Eddie got selection badly wrong and needs to hold his hands up - Andy Goode
England’s Six Nations campaign got off to a miserable start in Paris and Eddie Jones has to take responsibility because of his team selection, as well as the preparation.
England went into the half-time interval without having scored a single point for the first time in the Six or Five Nations for 32 years since 1988 and Jones acknowledged that his side might have been underprepared.
He says that is because club rugby has taken it out of his players and they deliberately came in late but the word coming out of the camp again is that they’ve been flogged once more in training and, in reality, it is the make-up of the team that is the real issue.
Eddie insists the result of the game won’t affect his selection for the Calcutta Cup next week but it should do and he should be straight on the phone to Alex Dombrandt or Sam Simmonds.
There’s no way Tom Curry would’ve been starting at number eight if Billy Vunipola was fit. He’d never started a game there in his life and now Eddie’s talking about him as a long-term project in that position.
He’s an unbelievable openside and it’s not like he had a bad game but you take away a lot of his strengths by playing him at number eight and not having a big ball carrier in there.
I questioned the lack of specialist number eights in the squad when it was named and it was a clear weakness at the Stade de France. It’s a specialist position and, while we had a dominant scrum, there wasn’t the necessary control at the base.
Ben Earl is the one player in the initial squad who can play there because he often packs down at number eight for Saracens, so I’ve named him in my team to face Scotland below but I’d have Dombrandt or Simmonds in there in a heartbeat.
They may not be in the squad and it may be a six-day turnaround before the next game in Edinburgh but let’s make no bones about it, if he wants to pick them, he can.
The midfield is the other major area of concern, especially after Manu Tuilagi went off early on with a groin injury. England looked seriously underpowered without him and Mako and Billy Vunipola in the side.
I don’t think the selection was right there anyway though. Eddie said he should’ve dropped George Ford for the World Cup final but he picked him again for the next game. It’s nothing against Ford but Owen Farrell is your captain and arguably best player, he has to be picked in his preferred position.
We all know he can do a job at inside centre but he doesn’t look comfortable there and, again, you’re taking so much away from his game by putting him there. Jones has to stop putting square pegs in round holes.
In the absence of Tuilagi and with the very inexperienced Fraser Dingwall in the squad, I think he has to go with Ollie Devoto and Jonathan Joseph in the centres at Murrayfield.
Devoto only got six minutes at the end to show what he has to offer but he’s impressed for Exeter this season and is a decent carrier as well as a distributor. Most importantly, he is a number 12 and plays there regularly.
George Furbank may not have lit up the game as he has done at times for Northampton but I can’t see him being left out if Anthony Watson continues to be unavailable with his calf injury.
I would make one further change to the backline, though, and that would be at scrum half. Ben Youngs has a lot of credit in the bank from his 96 caps but he just isn’t in form and Willi Heinz doesn’t offer the impact you really want from the bench.
Dan Robson, Danny Care and Ben Spencer are all good options who aren’t in the squad but if he isn’t going to call up one of them, I think he has to start Heinz and give him a chance.
Care has been in good form for Harlequins but his face doesn’t seem to fit any more, Robson offers more pace and dynamism as well but I’d have Spencer in there from the start if it was up to me.
Ellis Genge put himself about a bit when he came on and Joe Marler held up his end of the bargain at scrum time but Mako Vunipola will come back in for the Calcutta Cup clash to offer another big ball-carrying option, something that was badly missing.
England’s two tries came from moments of magic from Jonny May but I couldn’t tell how they wanted to attack for the most part and there was a lot of aimless kicking again. A combination of all of the above contributes to that but I think Farrell not being at 10 is still the biggest factor.
Whether it’s the captain’s role, Curry at number eight or Courtney Lawes at blindside as well, there is a clear lesson to be learned. Pick players in their correct positions.
You have to give France a lot of credit. A hugely inexperienced side really fronted up and put in a hell of a performance in defence, while showing glimpses of star quality in attack as well.
They certainly responded to the England head coach’s words about brutal physicality ahead of the match and they deserved the win. Now Eddie has to hold his hands up and say he got his selection wrong before putting it right for Scotland.
My England Team v Scotland
15 George Furbank
14 Elliot Daly
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Jonny May
10 Owen Farrell
9 Willi Heinz/Ben Spencer
1 Mako Vunipola
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Kyle Sinckler
4 Maro Itoje
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Sam Underhill
7 Tom Curry
8 Ben Earl/Alex Dombrandt
16 Jamie George
17 Ellis Genge
18 Will Stuart
19 George Kruis
20 Lewis Ludlam
21 Ben Youngs
22 George Ford
Comments on RugbyPass
I still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
1 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
24 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
24 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
24 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
24 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
24 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
24 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
24 Go to commentsSay what you will about Andy Goode. But he is right about one thing… I’m not sure what that one thing is exactly… but I’m willing to hear him out.
24 Go to commentsAnother article to bait and trigger Irish fans. This must stop.
24 Go to commentsHi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
91 Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
2 Go to comments