'Not my decision' - Jones issues Owen Farrell update amid false positive claims
England are hopeful Owen Farrell will be available to face Australia in the belief that he missed Saturday’s 69-3 victory over Tonga because of a false-positive coronavirus test.
Farrell was forced to watch the opening instalment of the Autumn Nations Series at Twickenham from isolation at the squad’s base in Surrey.
Under Government guidelines, the England captain must quarantine for 10 days but Eddie Jones insists discussions with Public Health England are ongoing after wing Jonny May suggested the case is a false-positive.
Farrell’s withdrawal was announced only 90 minutes before kick-off and Jones refused to rule him out when the Wallabies arrive next weekend.
“It’s very clear and very simple. We are just following the Covid regulations and protocols and are awaiting further guidance,” Jones said.
“It is not my decision, it is Public Health’s, so we leave it to them and we are just waiting. We have done everything we are supposed to do.
“We knew 100 per cent he wasn’t going to be involved this (Saturday) morning and in terms of when he’s going to get out, if you could give a ring to Public Health England that would be most appreciated.”
May grabbed two tries against the outgunned Tongans but admitted he woke up fearing the match would be called off if additional PCR testing revealed a more extensive outbreak.
Reminded everyone that his eye for a gap is as acute as ever when creating and finishing a blindside try on the stroke of half-time.https://t.co/eEonoG0Fay
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2021
“It was stressful. It’s hard enough preparing for a Test match without all of that,” May said.
“On Thursday morning we have got a positive in the camp, we are about to train and we have all got to go back to our rooms and all have to PCR and lateral flow and we are not sure if we are going to train.
“In 20 minutes the message comes out we have got to race down and get training, all PCR, everybody is nervous…what if a positive comes back? Are we going to get a game in?
“Then Owen has obviously got a positive test back, it looks by all accounts to be a false positive and that is a different discussion.
PLAYER RATINGS: Despite a huge effort from Wales in a titanic struggle, the Springboks' power game ultimately told in Cardiff.
Here's how we rated the Welsh players, from an 8.5 to a 4 #WALvRSA #AutumnNationsSeries https://t.co/uAxMqxiULS
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 6, 2021
“I was worried about coming down to breakfast this morning and the game not being on if we had had a few more positives. To perform under those conditions and distractions is credit to the team.
“It didn’t knock us off our stride but it was a distraction that we dealt with well. It was challenging.”
The void created at fly-half by Farrell’s absence was initially filled by George Furbank, who showed some neat touches despite playing the majority of his rugby at full-back.
And Marcus Smith picked up the baton when he replaced Furbank in the third quarter, celebrating his third cap by scoring a try and setting up two more in a high-octane cameo.
“It was a difficult game for those two guys because the bulk of training at 10 has been done by Owen in the last two weeks,” Jones said.
“They both acquitted themselves well and we are really pleased with their progress.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments