1
Slade's inclusion leaves fans hopeful of an England midfield revival
Henry Slade’s return to the England squad is being welcomed after missing the first two rounds of Six Nations action.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Exeter Chiefs centre was a mainstay of Eddie Jones’ side in 2019, either in the starting XV or from the bench, but has been recovering from a fractured ankle which he sustained in December.
He is in the 25-man England training squad ahead of Ireland’s visit to Twickenham on February 23 alongside centre partner Manu Tuilagi, who missed the Calcutta Cup clash after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury against France the week before.
Slade’s partnership with Tuilagi was one of the biggest breakthroughs of 2019 for Jones, and the way he was able to chop and change between those two – and other combinations with George Ford and Owen Farrell – meant the Australian always had options for whoever England were playing.
This was most clearly shown in the World Cup where the Farrell-Tuilagi-Slade combination was used to combat a strong Australian midfield in the quarter-final, but the Ford-Farrell-Tuilagi combination was utilised a week later against the All Blacks.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8cHLUbAnsO/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
No country has needed someone more than england need @Sladey_10 right now. Where are England's trys coming from?? THIS MAN!
— RJ WINSTON (@RJWINSTON1) February 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/RichNeasom/status/1227300343316439042?s=20
Much needed!!!
— Ryan Mcsween (@RyanMcsweeney20) February 11, 2020
Definitely needs to be in the squad.
— Stuart Lusted (@YattonStu) February 11, 2020
Not only does Slade have a high class distributing and offloading game at outside centre, but his kicking game is fundamental to the way in which England play, particularly with Jonny May chasing. His subtlety and creativity complement Tuilagi’s power, which is what made them so dangerous.
ADVERTISEMENT
Even if Jones opted to play Ford at fly-half, Farrell at inside centre and Tuilagi in the 13 shirt, Slade still provided a lot of options from the bench with the players being so versatile positionally.
To play the bulk of the Six Nations so far without two of England’s most crucial midfield players last year has cost them.
2 kicks from 5 not good stats. But agree either play him at 10 or have him in the bench and swap for ford. Can we have Tuilagi and slade fit for the next game, miss their centre partnership we definitely need that back again.
— Victoria Squires (@Vikki_squires) February 8, 2020
I think we miss Slade and Nowell the most. I honestly don’t see the point of keeping Daly in the team, he doesn’t fit the England back line and there are better options. Would love Thorley to get his chance.
— Steve (@duffers_86) February 6, 2020
Tuilagi lasted less than 20 minutes in the loss to France, meaning Jonathan Joseph partnered Farrell and Ford, which proved to be fairly lightweight against a brutal French defence.
ADVERTISEMENT
The potential return of both Tuilagi and Slade could make an immeasurable impact in England’s hopes of beating Ireland, particularly after the two of them were so effective in the same fixture at the Aviva Stadium last year.
Most importantly, it gives Jones options for the rest of the tournament and a chance to get England back on track.
WATCH: Clubs fear RFU’s savage second-tier funding cut will affect many people’s livelihoods
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 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
1 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 Crusades , you can keep going.
1 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!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 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.
27 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 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments