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New England assistant Richard Cockerill has insisted Eddie Jones’ squad is happy with their out-half options and an emergency call won’t be made to George Ford despite the confusion on Friday surrounding the availability of skipper Owen Farrell after he tested positive for Covid. The captain was named as the No10 on Thursday for Saturday’s match versus Tonga at Twickenham.
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It was set to be his 100th Test match appearance, as he has played on 93 occasions for England and another six times for the Lions. However, that milestone now might have to wait after Farrell was dragged into the Covid outbreak that emerged when a staff member tested positive for the virus on Thursday.
The positive staff member test resulted in additional testing being carried put and when the results came back overnight from a laboratory in Nottingham, it emerged that Farrell had returned a positive for his PCR and was now in isolation awaiting the results of further PCR and LFT tests.
If it is determined that Farrell had a false positive, he is likely to be available to still lead England out in their Autumn Nations Series opener but the outcome of these latest tests won’t be known until later on Friday.
Farrell skipped Friday morning’s captain’s run at Twickenham and his potential matchday absence has left England with a problem to solve – do they start replacement Marcus Smith at No10, even though it wasn’t until Friday that he managed to complete a full training session this week due to injury, or do they promote George Furbank, another Test level rookie, from the bench to start at out-half for the first time at international level?
BREAKING:#AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTONhttps://t.co/g8uOjEva3h
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 5, 2021
Furbank’s three previous starts with England have been at full-back, although he replaced Smith when he came off the bench when winning his fourth cap last July against Canada. That is a decision that Cockerill was understandably coy about given that Farrell hasn’t yet officially been ruled out of Saturday’s match. “He [Farrell] is in isolation. We are going through the normal protocols. He is fine. We are just waiting to see what happens next. We are all retesting and we will go through the protocols. Hopefully, he will be good to be playing for us but at this point [11am on Friday], we will just have to wait and see.
“As far as I am aware we should know at some point today what the situation will be. The medical team are going through those processes and the protocols. If Owen is available he will play, as simple as that. We will be guided by the medics and see exactly what the situation is. If he is good to go he will be in the team… No, that has not been possible (to identify the source of the outbreak). We don’t know where the source has come from. The medical team are working through that process as we speak.”
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Asked might an emergency call be put into Ford, who for years was Jones’ first choice No10 until he was axed from recent England squads, Cockerill added: “No. We are waiting on what happens with Owen and we are comfortable with the No10 options we have. Eddie will make those decisions, he is the guy that makes those calls. As and if appropriate, Eddie will do what he sees fit.
“That [calling up Ford or anyone else] is probably not a question for me. Eddie will make those calls. At this point in time, we are happy with the options we have at ten… We have got great options in both the leadership and the No10 position. Everybody (other than Farrell) has trained fully this morning and they are all fit and well.
“He [Furbank] has done it previously. He has trained in that (No10) position in the last couple of weeks. He is a very good option if required… He has played there for his club. He is a very talented player, great instincts and he will take it in his stride. We have got no concerns with our options in that position. Whoever starts and finishes there is more than capable of doing what we need them to do.”
Cockerill felt that the Friday morning upheaval won’t affect the England focus. “We have got a leadership group, we have got a good group of players and things get thrown at you so you just have to deal with the adversity and we just have to take the next step forward.
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“We have done that. I’m not sure I particularly want to discuss who was playing where and why in the captain’s run, that is not for me to discuss or give away. We are well prepared, we have contingencies. We have got a resilient group and it is a good test for this group to make sure whatever happens we perform and do exactly what we want to do.”
Eddie Jones has revamped the leadership group providing support to England skipper Owen Farrell #AutumnNationsSeries #England #ENGvTONhttps://t.co/JEX6JDIM2P
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 5, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben 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.
19 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.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments