No need to rush Itoje back - a six-point manifesto for calling up 6'5, 128kg U20s star Kpoku
Despite a largely successful Guinness Six Nations so far, one area in which England have seemed to have had no luck has been with their locks.
Maro Itoje turned in a highly-impressive performance in Dublin before injury ruled him out of the contests with France and Wales, whilst Courtney Lawes stepped up to the plate in fine fashion, filling the Itoje void in those two matches, before injury also struck him down.
Eddie Jones and his side now go into a two-week preparation for the visit of Italy to Twickenham, with Lawes certainly ruled out and Itoje in a race against time to be fit.
It’s far from the end of the world, with the second row one of the areas where England can take a couple of injuries and still field top class international-level players, something that may well be shown against the Azzurri, where Jones could turn to Joe Launchbury to partner George Kruis. That’s a pretty good combination to be relying on after losing two players as impactful as Itoje and Lawes.
There is already talk that Itoje may be back for the fixture, with England defence coach John Mitchell having refused to rule him out ahead of the Wales game, but there should be no urgency from England to usher him back into the matchday 23 if there is even the slightest doubt about his fitness. This is a Rugby World Cup year, after all.
Factor in that Itoje is likely to have a busy end to the domestic season, with Saracens almost certain to be involved in the Gallagher Premiership playoffs and more than capable of making a deep run in the European knockouts. Throw into the mix that half the games he’ll play in those club fixtures will be on the slightly less forgiving rubber crumb of Allianz Park and you have a compelling case for managing his workload.
Of course, if Itoje is 100% fit, his selection is a no-brainer. He provides so much impact at the set-piece, in the loose and at the contact area, whilst also being one of the field generals on the pitch. What, though, will England learn from involving him against Italy? Unless they decided spontaneously to see how he’d shoulder the burden of captaincy, there’s probably nothing to learn from the fixture on him that is worth risking re-aggravating an injury or even just adding to what will be an intensely demanding workload for him in 2019.
The answer could be to call up 19-year-old lock Joel Kpoku.
Calling up a teenager in a Rugby World Cup year might sound like madness, but bear with us as we explain the reasoning with our six-point manifesto.
Continue reading below…
Watch: Eddie Jones and Owen Farrell speak to the media after England’s 21-13 loss in Cardiff
Succession
England have four established second row options in Itoje, Lawes, Kruis and Launchbury. That’s not going to change between now and the team jetting off to Japan later this year. It’s cruel on the likes of Ed Slater and Dave Attwood, who are having very strong seasons, but given their age profiles, they are unlikely to challenge that quartet from the 2019/20 season onwards. Kpoku, alongside the likes of Nick Isiekwe and Charlie Ewels, are more likely to do so.
Opportunity
Itoje’s international welcome came just before the Rugby World Cup in 2015, when he played in the Saxons’ 18-9 win over the Irish Wolfhounds. With the Saxons now effectively defunct, Kpoku won’t have that same opportunity. Italy have shown they are not to be taken lightly, but this is the kind of match where he could offer an option off the bench and there should still – with all due respect to Italy – be the quality and experience in the England squad to cope with the expectations and win the match.
Pathway
The responsibility of the U20s – and the whole pathway – is not to win games and World Rugby Championships, it’s to identify top-end talent and get them used to an international environment, preparing them to be contributors at the senior level. That pathway should always be looking to test players, to make them more resilient, more confident and better equipped to deal with the challenges they will face as professional players. For some, that means fast-tracking, and it certainly hasn’t hurt the careers of Isiekwe, Tom Curry and Ted Hill to date. Kpoku is one of the players who is relatively comfortable at the U20 level and whilst that is not to say he isn’t pushing himself as hard as possible, it’s just that he could be pushed even more effectively in a different and more challenging environment.
Carrying
One of the problems for England last season was that they lacked potent carrying threats in their pack. This year has seen a marked improvement in that area, but with Itoje, Lawes and Mako Vunipola all sidelined, that’s three of the most adept ball-handlers and gain-line-breakers out of the picture. It puts a heavy strain on Curry and Billy Vunipola and adding another player capable, already, of being able to have similar success with ball in hand at the senior level, would not hurt England. You need to be confident to keep toting the rock, to borrow a phrase from the NFL, and to use your handling skills in pressure environments, so building his confidence at the next level will be key. A pre-Rugby World Cup outing, just as Itoje got in 2015, could be key to providing that.
Physicality and conditioning
Kpoku is a big man. He was living with and replicating the physicality of the likes of Demba Bamba last season in the U20s and this year he has shown that again, as well as demonstrating it at the senior level in the opportunities he has been given by Saracens. Bamba, Marcos Kremer, Rieko Ioane and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, England aren’t the only nation who has felt comfortable blooding the physically-remarkable players early. There is a lot of talk of “test match animals” and certain players not having the physical ability to be able to replicate what they do at club level in the international game, but it’s probably not a critique you can throw Kpoku’s way.
Experience
What is to be lost by at least calling him up for the next two weeks of training? If Itoje’s comeback from injury goes to plan, he’s 100% fit and Jones decides to bring him back in for the test against Italy, Kpoku will only have gained from being in the camp during that time. He was called into the preseason training camp, getting a taste of what it’s like, but to spend time involved in the midst of the Six Nations, training against the senior Georgian pack – who are joining England in their Oxford training camp – could prove immeasurably valuable. The intensity of this training camp and the presence of opponents, rather than teammates, is likely to make it as gruelling as any under Jones.
No one is suggesting Kpoku will be on the plane to Japan come September, but the second row really is one position where England can still afford to be thinking about succession so close to the tournament, whilst still taking a cohesive and talent-rich group of players to the Rugby World Cup.
Kruis is locked in at Saracens until 2021 and Itoje has committed until 2022, but both Launchbury and Lawes go into contract years in 2020. You could not begrudge either of them the potentially higher earnings in France or a more lucrative £-to-game arrangement in Japan, so whilst England’s depth of locks is in fine shape at the moment, that is not a guaranteed situation beyond 2020. Finding contributors for the 2023 and 2027 Rugby World Cups is something to put on the to do list, even if it is not the most urgent of priorities.
Similarly, no-one could begrudge the likes of Slater or Attwood a call-up for this game, with both meriting it based on their form this season. As a pair, they would both have many more caps if it were not for the current quartet having transitioned to international rugby so well over the last couple of cycles.
The tough question to answer is does giving either of them a game against Italy offer enough short-term benefit in terms of an identification of England’s 5th lock on the depth chart, to outstrip the benefit Kpoku’s inclusion would provide long-term in England’s bid to maintain consistent success at the top of the international game?
Answering questions like that are why Jones gets paid the big bucks.
Watch: Warren Gatland and Alun Wyn Jones speak to the press after beating England
Comments on RugbyPass
The 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?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 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 comments