'Off the field we're as tight a team as I've ever been a part of'
Courtney Lawes has called for patience as England rebuild for next year’s World Cup by rolling the dice in selection for Saturday’s second Test against Australia.
Eddie Jones has undertaken a radical revamp of the back line for the attempt to keep the series alive at Suncorp Stadium by giving debuts to centre Guy Porter and wing Tommy Freeman, as well as a first start to scrum Jack van Poortvliet.
The fourth and final change to the side dispatched 30-28 in Perth sees Sam Underhill replace Tom Curry, whose tour has been ended by concussion.
Jones hopes Porter and Freeman, who have been picked at the expense of Joe Marchant and Joe Cokanasiga, will provide the ball-carrying threat in midfield and finishing expertise out wide that were missing from the first Test.
England’s head coach has risked the wrath of fans by continuing to identify France 2023 as the ultimate aim, even as his team bid to avoid crashing to a series defeat in a match he describes as “the perfect practice for the World Cup”.
Lawes insists senior red rose players fully support the direction of travel, despite Jones’ scattergun approach to selection, while stressing that progress will take time.
“Just because we have a new team and a new strategy, and are trying to find our DNA as a team, because we’ve got so many new players doesn’t mean that we don’t feel like we’re good enough to beat Australia. We certainly do,” England’s captain said.
“We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we win the series. But at the same time, yes, we’ve had the conversation that we’re making these changes for a reason.
“We think it will open up our potential and we’ll be a better team for it. Maybe not now, it’s going to take time to get there and we are going to have patience.
“We are going to go through ups and downs, that’s for sure. But as long as we’re building towards an end product which is in the forefront of our minds, that is the main thing for us.
“Off the field we’re as tight a team as I’ve ever been a part of in an England jersey. That is 100 per cent genuine. Because of that we’re all on the same page.
“We have full confidence that we’re going to go out and win this weekend. But we also understand that we’re going to make some mistakes, we’re going to have to tweak some things, we’re going to have to find some things out about ourselves and we’re going to have to keep on improving week on week.
“The performance is more important for us. Definitely. I’m taking nothing away from the win because we’d absolutely love to win, but developing as a team and taking us in the right direction is definitely at the forefront of our minds.”
England want Porter to bring power to the midfield, thereby reprising a role he has performed with success for Leicester during their march to the Premiership title this season.
The 25-year-old spent his early years in London before moving to Australia where he came through the Wallabies’ academy system and gained a contract for the Brumbies, staying with the Super Rugby team until agreeing to join Leicester in 2020.
Freeman has been an explosive force for Northampton, using his 6ft 2ins and 16st frame to electric effect in the back three. Jones’ hope is that both players will go hunting for the ball.
“Guy has had to struggle to get to the top. His form consistently for Leicester was high class,” Jones said.
“He plays a good, physical game and against Australia – who have a big back line – we need to be physical.
“Tommy’s a good rugby player. He’s got a good feel for the game. We missed a couple of opportunities on Saturday and he’s the sort of guy who could take those sort of opportunities.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Hats 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.
1 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?
2 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.
23 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
2 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
21 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.
1 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.
13 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.
21 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
13 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
23 Go to commentsVern challenging this Blues side might be the edge they need to fulfill their potential. Convincing results from strong D and strong carries are hard to argue against.
1 Go to commentsLove seems to add a strong back field defense with speed to close the gap and tackle to his ability to attack, kick and pass (an accurate long pass). This sets him an edge over some of the other names - JRK in particular. Has to be said that Jordan and Stevenson have also been exposed defensively while Love has yet to face test match intensity. Spoilt for choice.
1 Go to commentsHe’s strung together a few strong seasons, I’d like to see him in the ABs and build some depth along with Reiko and ALB. Levi Aumua hasn’t taken the step we hoped to see but time yet.
2 Go to commentsWhere has our good friend Pecos gone!? Similar place to the Crusaders D, the abyss.
4 Go to commentsNice piece Nick. I haven’t seen much of the brumbies this year so will keep my powder dry on charlie, but clearly has the speed and footwork to be damaging in space. Similar to Samu, I’d worry about the size of our pack if the likes of Mcreight and Cale were in the b/row together. Maybe Cale could play a similar finisher role like Samu did for Rennie’s wallabies. Has Cale leapfrogged wilson in your eyes? He obviously has the lineout, but harry probably better (although not great) in the physical stuff and also has great hands in the loose. You’d have to say mcreight and valetini are shoe-ins at 7/8, so the question becomes who matches best with them at 6 and on the bench. I don’t know if he has a high enough ceiling, but id love to see wright given a shot based on how much bad luck he has had with injuries. He may also fit that no-nonsense graft/work rate irish approach…? If schmidt wants size and a 4/6 tweener then I’d probably pick Uru. On the bench I’d have no idea, Wilson if you want to give valetini a rest, and maybe hanigan/wright/uru as 6 replacements.
21 Go to comments