Mixed reception for Shields
Hurricanes captain Brad Shields grabbed the headlines but got mixed reviews as his controversial selection for England was dissected by the UK media.
There was little surprise in Shields being named given the intense scrutiny over his eligibility before New Zealand eventually cleared him ahead of his move to the English club scene following a Super Rugby championship that is still in progress with the Hurricanes very much in the mix.
Now the question in the minds of the UK scribes is: Can he live up to the hype?
isn’t so sure given the tight timeframe Shields has to operate on as he dashes from Super Rugby to South Africa and a threetest series against the Springboks for a team he has never played for and with most team-mates he has never met.
‘‘Is it reasonable, even so, to expect him to vault straight out of Super Rugby into the first test at Ellis Park without breaking stride, having barely met his team-mates? Good luck to him if he does,’’ wrote Robert Kitson in
‘‘While it feels unsatisfactory to be picking a player who has never played a game of rugby in England ahead of those who have slogged their way through an entire Premiership season, [coach Eddie] Jones clearly feels his depleted pack needs all the imported oomph it can get in South Africa.
‘‘With 20 players unavailable for the trip either through injury or because they are being rested and Billy Vunipola still feeling his way back for Saracens, there are a limited number of experienced ballcarrying back-rowers still standing and the 27-year-old Shields unquestionably fits the bill on that front.’’
Will Kelleher in the said Shields was facing a massive jump in standards. ‘‘He has never played test rugby – which is worlds away from Super Rugby – so it will be interesting to see how he adapts to a tighter game.’’
His selection was seen as a massive opportunity for Shields with the World Cup only a year away.
had a lash, reporting: ‘‘Brad Shields, who isn’t even good enough to get an All Blacks cap, has also been picked by England.’’
England head to South Africa on the back of three straight defeats, their worst Six Nations finish in 31 years.
Meanwhile, Jones has bemoaned the selfish attitude of sport in his adopted country and admitted cracks have appeared in his team’s unity.
England’s shocking Six Nations campaign has raised question’s about the effectiveness of their Australian coach.
Jones used the announcement of his touring squad as a chance to air some of his views.
While he wouldn’t name names, he was clearly disappointed with the attitudes of some of his players as the England team’s air of invincibility evaporated during a Six Nations effort where they squeaked past Wales but lost successive tests to Scotland, France and Ireland.
‘‘It [England’s] is a sporting environment here that is based around selfishness, about individual gain,’’ Jones, who has worked in Australia, Japan and South Africa, as well as England, said in a report in that was echoed in other British publications.
‘‘We are constantly battling it. We got complacent about unity without a doubt [in the Six Nations]. It always happens. Whenever you’re going well everyone’s together at the front of the bus, everyone’s got their shirt off, everyone’s singing the song.
‘‘When you lose there are always one or two who get up the back and say, ‘well it’s not my fault as I’ve done my job and the other blokes need to do it better’.
‘‘It is definitely a key issue. Just look at the commercial opportunities here compared to other countries. They are much greater. We have been on top of it. Maybe we are not on top of it now. It is a constant issue for us.’’