'That's rough' - The Eddie Jones' selection sacrifice that's upset England fans
Eddie Jones’ England squad to face Italy this Saturday was always going to cause debate after such a poor showing against Scotland.
The Australian had two options, either make wholesale changes and include in-form players, which seems to be a popular option online, or back his experienced players to gel after a disjointed and listless Calcutta Cup display.
He opted for the latter, and though that has not been entirely well received, it is understandable. By bringing Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Courtney Lawes and George Ford to the starting XV for Saturday, he has reverted to the players he trusts most to work the team out of the rut they appear to be in.
Mark Wilson and Ollie Lawrence are the two starters from last week that have dropped out of the squad completely, and there is a lot of sympathy for the two.
The Worcester Warriors centre appears to be the cruellest victim of Jones’ axe in the eyes of fans, pundits and former players. In a rare dalliance at inside centre the 21-year-old’s game was notoriously quiet, with his only carry of the entire game, for zero metres, coming after 60 minutes.
But in an England team that seem to be hardwired to not pass nor play with any semblance of width, Lawrence can hardly be blamed for this performance. The onus could fall on him to find more action in attack, but the majority of people think the players inside him have let him down on this occasion.
With only three starts to his name so far against Georgia, Ireland and Scotland, Lawrence has only been involved in turgid, defensive or downright deplorable performances; now being dropped is a rough start to a Test career.
The match against Italy has traditionally been Jones’ chance to shake things up and experiment with new combinations and players, perhaps a better platform to trial Lawrence at No12. But he can ill-afford to do so on this occasion and now seeks to instill some confidence, and even fitness, to what is close to his favoured XV. In an unfair twist for England fans, Lawrence is the unlucky omission.
Good to see Cowan-Dickie get a shot. Thought Lawrence may have kept his jersey tho, against ITA he could of thrived. Thought Wilson may have been on the bench at the very least too. Good to see Willis included tho. Hope to see him and Earl get a run out together on the flanks. https://t.co/4YiE78oIbp
— Maggie Alphonsi MBE (@MaggieAlphonsi) February 11, 2021
So they drop Ollie Lawrence who only got given the ball once by Farrell and put Faz in at 12….how long have Eddie and Faz been sleeping together? Hopefully Ford doesn’t abide by the kick first mentality so our backs can actually play this time?? https://t.co/6RfE4sMTF9
— Sam Shaw (@sja_shaw) February 11, 2021
That’s rough on Lawrence. Perfect game for him to show what he’s capable of. Would have been nice to see Randall on the bench.
— Ellie Thomas (@Ellie2001thomas) February 11, 2021
I don’t know how Lawrence was dropped he wasn’t even given the chance to play bad and for some reason we now have another saracens player but I’m the front row. I’m genuinely scared we might lose to Italy
— lewis_no.11 (@lewr05) February 11, 2021
Love Eddie, but he’s sent such a poor message here. Axe has fallen on two players in Lawrence and Wilson whilst the sarries players (who were comfortably the worst on the pitch this weekend) retain their places. Billy and Daly HAD to be dropped. #ENGvITA #SixNations #englandrugby
— Ryan O’Connor (@roconnor77) February 11, 2021
Poor O Lawrence, put in a few big hits, didn’t get the ball at 12, imagine a 12 not getting the ball until 60+minutes, then dropped.
— Bangkokrugby (@BenjaminJRawson) February 11, 2021
On a hugely positive note great to see LCD start he’s the future not George. Wilson and Lawrence have been made scape goats … Billy V, Youngs and Daly had to be dropped to for their own good ? @jollygibbo
— Sam Gibbons (@SamGibbons89) February 11, 2021
Why keep picking Lawrence, never give him the ball and then drop him for Ford because Farrell had (another) crap game at fly half?????
— Crutch (@crutch7779) February 11, 2021
Lawrence dropped. You’ve got to laugh really ?
Forza Italia https://t.co/8lwJ4nDXGk
— Worcester Faithful (@WorcsFaithful) February 11, 2021
– 6-2 bench split.
– No Randall or Odogwu against our weakest opponents.
– Lawrence dropped after a game where he never got a chance to show what’s he’s all about.Eddie has been brilliant over the years but this is uninspiring and frustrating as he always picks his favourites
ADVERTISEMENT— George Uppington (@uppy89) February 11, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Beaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
2 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
1 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
2 Go to commentsJake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
39 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
39 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
14 Go to comments