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Jones' latest England squad injury update features Marcus Smith
Eddie Jones’ preparations ahead of next Saturday’s England match versus Tonga at Twickenham have been affected by injuries that have made Max Malins, Raffi Quirke and Louis Lynagh all unavailable for selection while minor leg knocks have cast doubt over the availability of Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward.
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The England boss has described himself as being cautiously optimistic that Smith and Steward will both eventually come right and will be part of the plan when the team to face Tonga at the weekend will be announced on Thursday.
“We have got a few injury updates for you,” said Jones at the top of his England media briefing on Tuesday. “We had Max Malins (calf) and Raffi Quirke (knee) come into camp with injuries so they have been rehabbing, they won’t be considered for selection for the Tongan game but we are hopeful they are going to be fitter further down the track.
“Louis Lynagh came in a bit beaten up from his game against Saracens and has not been able to train with us. We have got two other niggles and we are not sure whether the players are going to be available to be selected. Marcus and Freddie Steward have got minor leg injuries but we are cautiously optimistic they will be available for selection for the game against Tonga.”
After throwing the floor open to questions, Jones elaborated on that injury situation regarding Smith who debuted in July, went on to tour with the Lions and is now keeping George Ford, the regular England No10 in recent years, out of the squad.
The out of favour England No8 limped off near the end of Saracens' win at The Stoop last Sunday #GallagherPrem #Sarries #HARvSAR #Englandhttps://t.co/pH5XvA83wR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 2, 2021
“He hasn’t done much this week, just a bit of ball handling. We are being conservative with him but we are cautiously optimistic he will be right to play. The last call we make is 48 hours before the game… We are not desperate, we’re never desperate (to pick a player), but we are keen for him to be involved in the game. It’s not frustrating, it’s part and parcel of preparing a team and players will pick up small knocks. He will recover well and if we don’t get to see him this week we will get to see him next week.”
There was no temptation to now suddenly recall the axed Ford, Jones later elaborating that even George Furbank was a cover option at ten if skipper Owen Farrell had to start there instead of Smith. “We think within the squad we have got enough cover if Marcus is not available. We are cautiously optimistically he is available. We’re ready for that [Smith not being available]. He [Furbank] has definitely been training at ten and we definitely feel he has the ability to play ten. We don’t need to worry about that until the final decision on selection needs to be made.”
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Switching to the other injuries, Jones added: “With Max unavailable because of the injury he brought into the camp we thought we needed additional cover but unfortunately Louis is injured as well. We were hopeful he was going to recover but he hasn’t been able to train today [Tuesday] so it has been a difficult situation for the young lad.
“He hasn’t been able to train,” continued Jones about Quirke. “He came in with a knee injury but we are hopeful he will be available for the Australian game.” Quirke’s absence versus Tonga, coupled with the withdrawal of Harry Randall from the squad, has now opened up the prospect of Alex Mitchell making his Test debut. “He is a good chance to have an opportunity on Saturday.”
Despite the casualty list, Jones reported that the mood in the England camp in London was positive and he has been delighted with the opportunity to rebuild the squad in recent months with the 2023 World Cup in France in mind.
“Really good, really positive. We had a good positive week in Jersey. It’s quite an interesting squad. We have got 14 players from the 2019 World Cup squad and then 17, 18, 19 players who are probably all under ten caps.
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“We have got quite an experienced group and then this young breed of what is going to be ‘New England’ and the excitement of putting those two groups together is high. We tried to do a lot of things in Jersey to give them opportunities to share experiences which they did well and now the training has been really high quality.
“There are very few times at international level you get to rebuild a team the second time and I have got the opportunity personally to do that and bringing these young players through at the same time trying to get the best out of the experienced players is a very good challenge. The expectation at international level is always that you never drop off so, we have got to make sure we can blend the team as quickly as we can to put in the sort of performances we want to see.”
That challenge begins on Saturday against a Tongan squad that has brought in some reinforcements following last weekend’s hammering by Scotland at Murrayfield. “It was a tough day for them but we know they have brought nine new players into the squad, most of which play in the top level in France, so they will add some starch and stability to a Tongan side that will play with plenty of pride at Twickenham.”
TEAM NEWS: Sam Simmonds' wait for a first England cap since 2018 continues as he is one of 7?? players cut from the squad#AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTON
https://t.co/sGDDxMlzmV— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Je suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
25 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
25 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen 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.
25 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.
9 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.
25 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?
11 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.
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