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Eddie Jones salutes the late Dominici and Maradona, lauds Nigel Owens' weekend milestone
England boss Eddie Jones has offered his condolences to the family of the late Christophe Dominici, spoken about the impact the late footballer Diego Maradona, and paid tribute to rugby referee Nigel Owens who this weekend becomes the first referee to have taken charge of 100 Test matches.
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Jones began his latest England team selection media conference with an opening statement on late France great Dominici, who tragically took his own life on Tuesday at the age of 48.
He followed it with reference to Owens’ refereeing milestone and then took a question on Maradona, the legendary Argentina footballer who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 60.
“I would just like to send my condolences to the Dominici family from England rugby,” began Jones. “He was a fantastic player. I remember him vividly, a will-o’-the-wisp type player who played superbly for France. We feel for the family.
“On a brighter note, I would just like to send congratulations to Nigel Owens on his 100 Test match. It’s a great achievement for a referee and he has done it will a lot of colour, a lot of humour and certainly added to the game so congratulations Nigel. We look forward to having you again, mate.”
All the leading Test nations, including the All Blacks, have tweeted tributes following the untimely loss of the French great at the age of just 48 ?https://t.co/DKsfl6Xb4s
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 24, 2020
Switching to Maradona, Jones added: “He’s one of those guys who captures the sports world. He was an incredible player. I can remember watching him closely in that ’86 World Cup and the influence he had on the game.
“It’s one of those great sports stories. Obviously a lot of tragedy in it as well, but for a guy to come from the slums of Argentina to be the best player in the world and provide such entertainment for a long period of time and then unfortunately towards the end it was a difficult life for him but yeah, everyone got great memories from him.”
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Nobody will upstage @LosPumas' passion on Saturday – but do they really have the manpower to make mass changes and still to do the double over the @AllBlacks? #ARGvNZL #TriNations #AllBlacks #LosPumashttps://t.co/yaXBGKu8l0
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 26, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
smith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
36 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.
9 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.
36 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.
2 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
36 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 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
36 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
36 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. All the Kiwis sticking up for this unprincipled individual because they can't accept justified criticism, he has zero credibility or integrity. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
36 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
36 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
2 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
36 Go to comments