Eddie's selection is muddled and full of mixed messages - Andy Goode
There have been more mixed messages from Eddie Jones this week but, regardless of what anyone else says, his team selection suggests he knows his job is safe.
Tommy Freeman, Guy Porter and Jack van Poortvliet are all very good players who have had breakthrough seasons in the Premiership. They deserve their shot and we want players to be picked on form but there’s no way Jones would be thrusting them all into the starting XV at the same time if his job was on the line.
Many people will think it should be if they lose a series to Australia on the back of consecutive poor Six Nations campaigns and some England fans will have at the back of their minds the hope that a coaching change may be made if another defeat ensues.
However, if there was a time for such a change, it would have been after either one of those past two Six Nations tournaments. Perhaps there was nobody at the RFU with the wherewithal to do it or maybe this is all part of the plan but Eddie’s latest team selection strongly indicates his position is secure.
There’s no confusion about that but there most certainly is when it comes to his discourse on this tour. He said last week that the more players played together, the more they would work well under pressure and that he hadn’t had the chance to pick a team like this for a long time.
One week on and he has broken up at least a couple of key combinations voluntarily and it’s hard to see the thinking behind his selection, especially if it’s cohesion he’s looking for.
Danny Care and Marcus Smith clearly already have a good partnership at club level but the former has been dropped to the bench and both of them are used to working in tandem with Joe Marchant, who drops out of the match day 23 altogether.
Nobody is suggesting that either Care or Marchant had the best game of their careers but how do you build that cohesion if you chop and change and go with a new-look back division that have never played together before?
It’s also easy to blame the backs but it was up front where England lost last weekend’s game and there is just one enforced change in the pack with Sam Underhill coming in for the injured Tom Curry.
The fact that Jones has picked a six-two split on the bench this time around shows he knows that but he’s obviously trusting the same personnel to up their game when it comes to the forwards.
It might benefit England for Owen Farrell to play more like a traditional number 12 rather than interchanging with Smith as much as he did and there are other adjustments that clearly need to be made in attack but that’s all unlikely to change the end result if there isn’t a marked improvement up front.
Plus, the one obvious change to be made in the backs after last week would’ve been promoting Henry Arundell to the starting XV after his eye-catching impact in the final 10 minutes but Freeman has leapfrogged him instead.
The mixed messages don’t stop with selection either. It’s not long ago that Eddie was critical of Rassie Erasmus for speaking out about referees but now he’s back talking about them and saying they try to even things up when a man is sent off.
I don’t think that was the case with James Doleman and, even if it was a fair point generally, I’m surprised World Rugby haven’t had more to say about that comment to be honest.
The mixed messages off the field do seep into how England play on the field as well and I know they want to play quite an unstructured game in attack but for the life of me I still can’t really work out what they’re trying to do.
England kicked the ball in open play just 18 times last week, which is clearly very different from what we have become accustomed to seeing from them.
Some of that is explained by the opposition and the conditions but it’ll be interesting to see if there is a different approach in this second Test. If nothing else, England could certainly have used the boot to manage the game more effectively in the second half.
I know attack coach Martin Gleeson, though, and it isn’t in his DNA to rely heavily on the kicking game so he’ll want to see his charges playing in the right areas more but I can’t see England just reverting to type and trying to bludgeon the Wallabies up front and with the boot in order to get a result.
More people than ever before have asked me this week whether Eddie will get the sack if England lose this series so there is obviously a narrative building but, while the head coach’s messaging might be muddled at times, the RFU’s stance seems pretty clear to me.
Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
58 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments