England's Plan B minus Farrell: 'Every time he has stepped into the 10 he looks an absolute natural there'
Eddie Jones has declared he isn’t the slightest bit worried should an injury to Owen Farrell force England into a Six Nations emergency during their title match with Italy this Saturday, the coach insisting he has ready-made alternatives in full-back George Furbank and midfielder Henry Slade.
With regular No10 George Ford sidelined through injury for the delayed championship finale, Jones has responded by shifting skipper Farrell from No12 to start at out-half in what will be his first action of any kind since his September 5 red card while playing for Saracens.
However, rather than pick a specialist out-half to sit on the bench as cover, Jones has instead chosen two-cap scrum-half Dan Robson and uncapped duo Ollie Lawrence (an outside centre) and Ollie Thorley (a winger) as his backline replacements.
That will force England to improvise at Stadio Olimpico should anything happen to Farrell as they chase the big win that can catapult them towards a first Six Nations title since 2017 – Furbank has just two caps to his name, both at full-back last February, while the more experienced Slade has mainly won his caps on midfield duty.
Jones, though, has no qualms about pushing one of them into the Farrell role if needed. “There are two good options, Henry or George Furbank, and we’re extremely comfortable with either of those guys stepping into the breach there,” said Jones ahead of a match where he will field an England XV showing seven changes from their last outing, the March win over Wales.
Billy V was among the players who decided not to take a knee when the Premiership restarted in mid-August https://t.co/dZgY2rjjpd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2020
“George Furbank has been training with us now for too many camps, Barbarians week and this week, and every time he has stepped into the 10 he looks an absolute natural there. We don’t have any worries about him. And we know Henry is the type of player who can play 12, 13, 15, can play left wing, can play 10. He is a beautiful catcher and passer of the ball, has got a great left foot and we’re happy with either of those two options. We’ll decide (who) on the day mate, depending on the situation.”
Questioned whether recent double success with Exeter can now lift Slade’s general midfield play on to another level in the Test arena, Jones took exception to the query, retorting that the 27-year-old has been bang on form for some considerable time.
“I find that comment a bit unusual because Henry had a terrific World Cup for us. He was absolutely outstanding. Six Nations he came in injured and was only available for the last couple of games if I remember correctly and then played superbly at 15 in the last game I think it was, so he has been in great form.
“He managed his lockdown time well, has come back and continued. Has he been better for Exeter? I don’t know. He has certainly been in good form for a long period of time now. For me he is just one of the outstanding rugby players in England.”
Jones was also chippy in response to the suggestion that Furbank’s form with England and Northampton was, by consensus, not the greatest in 2020. “Common consent has its own opinion. I’m not going to debate common consent,” he replied.
“Selection is always about judgment and he is a very good player. We were really happy with what he did in the Six Nations. He had a difficult game against France, which the whole team did. Playing at 15 behind a team that is getting beating on the gainline is difficult.
“He responded very well in the Scotland game and like a lot of young players, the second season in a club season is always more difficult. Everyone knows about a player, teams try to take away your strengths and attack your weaknesses.
“It’s a test of a player’s ability to keep getting better and what we have seen from George is that desire to keep wanting to get better. He’s been a standout for us in our preparations so far.”
Back in action after his 5?? game ban https://t.co/GduQNVTt0i
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments