The three apprentices Eddie Jones must name in his Six Nations squad
The concept of selecting apprentices is nothing new in international rugby, although it is also fair to say that it is something which has come back en vogue in the northern hemisphere following the hiring of Eddie Jones as England head coach.
In 2017, Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith and Bath No8 Zach Mercer were included as apprentices in a senior England squad before wing Gabriel Ibitoye and back row Sam Moore took up similar roles in 2018.
The bug is spreading, too, as new Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named four ‘development players’ in his Guinness Six Nations squad with Leinster trio Ryan Baird, Harry Byrne and Will Connors, along with Ulster wing Robert Baloucoune, all making the cut.
Wayne Pivac’s Wales and Gregor Townsend’s Scotland both resisted the temptation to do likewise, while Italy and France have both named youthful squads, albeit without specific apprentices.
England are the only Six Nations side yet to name their squad, with Jones set to confirm his selection on Monday. With the group that made it to the World Cup final relatively young and very few players of an age that would preclude them from the 2023 tournament, Jones is not expected to make dramatic changes to his side.
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Northampton Saints full-back George Furbank is in the conversation, as are Harlequins’ Alex Dombrandt and Saracens’ Ben Spencer, although all three are established senior players and would not qualify as apprentices. With all three having significant club responsibilities, their inclusion as apprentices would be wasteful and do nothing to enhance club-country relations.
That said, there are a lot of suitable candidates for apprenticeships out there, players with the talent and natural ability to one day be England regulars, as well as a lack of opportunities at the senior level at their current club so as not to make the experience an ineffective use of their time.
One such player would be Leicester Tigers’ Freddie Steward, with the full-back already earning sporadic appearances at the senior level for the East Midlands club, despite only leaving school last summer.
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At 6ft 5ins, Steward has the perfect frame to be the sort of rangy and aerially adept full-back that is coveted in the modern game, while his long stride length allows him to eat up ground quickly and turn half-breaks into big gains. A booming boot, comfortable with the ball in hand and able to deliver accurate and physical tackles as the last line of defence, the 19-year-old is certainly one to keep an eye on.
Mike Brown’s time with England looks to be over, Alex Goode has never been a favourite of Jones and though Furbank is playing well, the competition to Elliot Daly seems to be few and far between, particularly with Jones rarely opting to use Anthony Watson or Jack Nowell in that role. A glimpse into this environment could be very fruitful for Steward.
Another player in a similar boat to Steward is Sale Sharks’ Raffi Quirke. If he continues developing, the scrum-half is faced with potential opportunity at the senior international level where competition, at least in Jones’ eyes, is slim for incumbent Ben Youngs.
We would be generous if we said the Welsh enjoy a wholly cordial rivalry with their rivals over the border, but they have in truth much to thank their England neighbours for this week, writes @OwainJTJoneshttps://t.co/4I2rN9XYye
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At 32 years of age, Willi Heinz is unlikely to be in the mix at the next World Cup, leaving Ben Spencer, Dan Robson and Jack Maunder as the only realistic options that Jones has experimented with during his tenure. Robson has never really been given a shot and Maunder has fallen away, at least in England terms, since bursting onto the scene as a 20-year-old, leaving Spencer as the likely frontrunner.
Jones would not have a player ready for international rugby in Quirke, although he would have a gifted nine whose passing, ability to attack the fringes, tempo and game management all stack up very nicely for a player so fresh out of school. An understanding of the international environment and what is expected of players at that level would be beneficial for Quirke, especially with limited chances to appear for Sale during the international window.
The third and final apprentice we would put forward is London Irish’s Chunya Munga, with the lock having been a head-scratching omission from the England under-20s side that was named recently. Lock is rarely talked about as a position of change or renewal for England and understandably so given the quartet of Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes and Joe Launchbury, although by the end of February Lawes will be 31 and Kruis will be 30.
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The Scotlands coach has hit out at the scheduling of Saracens’ Gallagher Premiership clash with Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop just six days before the Scots kick-off their championships against Ireland in Dublin on February 1.
Throw into the mix that the latter is rumoured to be off to Japan and thus become ineligible for England selection, it wouldn’t hurt to have one or two more irons in the fire. Munga is a skilful lineout forward for his age, has prototypical size for the position and is developing into a player who can be a force in the loose as well as at the set-piece.
The under-20s are carrying just two out-and-out locks in George Martin and Hugh Tizard, instead opting for back row who can also play the position, such as Richard Capstick. The chance to work with Steve Borthwick and Matt Proudfoot would be valuable to Munga, who could become a very important player for Irish in the coming seasons.
Other names worthy of mention include Alfie Barbeary, Max Ojomoh and Josh Gillespie. Barbeary has been dealing with injury issues of late and consistent games in the under-20 Six Nations may be more important for the hooker as he bids to return to full fitness, as he will be looking to make an impact with the Wasps senior side in the second half of the season.
'His unchallenged message is that his squad is dynamic, powerful and aggressive with a lot of skill and speed, a nice soundbite if rah-rah soundbites are your thing twelve-and-a-half weeks on from World Cup crucifixion by the All Blacks,' writes @heagneyl
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Centre Ojomoh is arguably too valuable to the under-20s to let him out of camp, with new under-20s head coach Alan Dickens having selected plenty of fly-halves and full-backs but very few genuine ball-carrying centres. If Ojomoh were removed from the squad, Sale’s Connor Doherty would be the only midfielder of that type in the age-grade side.
Finally, we come to versatile Northampton back Gillespie, who sits behind Ollie Sleightholme in both the Saints and England under-20s pecking orders, although he boasts an impressively high ceiling wherever in the backline that may ultimately see him positioned. With England’s wing options falling into a largely favourable age profile, his introduction into that environment is arguably not as vital as those of Steward, Quirke and Munga, though.
The concept of apprentices doesn’t sit well with everyone, although with this trio unlikely to be involved in senior rugby at their club sides over the Six Nations period, time in a testing and new environment should only be a positive move for them.
For Steward, Quirke and Munga, this could be a big step on their pathways to achieving as much as they possibly can in professional rugby.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 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
3 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 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.
30 Go to comments