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'Criminal': England fans fume as Scottish pick Redpath becomes latest player to slip through net
Gregor Townsend’s inclusion of Cameron Redpath in the 2021 Scotland Guinness Six Nations squad has left some fans pointing fingers at England and their boss Eddie Jones for letting him go. The Bath centre, who is the son of former Scotland captain Bryan, played for England U20s, but he has now been snapped up by Townsend following an impressive Gallagher Premiership season to date following his 2020 move from Sale.
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Switching allegiance after playing for a particular country at an age-grade level is not uncommon in rugby, but Redpath had actually been part of England senior training camps under Jones.
Should the 21-year-old earn a Scotland cap this year, he will be part of a growing list of players to represent other countries after being part of England camps.
Wayne Pivac capped both Callum Sheedy and Johnny Williams last year for Wales despite both playing for England against the Barbarians in 2019. Nick Tompkins, another recent Welsh recruit, also played for the Saxons in 2016.
Questions are therefore being asked online as to whether Jones is genuinely focusing on the future, as this is another young player that has slipped through the net. However, this may be as a result of the depth and options the Australian has to choose from.
"I have been trying to sell Scotland to him for the last couple of years"#GuinnessSixNationshttps://t.co/sSBXPnyi1O
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 20, 2021
After all, in this new World Cup cycle England have capped nine new players, one of which is a centre, the 21-year-old Ollie Lawrence, and full-back Max Malins could cause a reshuffle in England’s backline to push other players into the centres.
Even Joe Marchant was capped in August 2019, which suggests that there still has been a focus on bringing through the next generation, although there will inevitably be players that miss out. Just because he represented England earlier in his career, that does not mean that Bath back Redpath was set on playing for England either, particularly given his ancestry.
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Some are querying whether Jones will still opt to call up Redpath to his England squad for this Six Nations when it is announced on Friday. Although he has never been averse to creating commotion of this nature, Jones has not bothered to do this in the past when faced with the prospect of losing other players and is unlikely to do so now.
Intriguingly, Redpath’s Test debut could now come against England, who host Scotland at Twickenham in the opening round of the Six Nations on February 6.
I know he got injured on tour, but Redpath playing for Scotland seems like Eddie missed a trick
— Peter Hague (@Todhague) January 20, 2021
Eddie! This is one he shouldn’t have let get away.
— Glen Peters (@GlenPet47855322) January 20, 2021
Cam Redpath news here is potentially massive. Very strange that Eddie Jones has let the next Henry Slade get away after he'd played for the England U20s. https://t.co/eVVUPhEHnx
— Jacob Whitehead (@jwhitey98) January 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/ConnorWhittick/status/1351851583814971395?s=20
As an England fan I am bit gutted to see this. Redpath been absolute class in an average Bath team. But it’s yet another very promising young player that Jones has let slip.
— Small Man Peaky (@jonnymango95) January 20, 2021
Ouch. Painful one that for England fans. Will effect his long term future at Bath too.
— Sam Musteff (@ViewXv) January 20, 2021
Great to see him in the squad! But I was just wondering, is there anything to stop Eddie Jones naming him in the England squad also? Just wondering what the protocol is for uncapped players??
— Mark Camburn (@CamburnMark) January 20, 2021
I could never understand why England capped Cam Redpath at U20 level when he was always going to pick Scotland. It just blocks a chance for someone who wants to play for England to get experience
— Mark_frommk (@MarkTur93421136) January 20, 2021
Well deserved but hope Eddie makes it interesting and makes a play for him! Has all the attributes to be top class https://t.co/KVwkNavn4L
— Olly (@ollyleahy8) January 20, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Farcical, 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.
7 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.
55 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.
7 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 commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
7 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
61 Go to comments