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'Eddie was over': Irish confirm England interest in Arundell

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

London Irish boss Declan Kidney has insisted that Henry Arundell, who is on the England summer tour radar following last week’s training ground visit by Eddie Jones, won’t be in the shop window anytime soon. The 19-year-old’s burgeoning talent to create a try out of nothing went viral around the world last Sunday following his remarkable solo effort from near his own goalline in Toulon. 

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That score alerted rival clubs as to the potent attacking threat he has to offer, but Arundell won’t be following Phil Cokanasiga out the door at London Irish. Kidney has frequently spoken about his desire for young English talent to be able to progress to Test level at the Exiles rather than having to move to a different Premiership club to enhance their international selection prospects. 

That was what happened in the past with the likes of Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph and Joe Cokanasiga after they came through the academy at London Irish, and Cokanasiga’s 20-year-old brother Phil decided on Thursday that his lofty ambitions in the game would be best served at Leicester where he name was included in a list of 16 contract deals confirmed by Steve Borthwick. 

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However, Kidney is confident that Arundell won’t be seduced by prying eyes and will continue to learn his craft at London Irish. “We have never divulged contract situations of different players but he is here with us,” said the director of rugby on Friday when asked about the youngster’s future in the coming seasons.  

He also divulged that England boss Jones had visited the club before their Challenge Cup trip to Toulon to run his eye over a number of young prospects at the Irish. The fast-emerging Arundell, the England U20 who is also apparently eligible for Scotland and Wales, was one of the players they spoke about.  

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“Eddie was over with the club last week and we went through a number of the players that we had and that is the comment that I am making, the fact that we had the English coach coming to London Irish to discuss a number of our players is a good thing for the club. Henry was one of them and we gave him out insights to that but Eddie is a strong enough person to make up his own mind as to what is the best for Henry’s development.”  

While it remains to be seen whether Arundell will be a bolter in the England squad selection for their upcoming tour to Australia, what is certain – according to Kidney – is that the sudden limelight that has now descended on the youngster, who has so far only played a dozen first-team games for London Irish, hasn’t affected him this week. 

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“Around any rugby environment you are going to get a bit of slagging but what has impressed me so much about Henry is it wasn’t so much about the try but how he has conducted himself in and around that,” explained Kidney ahead of the club’s next fixture, Tuesday’s Premiership Cup final at home to Worcester. 

“Henry was out of the game for about a year with serious injury and he worked hard to get back in from that. Sometimes when you see that little bit of adversity when you are younger it helps to put everything into perspective as well. 

“I’m delighted for him. You could sort of see it (happening at Toulon). He was in fresh and with 15, 20 minutes to go there was a bit of space there and he took full use of it. It was an exceptional try, there is no doubt about that, but you don’t even have to talk to Henry about calming him down, he just gets on with the next play. That is what impresses me, how he deals with everything impresses me as much as what he did on the pitch. 

“I’m not going to try and hold the lad back. He knows that he had good, impressive cameos in the last two weeks against Toulon and Wasps but he also knows the parts to his game that he needs to work on as well then too. We all know when players come on the scene first they can get a little more latitude when they are not known but now he will be spotted. People will keep a closer eye on him and space will be tighter for him. That will present fresh challenges.   

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“He knows he is learning his trade and sometimes when you do that as a back you draw a lot of attention to yourself but my hope for the young man is just for him to have the space to grow and develop as a player. As long as he keeps enjoying it that will be the main thing. He will grow from here because he has that propensity. 

“Like, in dealing with him, that is the thing that encouraged me most, he knows how much he has to work on and when you score a try like that you can let that attention all of a sudden take you away but in fairness, he was working hard in training yesterday [Thursday], today [Fruday] so that is a credit to him.”

A scorer of seven tries in his dozen London Irish appearances, all five of the starts that Arundell has had have been at full-back, the position Kidney feels the teenager, who turns 20 in November, is best suited to. “Full back is his primary position. Could he play on the wing? Absolutely. 

“Most good full-backs can adapt onto the wing if needs be. There is quite a difference between them… but I have no doubt that he could adapt. Henry is a good footballer and good footballers can go into quite a number of positions but if you asked when I feel his best position is or where he is more comfortable at the moment, it is full-back.”

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Jon 4 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 11 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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