England Rugby: A look back and a look forwards

… And so a new Six Nations week Test begins with three huge matches at the end of it. 

For France a first Test in the Championship outside of Paris awaits. Marseille will be their home this Friday night however the question lingering over that fixture is just how will they cope without the front-line players that have been dropped due to disciplinary reasons?

Saturday will start with Ireland and Wales clashing in Dublin. Will Wales continue where they left off against England, pressurising and pushing their opponents? Will Ireland find a new level again after brushing aside Italy in Round 2? 

Then, last but not least there’s the Calcutta Cup. The Cup that has been be apple of both England’s and Scotland’s eyes since 1879 and the Cup that’s been held by England since the 2009 Six Nations Championship. 

England are the ‘bookies favourites’ and that’s a statement that I think all will agree with whether they wear the blue of Scotland, the white of England or are of a neutral persuasion. Why? Well, it comes down to the fact that Eddie Jones’ side are much further ahead in their collective development than their opponents and as a unit house greater firepower within their squad. 

Before I continue to start looking ahead at Saturday’s encounter, I’d just like to reflect back on England’s Round 2 meeting with Wales. 

It was another enthralling Test match and one that indeed tested Eddie Jones side. ‘A win built around a lot of courage and belief’ were the head coach’s words after the game and that was spot on. My own words on the final whistle were ‘the resilience of England to secure that victory was herculean’ and watching the game back again I stand by them fully. It was another encounter that England had to win the hard way and Tests like that are simply invaluable for a side’s progression. They are the types of Tests that teams must learn to win as they build towards a key competition and win more than once. 

Within the 80 minutes itself the axis of George Ford and Owen Farrell excelled and highlighted, not for the first time, the significant competitive edge that having two exceptional play-makers and rugby experts on the field delivers. I fully expect the same dominance from the duo at Murrayfield. 

Elsewhere England’s back-three, and Mike Brown especially, highlighted that loose kicking will be punished and having worked on the Scotland game the day after Finn Russell will need to deliver a more accurate kicking game out of hand to avoid his side being punished.

Defensively, as mentioned, England were intense and ferocious. It’s a key characteristic of every performance now and something that once again I believe will cause Scotland issues this weekend. More on that in the pre-game preview. 

So what of the two squads that assembled together to prepare for the Calcutta Cup? 

Well, within England’s squad Nathan Hughes is being pushed with ‘tough sessions’ to find his match fitness and should slot into that No 8 jersey. Joe Marler is back following his suspension and Gabriel Ibitoye is named an apprentice player. If you haven’t seen Ibitoye’s try for England U20s then when you finish reading this take a look HERE. 

Gregor Townsend has added six to his squad. WP Nel and Zander Fagerson are both back in training; the former has been ‘training for a few weeks’ according to their head coach whilst the latter is slightly further behind. Elsewhere, familiar Premiership faces Tim Visser and Matt Scott come into the backline mix.

As far as I can see the Met Office is predicting and dry evening for Saturday’s match. It looks crisp and a tad chilly but that won't bother either side one jot. The conditions currently predicted  should allow us to see the best of both sides as Scotland will look to feed off their home crowd and play at a pace and tempo that they love. For England it could also be an opportunity to really see them let rip going forward after the drizzly day at Twickenham Stadium wasn't overly conducive to that.

Personally I expect this week to be an altogether different one to the one that we encountered ahead of Round 2. Test weeks against Wales have an added crackle to them and this time around I believe that it could just be a slightly quieter and more closed lead into the Calcutta Cup. 

Gregor Townsend will show his hand on Wednesday at 12pm before Eddie Jones' match-day squad will be announced on Thursday. England’s full squad will come out at 9.15am and a little later on in the day I'll be bringing you the head coach’s thoughts regarding selection and after that some further pre-match analysis talking points ahead of this Round 3 encounter. 

England Squad

Backs: Mike Brown, Nathan Earle, Gabriel Ibitoye*, Harry Mallinder, Jonny May, Denny Solomona, Anthony Watson, Danny Care, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph, Jack Nowell, Ben Te'o, Richard Wigglesworth.

Forwards: Charlie Ewels, James Haskell, Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Chris Robshaw, Sam Underhill, Dan Cole, Jamie George, Dylan Hartley, Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Harry Williams.

Scotland Squad

Backs: Mark Bennett, Nick Grigg, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg, Pete Horne, Ruaridh Jackson, Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Ali Price, Henry Pyrgos, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour, Matt Scott, Tim Visser,

Forwards: John Barclay , Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, David Denton, Cornell Du Preez, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Luke Hamilton, Rob Harley, Scott Lawson, James Malcolm, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Gordon Reid, Josh Strauss, Tim Swinson, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Jon Welsh, Ryan Wilson.

It's England v Wales time!

England v Wales… it’s a fixture that always has that little bit extra to it isn’t it? If you have either side in your heart then it’s the first match that you look for when the schedule is announced and as the week progresses the anticipation and tension builds and builds. 

It’s a week when the messages delivered from both camps are fascinating to watch and the ‘verbal jousting’ adds to the occasion. Both Warren Gatland and Eddie Jones are experienced and sharp operators, both have been there and done it all before, and I’d say that Test weeks like this one are just as enjoyable for them as they are for us. 

Before we dive into the specifics let’s orientate ourselves in the line-ups - just in cased you missed them. From a Welsh perspective it’s as you were in their starting XV with George North arriving on the bench and for England Jonathan Joseph comes into start as Ben Te’o shifts into a finishing role and Richard Wigglesworth moves onto the bench. 

Eddie Jones shared that the change in England’s midfield was driven by a ‘gut feeling’ on his part more than anything else.

"My experience with big players – and he’s a big player [Ben Te'o] – is that when they’ve had a long injury, their second game back is always the most difficult.

"They build themselves up mentally and physically for that first game, and like with any player they get a bit of a let-down from that first game, it is hard to get that energy back and they’re always a little bit off. I just think that JJ is going to be a little bit on. He has had a nice preparation in the game, he’ll be fresh and Te’o will still be good for us off the bench."

Jonathan Joseph’s role in defence was made clear throughout Thursday's team announcement day as England's head coach turned the lights to full beam onto Rhys Patchell. Now, I believe that most of you will have read the comments however just in case you’ve had a monster week at work and haven’t had the chance to review them here’s a taster. 

"They’ve got to get the ball wide and Patchell hasn’t played much Test match rugby. He’s a young guy, he’s inexperienced and he’s their third choice ten. So, he’s got to get the ball wide for them and that’s going to be a big job for him.

"It’s going to be different to playing against Scotland. Scotland couldn’t cope with the expectation and now he [Patchell] has got to cope with the expectation of playing well and he’s got to find guys around him to help him because he’s going to be under some heat." 

"There’s a lot of experience on either side [of George Ford].  Who’s Patchell going to look for? He hasn’t got a lot of experience inside or outside him. That’s a big task for him. I’d imagine that when Alun Wyn Jones and the guys go down for breakfast on Saturday morning, they’ll be looking at him thinking : can this kid handle the pressure today? It’s a big ask on him."

This type of individual ‘pressure’ isn’t something that we normally see over here in good old England. It’s a little bit out of the ordinary and certainly different keeping it rather conservative. However we all know that there are different facets to sport and that messages being delivered out of either camp are part of a match week and contribute to the occasion and final meeting. Eddie Jones hasn’t been backwards about coming forwards regarding Rhys Patchell but I expect that the fly-half will see it as a compliment and will relish the individual treatment. The Scarlet is a professional sportsman after all and knows what this sort of thing does come with the job, not always but on occasion. Eddie Jones' comments have whipped the excitement and discussion around the gave to fever pitch levels, it's also taken some of the spotlight away from his team to leave them to prepare in peace. Today’s there’s a buzz from Cardiff to Twickenham and everywhere in between. Not only, is it England v Wales day but it’s England v Wales day off the back of an emotional and exciting week…  

So what of England's approach to the match itself? Well, their outing in Italy was a productive afternoon at the office and one that delivered the required victory and any cob-web dusting off for individuals or as a collective. England's final quarter was wholly impressive, they're training to blow teams away and succeeding to do so with their bench adding the intensity and zip you always hope that one will do. 

Today, well today will be different. Today as Eddie Jones rightly said that this will be a 'tight old Test match', a 'bit of cost and thrust' he added and it's important that we see England embrace that and adapt. Wales' outing against Scotland was a confident one, as I wrote in my preview for Sky Sports Warren Gatland's Test side is fuelled by confident and in-form players, epitomised by the 10 Scarlets in his XV. However my perspective on Eddie Jones' words this week is to start the process of trying to see if that confidence can be shaken and he was laying the foundation for his side to truly test it at Twickenham Stadium. 

Twickenham Stadium is a tough place to visit, Wales’ last victory there was back in ‘that’ Pool game in 2015 and England are a different, more hard-nosed and composed outfit now. When it comes to this Test match it will be about individuals, on either side, stepping up and being counted for. We could go into detail about all of the fundamentals of the game but we all know well enough about how rugby matches are won and lost to understand which elements need to be  rock solid in order to prevail. At the end of the day the key moments are decided by individuals, individuals taking responsibility by themselves and as a collective.

In a few hours time I expect Twickenham Stadium to absolutely rock to it's very foundations and I expect this to be one of the most intense and fiercely contested matches of the 2018 Six Nations Championship. England’s pack and backline will look to get in the face of Rhys Patchell, they will look to shut down Wales’ space, offloading game and tempo. On their own ball the vision and distribution of George Ford and Owen Farrell will be vital whilst it's a big opportunity on a milestone day for Danny Care. The Harlequin takes the reins from the off and the experience, kicking game and countenance of Richard Wigglesworth could prove to be a trump card in England’s hand late on. 

Today’s Test match is a simply mouthwatering prospect and for England Eddie Jones’ final words during their team announcement day summarised his expectations. 'It might be a set-piece game, it might be a side-to-side coast-to-coast game, it might be a kickathon. Whatever way we need to win we’ll find a way.’

Six Nations 2018 - First stop, Italy.

Once again we have blinked and it’s time for more international rugby. It seems like only yesterday that Eddie Jones and his England side were preparing to start the autumn internationals and now it’s almost time for the competition hailed as ‘Rugby’s Greatest Championship’ to begin.

The phrase "it’s going to be the most competitive yet" have already been said and whilst it’s a line that always features around this time, it does always true. Each year that passes international Test level rugby goes up a notch and even with the injuries impacting almost all of the Six Nations protagonists the statement is correct and valid in 2018.  

Injuries, the number and who has got them, has been the hot topic of conversation throughout England’s build up to this weekend’s match. At one point in time Eddie Jones stated that he had almost 20 players unavailable to him. However an early birthday present this week saw Jack Nowell, Chris Robshaw, Maro Itoje and Mike Brown all declared fit for this Six Nations opener. That’s quite the present indeed and when you look at the XV and bench that Eddie Jones has selected for Sunday’s Test then it hardly looks depleted or weak. That’s the beauty of English rugby right now, its strength in depth, and it’s why none of the other nations are buying the fact that England are vulnerable or underdogs. England's opponents are treating the back-to-back Champions as seriously as they would have done if every single player was available to Eddie Jones.

Before we look at this year's trip to Italy let's just orientate ourselves in this Six Nations Championship for England. After this weekend's fixture it's back to Twickenham Stadium to face Wales, an encounter that I always think has more zing to it than any other in the Championship. Then it's back-to-back away trips in Scotland (so intrigued to see how the hosts deliver) and France (what will we get with Jacques Brunel in charge) before heading back to Twickenham the game that we all hope will be the Championship, and Grand Slam, decider against Ireland. It's a schedule that Eddie Jones will be pleased to have in order to ensure that his side continues to deliver on the road and doesn't get too comfortable in the beautiful surroundings of Twickenham Stadium.  

So what of Sunday's Italian job? Well after the curveball that Conor O’Shea and his side threw into the mix last year there’s no doubt about the fact that all teams, not just England, will be prepared for anything and everything. That said, Eddie Jones has made it clear this game is like any other Test and as a result his side's fundamentals are absolutely crucial. 

"Test match rugby never changes, it doesn’t matter who you are playing and where you are playing them. You’ve got to get your set piece right, you’ve got to be strong defensively and you’ve got to play with aggression and energy.”

Of course he's right, with all of the focus on the 'jazzy' elements that may be put on the park it doesn't do well to take the focus off the nuts and bolts. When it comes to those key areas, England are well-poised to deliver from the opening minute until the 80th minute and beyond.  Personally I’m expecting to see Italy’s passion drive them hard in the opening half however where England have the advantage is in the area that their head coach continually trains them for - the last 20 minutes of a Test match. He trains them at a tempo and rate that I don’t believe Italy can reach just yet and with the likes of Jamie George, Sam Underhill, Danny Care, Jonathan Joseph and Jack Nowell all ready to fly into the game England have another gear to go into and I don’t think it's one that the Azzurri will have in their locker. 

From the offset we’ll get to see this England side playing with a hard-ball carrying 13 as Ben Te’o steps back into the mix after a few months out. His dedication to returning to full fitness has been exemplary, he flew himself back to Australia and financed his own intensive six-week rehabilitation in order to get ready his return to action. It’s that type of dedication and desire that Eddie Jones wants to see from his international players, he says that to us all the time, and on the field on Sunday Te’o could be a huge torn in Italy’s side. If we see the Ben Te'o that donned the red of the British & Irish Lions then it will be a sight to behold however understandably he might be dusting off a couple of cobwebs at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday and not be at full tilt just yet. We'll all just have to wait and see on that one. 

“It’s about spreading the work load. We don’t want to rely on one dominant ball carrier because if you rely on one then the opposition find a way to stop that ball carrier and you’re stopped going forward.” 

Without Billy Vunipola in the mix the question regarding England’s ball-carrying ability is always going to raise it’s head. The Saracen is such a colossal player, and so instrumental in that regard, that he’s always going to be missed. However as Eddie Jones points out above it’s key that the side as a whole take control of delivering that go-forward. Sam Simmonds’ physicality in that area has been building throughout the season and I hope that he really thrives at the Stadio Olimpico. Zach Mercer’s illness is a shame for him however personally I think that in the grand scheme of things it’s no bad thing that his international debut isn’t being made just yet.

Italy have won three of the 18 opening Six Nations fixtures since their introduction (2003, 2000 and 2013) and have never won a meeting with England (they’ve encountered each other 23 times prior). Conor O’Shea names his side at 1pm on Friday afternoon and without question will look to the leadership of his captain and the confidence that domestic Guinness PRO14 victories will have provided his players over the last few months. With every minute that O’Shea is in charge Italy are moving in the right direction, that is a fact, however what is also a fact is how far behind they are England in terms of their development. I expect to see a proud and feisty Italian outfit this weekend however I also expect to see a strong English victory and Eddie Jones’ side leaving Rome on the right foot. 

England's game against Italy is live on ITV from 2.15pm on Sunday 4 February. 

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds. Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell.