super power of European rugby for a long time now. England has had some small success and France have got a new coach which makes them dangerous.
"If you look at some of the metrics of the game then France is one of the best teams in the world and they have got the ability to be the best team in the world. So, you’ve got this competition now where you’ve got at least four or five of the top six teams in the world playing against each other and it’s a great competition."
"If you look at some of the metrics of the game then France is one of the best teams in the world and they have got the ability to be the best team in the world. So, you’ve got this competition now where you’ve got at least four or five of the top six teams in the world playing against each other and it’s a great competition."
Small success for England then in comparison to a 'super power,' 'rising' and 'dangerous' teams. So far, England's small success has included back-to-back Six Nations Championships, one of which was a Grand Slam, however that's clearly not enough to constitute a greater compliment in his eyes and I like that.
Eddie Jones' drive, ambition and desire for this squad is summarised in that statement. Yes, you could say that he's been quite generous to some of the other nations but it's an approach that will fuel those working with him and drive all to succeed. Once again it is another indication of the intense motivation that is driving this national side and injuries or not they will target with nothing less than a third Six Nations Championship in a row.
Eddie Jones' drive, ambition and desire for this squad is summarised in that statement. Yes, you could say that he's been quite generous to some of the other nations but it's an approach that will fuel those working with him and drive all to succeed. Once again it is another indication of the intense motivation that is driving this national side and injuries or not they will target with nothing less than a third Six Nations Championship in a row.
