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'Interesting isolation with him and Marler if they were together'

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

Eddie Jones has reacted to the Friday morning revelation that Ellis Genge has become the second England loosehead inside a week to test positive for Covid, the vice-captain getting his unfortunate result four days after it emerged on Monday that Joe Marler had tested positive and was ruled out of selection.

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Genge had started last weekend’s Autumn Nations Series opener versus Tonga, with Marler covering him from the bench in the 69-3 win. However, neither of those players will now feature against the Wallabies in the second match of the three-game November programme. 

With Marler ruled out on Monday, England decided to call up Bevan Rodd, an uncapped 21-year-old from Sale, following training on Tuesday and he went on to be named on the bench on Thursday behind Genge after leapfrogging the one-cap Trevor Davison in the selection pecking order. 

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That was quite an achievement but the inclusion of Rodd became an even more dramatic feat when he learned on Friday morning that he was now in the starting team – with Davison providing bench cover – after Genge tested positive for the virus. 

This finding has now ended Genge’s series as he must isolate for ten days and will miss the concluding game versus the Springboks on Saturday week. Asked how the England squad had taken the news about Genge, Jones said: “We just treat it [Covid disruption] as normal now. Every day is an adventure and we are on a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment. 

“Covid keeps coming and we just have to get on with it. It’s a great opportunity for a young guy like Bevan Rodd to play his first Test at Twickenham against one of our arch enemies Australia. We have got the greatest confidence in him, and Trevor has been in our squad since summer now and deserves the opportunity off the bench. While we are disappointed for Ellis, because he is such an important part of our team, it’s a great opportunity for the team to step up and for those two young players to step up. 

“Ellis is not sick at all, which is the frustrating thing for him… He is enormously disappointed. He is vice-captain of this team. He loves playing against Australia, he loves the challenge of playing at Twickenham but he will rebound. It will be an interesting isolation with him and Marler together if they were together. Fortunately, they are not because we might only end up with one coming out,” continued Jones. During the recent Lions tour, isolated players were able to mix amongst themselves away from the rest of the squad.

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“Everyone has mixed emotions. I was watching the players come through this morning. Some are disappointed for Ellis, others are angry, others just want to get on with it. We just had a short team meeting this morning, Owen (Farrell) and the senior players spoke really well, we got everyone back on the same page and we just got on with it.”

With Genge testing positive, additional testing was ordered for the rest of the England squad. “We have had no other positive test results and we have undergone an additional round of lateral flow testing and PCR testing this morning [Friday],” explained an RFU spokesperson. 

“No positive lateral flow test for any players or staff this morning. We will expect the results of today’s PCR testing either later tonight or early tomorrow morning depending on what time they come back from the lab to us.”

While it looks like a crisis that England have lost two players to Covid in the space of a few November days, Jones was adamant that his camp has done well over the course of the pandemic to restrict the virus. “It [Covid] is a fact of life.

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“You have just got to watch the BBC news every morning and see the number of cases every day in the UK. It’s out there. We are doing everything we can in the team to safeguard against it and trying to apply some common sense. Since Covid, we have had two positive cases in nearly two years now so our strike rate is pretty good.

“I would say there is a law of averages here. If we were to sit down 20 months after the Covid-19 pandemic and say we had just two positive cases I think we would be pretty rapt with that result. I just think there is a lot more out there. 

“You hear a lot more people with Covid now than I heard during the height of the pandemic, the number of people being infected by it. We’re keeping very strict regulations about what we do and we are pleased with the discipline of the players. It is just one of these unfortunate consequences of a pandemic.”  

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J
Jon 7 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 9 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.

37 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 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

37 Go to comments
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