Matt Kvesic's 11th-hour bench call-up has confused England fans
Eddie Jones has named his England team to play Italy in their final match before the World Cup, calling upon three players that are not part of the 31-man squad travelling to Japan.
Joe Marchant starts at outside centre, while Charlie Ewels and Matt Kvesic are on the bench to face Conor O’Shea’s side at St James’ Park on Friday.
The Exeter Chiefs’ Kvesic is a surprise addition to the squad after his exile from the England team for three years. He earned his only cap under Jones in 2016 and has barely been part of the picture since then.
Despite being on the shortlist for Premiership player of the year award, the 27-year-old was not selected for any of England’s training squads this summer and was only drafted into training long after the final World Cup squad was announced.
His inclusion is something that fans were calling for all last season on social media and the timing of his call-up now has confused many.
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With the success of playing both Tom Curry and Sam Underhill alongside each other against Ireland, Jones is maybe testing having another natural openside flanker in the squad, but it is hard to see what Kvesic can do from the bench two weeks before the World Cup.
The 23-year-old Marchant is a player that Jones is priming for a role in the future and that is why he has been called up after earning his first cap in August.
England have called on players outside their RWC 31 for Friday's game with Italy and assistant Steve Borthwick explains why
https://t.co/n2SJlN7Rk6— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 4, 2019
Likewise, Ewels is a player that has been in and out of the squad during Jones’ tenure. On the other hand, Kvesic has been largely ignored by Jones, only making a bench appearance in May 2016 against Wales.
The three-cap Kvesic’s form over the last year means he is undeniably worthy of a place in the England set-up, but it is the 11th-hour nature of his call-up that fans are questioning. This is what has been said:
Why has Jones named 3 people who aren't going to Japan.. Specifically Kvesic (who I highly rate) when he hasn't been involved in the squad in ages!
— Z (@rookieshooter92) September 4, 2019
Why is Matt Kvesic on the bench when he hasn’t made the WC squad? Baffled pic.twitter.com/YMUWM1j6ux
— #Ratty (@ratty1404) September 4, 2019
https://twitter.com/SirPyecroft/status/1169136160540639237?s=20
Kvesic was stand out premiership backrow/8 last season. Should be on the plane anyway.
— Jim Bryan (@jbryan47) September 4, 2019
Also notices Matt Kvesic as a finisher. Strange one. Is EJ making sure he has players ready to fly in to Japan should injuries occur?
— Peter Scott (@PRS_rugbycoach) September 4, 2019
I don't get why Eddie is selecting Marchant and Kvesic? Unless he's anticipating the injuries already?
— Darren Beardon (@DSBeardon) September 4, 2019
Insulting if you ask me. Why not bring through a rated youngster far more on his radar eg Mercer, Curry, Hill etc? Just an insult to Kvesic to ask him to stand in briefly. Standard Eddie IMO
— Hugh Walker (@HughWalker15) September 4, 2019
What these three selections do indicate is that these may be the three players that are the back-up options should injuries occur in Japan.
Kvesic played a lot of rugby at No8 for Exeter last season and that versatility will help, but it still seems late in the day to try him out if that is the case.
WATCH: Brian O’Driscoll tips England to win the World Cup
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 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 Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 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
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 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.
30 Go to comments