Jack’s not the lad for England as lift needed for line-out
ENGLAND have dropped former Wasps star Jack Willis for their final match of the autumn against South Africa on Saturday in order to boost their line-out options.
Willis came on for the final quarter of last weekend’s 25-25 draw with New Zealand as part of an impressive contribution from the bench that helped reel in a 19-point deficit.
But the Toulouse-bound flanker has been omitted from a 26-man squad that will complete preparations for the Springboks’ visit to Twickenham.
Instead, Eddie Jones has opted to pick additional lock cover in the form of Hugh Tizard having indicated after the All Blacks stalemate that three jumpers would be needed for the climax to the autumn.
Jones reduced the number of jumpers against New Zealand to two in the hope that by picking Sam Simmonds at flanker they would take control of the breakdown.
But South Africa’s reliance on kicking is expected to produce more lineouts, pointing to Maro Itoje switching back to blindside flanker and Dave Ribbans partnering Jonny Hill in the second row.
Bevan Rodd features among the 26 as loosehead prop cover for Mako Vunipola, whose back stiffened up during a scrummaging session yesterday.
South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber insists Rassie Erasmus’s latest ban will not affect Saturday’s game against England and that “all the facts” have not been made public.
Director of rugby Erasmus has been given a two-game matchday ban by World Rugby in response to a series of social media posts.
The sanction, which prevented Erasmus from taking part in the win over Italy and this weekend’s clash with England, includes engage- ment with media and social media in relation to match officials and comes a year after he missed the defeat at Twickenham for similar reasons.
World Rugby acted after Erasmus published a series of sarcastic tweets during the Autumn Nations Series, airing his grievances over officiating on social media rather than through the established channels.
Asked if the ban had affected the
Sprinboks’ mood or preparations for the England game, Nienaber said: “In terms of Rassie’s ban, no, from our side we focus on rugby. “We’re a tight-knit unit and team, everyone knows what’s going on, we’re open and transparent to everybody.
“Sometimes it’s, I don’t want to say disappointing, what would the right word be? Maybe disappointing is the right word, when there’s only certain facts that go out and then people from the outside, who only have
those facts available, form an opinion and give an opinion on something that happened and obviously they don’t know all the facts.
“It is quite sad if you think about it. I think if all the facts are out there that people will probably form a different opinion.”
It is quite sad if you think about it. I think if all the facts are out there that people will probably form a different opinion. Jacques Nienaber
ENGLAND SQUAD FORWARDS: A Coles (Northampton), L Cowandickie (Exeter), T Curry (Sale), E Genge (Bristol), J George (Saracens), J Hill (Sale), M Itoje (Saracens), D Ribbans (Northampton), B Rodd (Sale), S Simmonds (Exeter), K Sinckler (Bristol), W Stuart (Bath), H Tizard (Saracens), B Vunipola (Saracens), M Vunipola (Saracens).
BACKS: O Farrell (Saracens), T Freeman (Northampton), J May (Gloucester), J Nowell (Exeter), G Porter (Leicester), H Slade (Exeter), M Smith (Harlequins), F Steward (Leicester), M Tuilagi (Sale), J van Poortvliet (Leicester), B Youngs (Leicester).