Farrell & Itoje have to start in their best positions – Andy Goode
It’s strange to say it but two of the biggest question marks over England’s selection to face South Africa on Saturday surround Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell and Eddie Jones has to pick them in their best positions.
The situations around Itoje and Farrell are very similar for me. They are two of the biggest names in this squad and they should be played where they operate best at lock and fly half respectively.
George Ford is in the final 25 players preparing for the match but it’s time for Farrell to take charge, run everything and start at 10 and I think Eddie Jones knows that now too. He’s named him in the squad as a fly half and only picked two players in that position so he has to start there now.
England have lost six of their last seven games and Ford has started at 10 in five of those. He’s not the only reason for the defeats by any means but, if Danny Cipriani isn’t going to be considered, it’s time for Farrell to be given the keys to the England bus and told to drive it in the right direction with the World Cup on the horizon.
However, I think he’s going to pick Maro Itoje at blindside and that allows him to select Brad Shields at the back of the scrum, who’s played there before for the Hurricanes. I don’t agree with that I think you significantly weaken the forward pack by picking Itoje out of position but I can see Eddie going down that route.
Bringing Ben Morgan back into the squad, everyone expected him to go straight in and start at number eight in the absence of Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes and Sam Simmonds because of his experience but I think it comes down to the balance that Eddie Jones wants from his back row.
Personally, I’d love to see Zach Mercer get a run at number eight. I think he’s played exceptionally well for Bath this season so far and at 21 he’s the future. He might not have the bulk of Vunipola but he’s explosive and that’s a point of difference for him.
England Squad to face South Africa on Saturday
Andy Goode’s Match Day 23 | Eddie Jones’ Match Day 23 |
15 Daly | 15 Daly |
14 Nowell | 14 Ashton |
13 Tuilagi | 13 Tuilagi |
12 Slade | 12 Slade |
11 May | 11 May |
10 Farrell | 10 Farrell |
9 Youngs | 9 Youngs |
1 Hepburn | 1 Moon |
2 George | 2 Hartley |
3 Williams | 3 Sinckler |
4 Kruis | 4 Kruis |
5 Itoje | 5 Ewels |
6 Wilson | 6 Itoje |
7 Curry | 7 Curry |
8 Mercer | 8 Shields |
16 Hartley | 16 George |
17 Moon | 17 Hepburn |
18 Sinckler | 18 Williams |
19 Ewels | 19 Wilson |
20 Shields | 20 Mercer |
21 Care | 21 Care |
22 Ford | 22 Ford |
23 Ashton | 23 Nowell |
Elsewhere, Ben Te’o’s only played half an hour of rugby this season off the bench for Worcester in the Challenge Cup so I can’t see him starting and I think that means we’re going to see a Henry Slade and Manu Tuilagi combination in midfield, which is really exciting.
It’s so good to see Manu back and he deserves to be starting at 13 now on form. He’s an x-factor player and is a huge factor in why I think Eddie Jones will now pick Farrell at fly half.
Henry Slade is a fantastic ball player and he can interchange with Tuilagi off first phase or phase play. They offer different strengths and there are some game-breaking finishers outside them as well so there’s real potential there.
It’s a surprise not to see Mike Brown in the match day 23 because he’s the only one in the 36-man squad who plays full back week in, week out.
I’m really glad Elliot Daly is starting at full back again after being picked there for all three Tests against South Africa in the summer but Chris Ashton or Jack Nowell will have to cover there in Brown’s absence if he goes down.
I said to Elliot years ago that I thought his best position would be 15 and it’s great to see him lining up there for England as he could be so dangerous from there with his line-breaking ability, even if he doesn’t see it as his best position.
And, I still believe that Jamie George is the best hooker in England and now Farrell is co-captain it’s opened things up for him to start but I have a feeling Jones will stick with Dylan Hartley.
We’re not settled on a team at all, which isn’t want you want with a World Cup less than a year away, but injuries have presented some players with opportunities.
South Africa are missing the likes of Faf de Klerk and Willie le Roux as the match falls outside of the international window so they’re hamstrung a little bit by that but Rassie Erasmus has done wonders with them since taking over and they’re going to pose a massive physical test.
England need to match them in that department and be confrontational and then manage the game the way they want to play it. This South Africa side is a completely different proposition to the ones that have visited England in recent years.
It’s a tough one to call but the Twickenham factor will have a big part to play and you have to hope that it’ll get England over the line for a confidence-boosting win first up because it doesn’t get any easier next week!
Comments on RugbyPass
Omg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
127 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
127 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
127 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
127 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
127 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
127 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
127 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
127 Go to commentsHo hum.
127 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
127 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
127 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
127 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
127 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
127 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
127 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
127 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
127 Go to comments