'The new Sam Simmonds': England's latest ongoing selection snub stuns fans
England fans have hit out following the omission of star playmaker George Ford from Eddie Jones’ Six Nations squad ahead of next month’s tournament.
Since the 2019 World Cup, Jones has moved to rejuvenate his England side – which currently featured six uncapped players – by letting go of the stars that were such an integral part of their run to the final.
As such, there were no recalls for the Vunipola brothers, Billy and Mako, but many expected that on form George Ford would earn a reprieve. Jones, however, went with a 20-year-old up-and-comer.
Sam Underhill, Elliot Daly, Alex Lozowski, George Ford, both Vunipola’s & Ben Earl all miss out on the England squad.
The above names would make any other national squad IMO.
Eddie Jones’ job will come down to these type of calls.
Ford has been best 10 in rugby since Aug.
Wow
— Richie Allen (@Richie_Allen) January 18, 2022
The selection of uncapped flyhalf Orlando Bailey over the established Ford is one England fans can’t get their heads around.
Bailey is with the Premiership’s worst performing team at the bottom of the ladder with Bath, while Ford, who is still in his prime at 28-year-old, is at the top with the in-form Leicester Tigers.
Fellow flyhalf Owen Farrell, who Ford has spent forging a partnership with since their age-grade days, was instead included despite being sidelined with an injury picked up against the Wallabies two months ago.
England fans were shocked at the omission and tried to speculate online why the Tigers No 10 had not been included. One described the snub as “criminal”, and another said it “doesn’t make sense”.
The one area many fans believed Bailey had an advantage over Ford was on defence, which they attributed to the youngster’s bigger frame.
Can someone remind Eddie that George Ford is only 28 and not 33…
He’s just won Premiership Player of the Month twice!
The new Sam Simmonds…
— RugbyInsideLine (@RugbyInsideLine) January 18, 2022
The biggest shock for me today in terms of the England squad is the omission of George Ford. The Tigers fly half has looked exceptional so far this season and could easily have been a contender for the 10 jersey. Englands potential loss is certainly Leicesters gain
— MBRugby (@MbRugby) January 18, 2022
Seen a lot of Orlando Bailey vs George Ford chat, but isn’t the former’s selection more a comment on Eddie Jones’ faith in George Furbank and Max Malins to play fly-half? He clearly wants to find the best multi-position back that can cover 10 for 2023 – Ford isn’t that
— Jake Goodwill (@jakegoodwill1) January 18, 2022
Doubt anybody right now thinks Orlando Bailey is a better player than George Ford. But that’s not the point I suspect in Eddie’s mind. Smith & Farrell are his first choice fly-halves, he wants to look at other backs who can cover multiple positions and there’s no room for Ford.
— Nick Mullins (@andNickMullins) January 18, 2022
Ford no more than a speedbump on defence, Smith and Bailey are right now and the future
— HandsintheRuck (@Handsintheruck1) January 18, 2022
Best defensive 10 in the 2019 six nations and has the best defence in the prem for every 10 with more than 100 tackles. Your point?
— joe40hands (@joe40hands) January 18, 2022
Want to know what am missing here? How has Farrell got in over George Ford ??? Someone explain please
— Kian ? (@Kianshane666) January 18, 2022
No George Ford is criminal https://t.co/FGfQBvvSDN
— Henryk Smolinski (@HenrykSmolinski) January 18, 2022
George Ford Gallagher player of the month twice, just this season. Doesn’t make sense
— Rayner Wilson (@RaynerWilson1) January 18, 2022
I’m probably the biggest George Ford fan out there, but I completely understand why Ford hasn’t been picked. Evidently, Jones has a certain way he wants to play with the 10 performing a certain role that probably wouldn’t suit Ford. No point forcing him in.
— T (@__TRob__) January 18, 2022
With Marcus Smith playing a starring role for England against the Springboks, Jones’ top two flyhalves seem to be the Harlequins pivot and Farrell, who can also cover No 12 if needed.
Ford falling out of Jones’ favour comes five years after the England boss claimed that he could be “better than Beauden Barrett” back in 2016 following a big win over Fiji.
“I think George can be better than Beauden Barrett. People rave about Beauden Barrett but I don’t,” said Jones at the time.
“I just think George has got a great feel for the game. He sees opportunities. He needs to work on his running game a bit, needs to be more of a threat himself.
“He’s actually too selfless. He needs to be a bit more selfish with the ball at times. But his alignment on some of the phase ball was absolutely outstanding, the best I have seen for a long time.”
With Ford arguably the form player of the Premiership this season, fans are rightly wondering what went wrong as he looks in at the England squad in from the outside leading up to the Six Nations.
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments