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Watch: England's new 'Jonah Lomu' Joe Cokanasiga brutalises Wallabies in breakout display


Joe Cokanasiga celebrates scoring a try for England (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
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England’s new wing Joe Cokanasiga exploded against the Wallabies in an uncontainable display of power running, giving England fans serious excitement and Eddie Jones a serious selection conundrum ahead of the Six Nations.

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After scoring on debut against Japan last week, he clocked up 107 metres on seven carries, beating seven defenders and making three line breaks.

He will give Dane Haylett-Petty nightmares after slipping his tackle and racing away to score with ease.

“It was like watching Dane Haylett-Petty run into a brick wall as he tried to stop Joe Cokanasiga,” former England captain Mike Tindall said on BBC Sport.

He wasn’t finished with Haylett-Petty yet, showcasing his physicality with a tearing kick-return through the Wallabies defence.

With the line in sight, Cokanasiga opted to detour so he could run directly at Dane Haylett-Petty, flattening him before being held just short by a desperate tackle from Michael Hooper.

https://twitter.com/TeacherChemist/status/1066366881081245696

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The 21-year-old has been labeled by some as England’s ‘Jonah Lomu’ after the breakout match, with fans salivating over the prospect. He received his second straight fans’ man-of-the-match award after the performance.

The addition of Cokanasiga on the end of a backline with Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi gives Jones a possible power back line-up nothing like he has had since taking over in 2016.

The Fijian-born winger, who moved to Bath this year after his club London Irish was relegated, is sure to feature in next year’s Six Nations and could be a bolter for England’s World Cup squad.

In other news:

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Phantom 47 minutes ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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