Why Ben Spencer can be the solution to England's lack of succession planning at nine
Opportunities don’t always come early at Saracens, but if you’re patient and put in the work, the payoff is usually worth it.
It certainly applies to George Kruis and Jamie George, neither of whom could match the meteoric rises of Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell, but it may not be truer of anyone quite as much as it is of Ben Spencer.
The 26-year-old scrum-half arrived on the scene with plenty of promise, representing the England U20 side back in 2012, but ahead of him at Saracens were two iconic figures of the club in Richard Wigglesworth and Neil de Kock.
Playing time would come in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and A League competitions, but it was understandably a tough duo to break up in the regular matchday 23.
As the seasons have gone by, playing time has gradually increased for Spencer and whilst his impact has been felt for a number of years now, it’s this season when he has firmly established himself as the number one option. In previous campaigns, Spencer got his fair share of starts in the Premiership, but when a big fixture rolled around, such as the recent Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Munster, he would usually find himself deputising for the venerable Wigglesworth.
With that seeming to change this season, and Wigglesworth taking up a slightly more reduced role, just as de Kock did when Wigglesworth took the nine jersey, Spencer has put down a claim for further honours with the consistency and level of his play.
Even prior to this season, Spencer had been on Eddie Jones’ radar, with the Australian calling him into a number of training camps, before giving him his England debut in Johannesburg last summer. With Ben Youngs and Danny Care having made up the starting and bench pairing for the majority of Jones’ tenure, opportunities have been limited for other scrum-halves, as evidenced by the fact Spencer has won just the three test caps to date.
He’s not alone in that, either, with Dan Robson having won just two under Jones, Wigglesworth adding six to his tally and Jack Maunder the other to feature, with the Exeter Chief having picked up his solitary cap on the tour of Argentina in 2017.
With Care seemingly having fallen out of favour with Jones this year during the Guinness Six Nations, speculation has been rife as to who might end up deputising for Youngs in Japan at the Rugby World Cup later this year. Or, should Youngs suffer an injury, who would replace him in the starting XV, with Jones having preferred Care and his impact in a role from the bench.
It has largely seemed a two-horse race between Spencer and Robson and with the Wasps nine recently being diagnosed with blood clots in his leg, Spencer’s surging form could not have come at a better time for both England and Jones, not to mention Saracens, who are targeting a rare domestic and European double.
Spencer’s duel with Conor Murray in the semi-final against Munster was an example of the maturity and composure in his game now, as his control on the tempo of his side and the areas of the pitch they were playing in can only have pleased Jones, who has regularly championed that same ability from Youngs.
The half-back added to his stock a week later against Wasps, shredding the side from the West Midlands with the defensive reads and sniping runs that Robson provided so effectively to them during the last couple of seasons.
It is clear that his tutelage under the pair of de Kock and Wigglesworth, as well as working with coach Dan Vickers, has given Spencer the control and game-management skills that, combined with his natural athleticism, have turned him into the complete scrum-half.
Not only could this be key for England at the upcoming Rugby World Cup, where they may or may not need a complementary nine to go with Youngs, but it could be vital for them moving forward into the next cycle, too.
Whilst English rugby has been producing very talented players at most positions during the last five or six years, scrum-half has been arguably the one position where that production doesn’t quite match up with other 14 spots on the pitch.
As mentioned earlier, Maunder won his first cap for England back in 2017, but a role behind Nic White hasn’t seen him kick on and really push Youngs, Care and co for a spot in the senior England squad yet, whilst Robson’s face, despite high-level play in the club game, has seemed not to fit until very recently.
Alex Mitchell faces a similar situation to Maunder, sitting behind an incumbent nine, whilst Will Chudley has performed well at club level but not been given a sniff of anything further. Harry Randall has flashed attacking ability in a looser structure at Bristol Bears and Stu Townsend and Sam Maunder encounter the same bottleneck at Exeter that the elder Maunder brother does. There is talent there, but no one has really banged the table to be the next player for England to build around at scrum-half.
The truth is, Spencer aside, the standout scrum-halves in the Premiership this season have all been South African, with Francois Hougaard, Cobus Reinach and Faf de Klerk all consistently excelling. Reinach should be squarely in the frame for player of the season in the competition, Hougaard’s defensive and breakdown display on Sunday secured Premiership rugby for Worcester and de Klerk, despite perhaps not quite reaching the heights of last season, has still been the heartbeat of Sale.
Whilst great for the Premiership and the Springboks, this is not the best news for Jones and England, with Care and Youngs turning 33 and 30 next season respectively and some sort of succession plan needing to be in place.
It is not a situation unique to England, either, with a number of other Tier 1 nations approaching the end of their current scrum-halves’ international careers. Nations like Ireland and Australia face a similar dilemma to England, whilst, unsurprisingly, the All Blacks seem well-prepared to move onto their next man.
That said, there is no reason why Youngs can’t go on beyond the Rugby World Cup and help with the transition to the next generation of English scrum-halves. It seems as if it will be necessary, too, with very little international experience among the alternatives, something which, in the checks and balances of Jones’ largely successful tenure as head coach, would have to go down as a mark against him.
There is no youngster currently tearing up trees and putting himself into a position to be a prime candidate to go into an apprenticeship under Youngs next season, although talk of White returning to Australia could provide an opportunity for Maunder to push forward his case at Exeter.
It shows that it’s not always possible to pluck out the best 20-year-old and have them embark on an international career over a decade long and that sometimes the supply just won’t be there to meet the demand, no matter how much coaches and fans would like it to be so.
At 26, though, Spencer could be well-positioned to be the next man hold down the England nine jersey, even if that does mean further patience over the next 12 months or so. He could then assume the mantle of mentor when the next promising nine emerges from the age-grades, ready to be fast-tracked into the senior set-up.
Thankfully, that’s something Spencer’s club career has prepared him well for and it’s a role he could excel at with England.
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Comments on RugbyPass
I do not really get why put Ollivon at 6 when he’s a 7, while Cros was the best Frenchman of the tournament, playing at…6. His only game replacing Aldritt at 8 doesn’t change much in terms of his impact. Lamaro was also outstanding in that brilliant Italian side, probably better than Reffell. So putting 2 Welsh players from the wooden spoon holders, and none of the 4th nation (Scotland) is also strange. Is it about showing that in this harsh transition Wales is, there were some standouts…?
6 Go to commentsThe events at this year’s six nations should undermine many of the arguments made against promotion and relegation between the six nations and the REC. If Italy had been allowed to yo-yo between divisions it conceivably could have really hurt their development, but if Italy, Wales, and Scotland are all at risk of relegation, with none of them being relegated more often than once every 3 or 4 years, you’d have to back all of them to muddle on through it, especially when you factor in the likelihood they’ll still be guaranteed world league matches against tier 1 opponents. Another way of looking at italys resurgence would be to say that the development model of adding an extra team to the six nations has worked, and now must be done again. Georgia could join to make it a 7 team round robin, and if and when Georgia demonstrate an ability to consistently win games, Portugal can also be added to make it an 8 team 2 conference competition. Frankly at this point I think it falls to world rugby to demand that the 6N act in the interests of the game. If the 6N won’t commit to expansion then the 6N teams should be handicapped in world cup draws (i.e. world cup seedings would not be based on their ranking points, but on their ranking points minus a 5 point penalty).
5 Go to commentsSteve Borthwick deserves credit for releasing the shackles on his England side and letting them play in a manner that somewhat resembles the top sides in the Gallagher Premiership. Will they revert to type in New Zealand in July.?
27 Go to commentsJames Lowe wouldn't get in any other 6N team. He's a great example of Farrell’s brilliance, and the Irish system. He is slow. His footwork is poor. But he fits perfectly in that Irish system, and has a superb impact. But put him in another team, and he'll look bang average.
6 Go to commentsCrusaders reached their heights through recruitment of North Island players, often leaving those NI teams bereft of key players. Example: Scott Barrett and Sam Whitelock robbed the Canes of their lineout and AB locks. For years the Canes have struggled at lock. This rabid recruitment was iniated by rule changes by a Crusader dominated NZR Head Office. Now this aggressive recruitment has back-fired, going after young inside back Hamilton Boys stars. They now have 4 Chiefs region 10s and not one with the requisite experience at Super level. Problems of their own making!
2 Go to commentsOver rated for a long time…exposed at scrum time too.
3 Go to comments“Firing me” should have been Gatland’s answer.
2 Go to commentsFinn Russell logic: “World” = 4 countries. Ireland may be at or near the top. FR’s bigger concern should be he and his fellow Scots (incl. the Bloemfontein ones) sliding back down to below top 10
42 Go to commentsMind games have begun. Ireland learned their lesson after saying they could beat England with 13 players or whatever. Still, if they win at Loftus, that would be impressive - final frontier etc.
58 Go to comments$950k for a Prop that isn’t fit enough to play 10 mins of rugby? Surely there is someone better to replace Big Mike with
3 Go to commentsFour Kiwis in that backline. A solid statement on the lack of invention, risk-taking and joy in the NH game; game of attrition and head- banging tedium. Longterm medical problems aplenty in the future!
6 Go to commentsGood article, I learnt quite a lot. A big sliding door moment was in the mid 00s when they rejected Steve Anderson's long term transformation and he wrote Ireland's strategy instead.
2 Go to commentsHi Dr Nick! I'm worried that I've started to enjoy watching England and have actually wanted them to win their last two games. What would you prescribe? On a more serious note, I've noticed that the standard of play in March is often better than early February. Do you think this is because of the weather or because the players have been together for longer?
27 Go to commentsMy question in all this brett is who is going to wear the consequences of these actions? Surely just getting the sack isn’t sufficient? A teenager working the till at woolies would probably get taken to court if they took $20 out of the till. You mean to tell me that someone can spend $2.6 million and get away with it? Where was it spent? What companies/people were the beneficiaries etc? How is it just being talked about as an ‘oopsie’ and we all just move on and not a matter of the court for gross negligence, fraud, take your pick…
20 Go to commentslove Manu too but England have relied on him coming back from injury for far too long and not sorted the position with someone else long term . It will be a blessing he has gone . Huge shame he was so injury prone . God speed Manu .
3 Go to commentsI agree with Ben Smith about Brett Cameron. The No. 6 position has to be a monster and a genuine lineout option, like Ollivon, Lawes (now Chessum), Du Toit, etc. The only player who fits that bill right now is Scott Barrett. A fit and fizzing Tuipolotu together with one of the young towers, Sam Darry or Josh Lord, would give Razor the freedom to play Barret at 6.
16 Go to commentsOutstanding article, Graham. Agree with all of it. And enjoy the style of writing too (particularly Grand Slap!).
3 Go to commentsI wouldn't pay a cent for that loafer. He just stands around, waiting for play to come his way. He won't make the Wallabies.
3 Go to commentsGood bit of te reo maori Nic. Or is that Niko or Nikora? On the theme of trees the Oaks v Totara. Game plan would be key. I have one but it would cost you.
27 Go to comments> Shaun Edwards’ You should not have to score 30 points to win a game, as exciting as it is. This statement was surprising to me. It is nonsensical .I guess it is a defence coach speaking. But head coach, defence and attacking coaches all work together. They are inseparable. You score more than the opposition to win. It only needs to be one score. You score whatever the game demands, whatever the opposition demand. You defend whatever it takes. The attack coach needs to be able to clock up 30pts if need be.
27 Go to comments