Cipriani, Armand & Goode omissions harder than ever to explain – Andy Goode
You could name a good England team with the players unavailable to Eddie Jones for the upcoming autumn internationals so the absence of Danny Cipriani, Don Armand and Alex Goode is harder than ever to fathom.
The first two games in November against South Africa and New Zealand are mammoth tasks for us now. If you go back 18 months people couldn’t wait for us to face the All Blacks but now I’m looking at that squad and thinking they could put 30 points on us.
There are other players who will feel unlucky or hard done by too but that trio are glaring omissions for me. They’re tearing it up for their clubs and they’re not getting a look in internationally.
I think the more the media talk up Cipriani and Armand, the less Jones is inclined to pick them.
It has been a bit like the Jose Mourinho effect with Eddie in terms of having a great ride for a couple of years and then things starting to unravel. We were warned about that before he was appointed and that’s what’s happened.
It can’t be anything other than a personal thing or off-field reasons with Cipriani because he was man of the match in the opening couple of games of the Premiership season, has been on fire for Gloucester and England won with him starting in the third Test against South Africa. They lost six games in a row before that.
He’s said that he only wants two fly halves in the squad and he’s picked Owen Farrell and George Ford. We have to take him at his word that Farrell is being picked as a fly half and if that’s the case, he has to start in the number 10 jersey going forwards.
But he has changed his mind on the number of players he wants in each position. He’s only wanted two scrum halves for most of his tenure but now he’s got three in there and now he’s only got two hookers as well so Luke Cowan-Dickie misses out.
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Watch: Eddie Jones talks to RugbyPass about November Test squad
With the likes of Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes, Sam Simmonds, Chris Robshaw and Jack Clifford all missing in the back row, I’m not sure what Armand has to do to get a call-up, or his team-mate Dave Ewers for that matter.
Ben Morgan’s back for the first time since the 2015 World Cup and that’s a good story but he’s not renowned as being one of the most physical players in the game. In the nicest possible sense, Armand and Ewers are absolute animals when they play for Exeter and if you wanted physicality, you’d pick them.
When Armand hasn’t been picked previously, Eddie’s said it’s because he plays in the wide channels and doesn’t do enough close-quarter carrying but he is definitely doing that on a regular basis for the Chiefs now.
Eddie’s said that he wants to go away on the training camp in Portugal and produce a team that’s “absolutely brutal in the physical contest” and Armand is one of the most physical and brutal players in the Premiership week in, week out so there are a lot of mixed messages from him.
The list of absentees is a long one, I think there are as many as 15 key players out for one reason or another and the squad’s starting to look a bit thin, especially in a couple of positions.
The injuries to Mako Vunipola and Ellis Genge, as well as others like Beno Obano and Matt Mullan and the international retirement of Joe Marler, mean the Exeter duo of Alec Hepburn and Ben Moon with two caps and no starts between them are the only options at loosehead.
And Harry Williams, Kyle Sinckler and Nic Schonert only have six Test starts between them as well at tighthead so we could be under the pump in the front row, an area that has traditionally been a major strength for England.
It’s great to see Manu Tuilagi back in the squad and he’s played in 13 of Leicester’s 16 Premiership games in 2018, so he’s had a run of games now and is getting back to his best. He was massive in the win over New Zealand six years ago in 2012 and can be a point of difference.
He attracts defenders whether he’s actually getting the ball or running decoy lines and is a great weapon to have when you’ve got good ball players in your side. I’d probably have him on the bench as an impact player at this stage though.
Chris Ashton and Ben Te’o haven’t played at all yet this season and Brad Shields has only played one and a half games. I don’t have any issue with their inclusion at all, particularly with all of the injuries but it’d be churlish to say that this squad has been picked on form.
Eddie’s the man in charge until the end of the 2019 World Cup regardless of the results this autumn. I think his time’s up after that whether we win it or crash out early or something in between but he’s the boss until then.
Everyone else can have an opinion but he’s the one who’ll be judged on the results. He’s been pretty clever in telling people to judge him on the World Cup because he’s probably going to be leaving after that anyway but that is considered the be all and end all now.
This squad is one that could lose three of the four Tests, only getting over the line against Japan, but it’s also within the realms of possibility that we could win three games this autumn because there is still talent there and the Twickenham factor is a big one.
One thing is for sure, though. We’ve waited four years to get New Zealand back at Twickenham to have another shot at them and there’s no way this side is beating the All Blacks.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
3 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments