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Why Ben Spencer can be the solution to England's lack of succession planning at nine

By Alex Shaw
Ben Spencer could add value to England both now and beyond the Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Opportunities don’t always come early at Saracens, but if you’re patient and put in the work, the payoff is usually worth it.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Spencer’s box-kicking and general control against Munster was excellent. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

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.

There are no such dramas for New Zealand, who have an experienced operator waiting in the wings. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

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.

Watch: The Academy – Part Three

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Jon 3 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

28 Go to comments
A
Adrian 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

28 Go to comments
T
Trevor 10 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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