'Genuinely baffled' - England's back row selection the major talking point in Jones' squad
Wasps flanker Jack Willis is England’s unlucky absentee this Guinness Six Nations after missing out on Eddie Jones’ slimline 28-man squad.
The RPA players’ player of the year is part of the shadow squad, losing his place from the autumn to Mark Wilson, who joins the regular triumvirate of Billy Vunipola, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, as well as ‘finisher’ Ben Earl.
The squad is smaller in size than usual as a safety precaution, which means there are inevitably more surprising omissions.
Although there are still plenty of calls for their inclusion, the absence of the Simmonds brothers is no longer news to anyone these days, and it would have been a surprise if anything if they were selected. Willis, on the other hand, is slightly different.
The Wasps sensation is included in the shadow squad, and was given a taste of Test rugby in the autumn. He is certainly part of Jones’ plans, but the coach has turned to a player he has a lot of trust in in Wilson.
Though he has only played once for England since the World Cup final in 2019, the Newcastle Falcons flanker has never let Jones when called upon, and has covered the back row for England adroitly in the past. His industry and grit are two qualities that will please the head coach, and his club warrants a recall.
Outside of that, the rest of the loose forwards are more or less undroppable, or certainly in Jones’ eyes.
With a limited squad, the Australian will want to know exactly what he will get from his resources, and he has shown a lot of trust in Wilson before and it has paid off.
With that said, there is still room for new additions to the England squad, as Jones has traditionally liked to blood new faces into his squads. Bristol Bears’ Harry Randall and Wasps’ Paolo Odogwu are two deserving additions, with the Wasps winger storming into contention in recent weeks. Beno Obano is the other uncapped member of the squad, although the Bath prop has been part of the England set-up before.
With a unique squad size, finding the balance between experience and initiating new players would have been tough, which helps explain some calls.
Excited to see Odogwu and Randall get deserved call ups, though surprised not to see Jack Willis included. Unfortunately less of a shock to again see the Simmonds brothers left out at this point.
Good squad nonetheless ? https://t.co/S4isC0Ao7c
— Jack Dosson (@JackDosson_) January 22, 2021
There were more like that:
Pleased for the three Wasps lads in the England Six Nations squad but I'm genuinely baffled that Jack Willis is only in the shadow squad.
— Andrew (@AMSinclair97) January 22, 2021
Really happy Obano got selected – have loved watching him smash into people for Bath this season. Jack Willis incredibly unlucky…? https://t.co/pdRoSiDL4S
— Dan Cruse (@dancruse88) January 22, 2021
Jack Willis, Joe and Sam Simmonds non-existent again. Yet Billy Vunipola in the league below is always guaranteed a spot ????
— Haydn #44 (@Haydn792) January 22, 2021
just what do Sam Simmonds and Jack Willis need to go to get in the squad?
— Mark Vyner (@mvyner48) January 22, 2021
Baffles me how neither of the Simmonds brothers are in. Jack Willis over Wilson for me aswell.
— Simon Clarke (@simonc1607) January 22, 2021
That’s actually my favourite squad picked in recent memory. Can always be gripes with some like Willis etc, but wilson arguably on better form. Nice bringing in Randall and odogwu to see what they can do. Hoping malins and Lawrence get more of a go though.
— Guy Tyler (@gtyler123) January 22, 2021
Seeing a lot of 'why is Mark Wilson in there?'
If you think Mark is undeserving of a place in this squad then you need to go give your head a wobble.
Absolute nails. https://t.co/818tJ7mtqW
— The Northern Rugby Podcast (@North_Rugby_Pod) January 22, 2021
Jack being in the shadow squad is ridiculous. I’m sure Eddie knows what he is doing but really?
— Sean (@SeanM232004) January 22, 2021
Willis in the ‘shadow’ squad? ?? pic.twitter.com/J6eBcAXQIm
— Adam Davey (@J66ACD) January 22, 2021
https://twitter.com/MK_AWFC/status/1352668712394960901?s=20
Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt 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.
28 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 🤐
24 Go to comments