Andy Goode: 'You would have to question the morality of the decision if he was allowed to be named in the England squad'
Eddie Jones having to operate with just a 28-man England squad for the Six Nations throws up a number of issues for him, most notably what to do about Kyle Sinckler. The Bristol prop has been given a two-week suspension for “failing to respect the authority of the match official” after shouting “are you f***ing serious” at referee Karl Dickson in their Gallagher Premiership game against Exeter last weekend.
Officially, he is due to miss the Bears’ next two fixtures against Bath and Sale and be free to play again on February 9 but surely if he is named in the England squad next Friday, seven days before Bristol’s next game against Bath, that will change.
The regulations state that if any of the above games are cancelled or rearranged then the player’s free to play date will be amended to ensure the sanction remains meaningful.
They might not be cancelled but if Sinckler is included in the England squad, he has to miss the opening two games of the Six Nations as he wouldn’t have been available for the Bath game and that part of the sanction wouldn’t remain “meaningful”.
You would have to question the morality of the decision if he was allowed to be named in the England squad and only miss the opening game of the Six Nations against Scotland. World Rugby could obviously intervene as well, so Jones will be left with a conundrum.
England to pick from 28-man squads for Six Nations under new protocolhttps://t.co/CBU8fCB9SN pic.twitter.com/C9102eEw49
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 15, 2021
If he chooses to name Sinckler in his squad, then he will have to include three tightheads. If he leaves him out, then he will miss the entire competition unless there is an injury at tighthead. The RFU, Premiership Rugby and the RPA have all agreed to a smaller squad being named to reduce movement in and out of camp because of the challenges presented by Covid-19 and we understand there won’t be the usual chopping and changing.
Even without the Sinckler situation, sticking to 28 players throughout presents problems for Jones when you consider he had a 36-man squad to work with for last year’s Six Nations and the World Cup allows 31 players to be included.
There is always the debate at World Cup time around which positions a coach leaves himself short in and that will be the case even more with three fewer players at his disposal. If it wasn’t for the Sinckler situation, I’d expect Jones to name six front rowers, four locks, six back rowers, three half-backs, four centres (including Owen Farrell) and five players in the back three.
Of course, a smaller squad also means there is virtually no chance that we will see the likes of Joe Simmonds MBE, Marcus Smith and co given opportunities to impress in an England environment. They could have been given a run in the autumn, though, and weren’t so it is, in reality, going to be a similar squad and a similar situation for Jones in the Six Nations as it was in the Autumn Nations Cup.
He used just 29 players in that tournament and Joe Marler only played in one game for 37 minutes, so he shouldn’t have too much of a problem. But one area where the smaller squad may mean a slightly different approach is in training, which is notoriously tough with England.
Jones likes to do 15 on 15 quite a lot in a controlled, contact environment and he isn’t going to have the numbers. He will have to adapt in terms of the intensity of training and maybe backload a training week a bit more rather than frontload it because he is normally used to operating with a large group and then releasing some back to clubs midweek.
As much as Jones would want as many players at his disposal as possible, it won’t affect England’s chances and he will fully expect to retain the title. But Sinckler’s selection does pose a major moral and practical headache for him before the tournament has even begun.
'Billy is a little different, always has been'
– Saracens explain why Vunipola isn't having a 9??-week break in between games, unlike their other England stars.https://t.co/xDmhq5Iabf pic.twitter.com/IikzYsktiy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 15, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Results probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to comments