Size matters for England in Argentina
Relatively unknown monsters in England shirts are heading to South America next month. James Harrington wonders why.
England coach Eddie Jones has, on the whole, been treading softly amid all the noise of the impending Lions’ tour.
But this week he briefly popped his head above the parapet to explain why he had selected an XXXL backline for England’s Lions-shorn two-Test Argentina tour.
The backs in the Premiership are too small, he claimed, saying the off-season South American jaunt would give him the chance to blood a new batch of heavyweight contenders.
So, now we know. Size is why Jones has opted for 19-year-old 114kg London Irish wing Joe Cokanasiga, and Saracens’ 22-year-old 99kg fifth-choice wideman Nathan Earle ahead of, say, Wasps 86kg cruiserweight Christian Wade – whose record-breaking 17 Premiership tries this season came, apparently, despite the fact he’s such a little guy.
Never mind that England U20 international Cokanasiga has never played top-flight domestic rugby, and has featured in only seven games in the second-tier Championship. Never mind that Earle has started just four games for Saracens since heading north from New Zealand at the start of the year, and is a long-term investment for the club that Jones is trying to push through.
This is why 1.95m, 108kg 20-year-old Harry Mallinder will loom like a blond clean-shaven Chewbacca alongside the 1.89m, 96kg 24-year-old Henry Slade in a midfield the size of a small planet. Even the relatively small cross-code, cross-hemisphere Denny Solomona comes in at 91kg – but that’s still 1kg less than fly-half Alex Lozowski.
Of the backs heading to Argentina, George Ford is among the smallest at a mere 84kg. Hell, even scrum-half Jack Maunder is 83kg – and they’re supposed to be small. Danny Care is 85kg, but late training camp surprise call-up Willi Heinz is well into the 90kgs category.
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In Cokanasiga and Earle – and to a lesser extent Mallinder – Jones has opted for youth, neck-injuring size and raw envy-inducing talent. Players to be moulded and polished. He has form for recognising the dazzling qualities of unhewn diamonds. He found, nurtured and delivered unto rugby superstardom none other than George Smith.
Is he hoping to do it again? He’s given himself every opportunity with a squad featuring 15 uncapped players. Many will be cast aside in the months and years ahead of the World Cup in Japan, such is the cruel and uncompromising nature of international rugby. But others will shine bright and make lasting impressions.
But this size thing is surprising. Jones wants a backline of players who are more than 94kg – more than Beauden Barrett, Cory Jane, Nehe Milner-Skudder, a trio of players who, it has to be said, have done OK despite their seeming absence of weight.
Maybe Eddie has seen something in his crystal ball. It has rained tries in all domestic competitions this season. They’re going white line-mad in Super Rugby, the three European leagues all broke their try-scoring records before the playoffs. But this golden nimble-footed hot-stepping try-frenzy period, too, shall pass.
Defences will catch up. And the first-strike catch-all weapon for any defence is size. Jones is looking World Cup-distances down the line. And he’s betting big for … well … big. We’ll just have to wait and see whether he’s right.
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