'We're not going to name it': England decide to play waiting game
Eddie Jones will delay publicly revealing his latest England squad leadership group until he names the team that will take on Scotland in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations on February 5. The English boss placed great emphasis some months ago on how he changed up the approach to running his squad for the Autumn Nations Series.
When naming the team for that series opener versus Tonga, Jones nominated Ellis Genge, Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry as vice-captains in an XV that was to be skippered by Owen Farrell.
“The leadership team’s job is to influence and get the best out of the team and we feel that the greater the diversity in the leadership team, particularly with the number of young guys in the team, is suited by having those three guys as vice-captains,” he explained at the time.
This revamp was quickly put to the test with Farrell a late drop-out from the team that started that opening match in November, his isolation resulting in Lawes taking over the matchday captaincy – a role he was to reprise a fortnight later versus the Springboks when Farrell was again unavailable.
It was last week when Farrell was named England skipper for the upcoming Six Nations but that plan has been scuppered by his latest injury setback. Farrell will now miss the entire championship and with Lawes currently going through the return to play protocol following a concussion, Jones has held off publicly announcing his team’s leadership group for the start of the tournament.
“We are not going to name it,” he said. “We are going to wait until we name the team for Scotland but we have got a group of players that are assuming responsibility for their job. And the reason I am not going to name it is there is the core leadership and there is a greater leadership group. For instance, we had two events on Tuesday that were run by the team. The first one was with Jessica Ennis and George Furbank and Maro (Itoje) took responsibility for that.
“Then in the nighttime, we had team communications (meeting) that we ended up having I think in a pub (due to a fire-enforced hotel evacuation). So they had it in a pub and Maro took responsibility for it. What we are trying to do is there will be a core group which is made up of four of five vice-captains but they are almost like the cabinet and they have got to make sure they devolve some roles and responsibilities to other guys in the team.”
Saracens boss Mark McCall has endorsed the leadership abilities of his player Itoje. “Maro has been outstanding around our group. He has always been a player who leads by example but he has added way more to that, especially in the last two or three months. The influence he has on his teammates has been outstanding.”
Curry, one of the November vice-captains, paid tribute to the absent Farrell and gave his take on the leadership approach within the England squad leading into the Six Nations. “Owen is gutted and he is a brilliant player. The strength and the direction we are going in is group thing in terms of the leadership group, there is a brilliant voice in there with a great experience.
“Owen is a great player and a great leader but we have got to make sure we step up and that is the exciting challenge. Yeah, it doesn’t fall on one person’s shoulders or one person’s responsibility – that is where we can pull together and push forward in a really good direction.”
The hotel evacuation, injuries and covid have made for an eventful preparation week in Brighton, but the unexpected is something Jones and co have enthusiastically embraced. “We don’t ask for it but when it comes our way we accept it and I really like how the players handle it, how they just take it in their stride and get on with it,” said the England coach.
“The game of rugby teaches you that. We had that difficult game in Wales last year where possibly two decisions were maybe highly debatable and we didn’t handle that as a team as well as we would have liked and we want to learn from that.
“All these sorts of things that we have had over the last 48 hours are opportunities for us to get a little bit stronger and a little bit more adaptable and think quicker on our feet. You don’t suddenly become a team that is adaptable, you are always moving towards it and we are moving in the right direction.”
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
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