Jones drops Brown for Boks battle
MIKE BROWN has been dropped by Eddie Jones for the first time for Saturday’s Test against the Springboks at Twickenham.
England’s most-capped full-back, who made a successful switch to the wing on the summer tour to South Africa, was one of 10 players released from the squad’s training camp here in Portugal to return home last night. Brown, who has won 72 caps, has missed just two internationals for England during Jones’ tenure.
He was rested against Fiji in 2016 and sat out a Test against Australia the following year with concussion. But the recall of Chris Ashton and the return to fitness of Jack Nowell has cost the 33-year-old Brown, below, his back-three spot.
Ashton will play his first Test in four years after being retained in a trimmed 25-man squad, with Elliot Daly set to start at full-back against the Springboks. Bath No8 Zach Mercer, 21, who played for Scotland at the Under-16 level, is set to make his debut, with Ben Morgan also cut. Mercer’s club-mates Charlie Ewels and Elliott Stooke have both been retained as second-row options, with Courtney Lawes ruled out after suffering a back injury.
THE 2019 Rugby World Cup was always going to be a stretch for Mike Brown, given he will have turned 34 by the time it kicks off. What was, until yesterday, in his favour was his status as one of Eddie Jones’s ‘undroppables’.
The flight home from Faro last night will have been an uncomfortable trip for England’s most-capped fullback as he chewed over Jones’ decision to cast him aside for the first time in favour of more lively back-three options.
The choice to remove one of England’s foundation stones ahead of the opening Test of the autumn against South Africa will not have been made lightly by the England coach. Jones has always regarded Brown as one of his most reliable operators.
But the temptation to go for the extra speed of Elliot Daly at full-back and the availability of Chris Ashton on the wing after his return to English rugby ultimately proved too much to resist.
Brown’s stubbornness and drive to prove others wrong means no one should expect him to accept the new reality meekly, but the ball is no longer in his court.
Jones has already cast adrift one 70-cap veteran from the England equation in James Haskell; if both Daly and Ashton go well against the Boks, it could be a long road back for Brown.
The impression Ashton has made on Jones is underlined by the fact he is set to face South Africa despite playing just one game for Sale after picking up a seven-match ban for a red card in pre-season. And Jones is not the only one.
“It’s good to have Ashy, he’s always on the end of something,” said fellow wing Jack Nowell, who, like Jonny May, has also been retained.
“People see him scoring a try but not necessarily how far he has run to be there. Nine times out of 10, he runs his line and doesn’t get the ball but he’s always there on the 10th time to score. It’s just gambling and making sure you’re in the right place at the right time.”
The 25 players still in the Algarve will be cut to the match-day 23 tomorrow but on their way home are Michael Rhodes, who misses out on a Test debut against the land of his birth, and Sam Underhill, who has been beaten to the No 7 jersey by Tom Curry.
Whichever combination Jones settles on up front, England will have big holes to fill without Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes or the Vunipolas.
“With neither Billy nor Mako in the team, we are without two of our obvious ballcarriers,” said Maro Itoje. “It means the other forwards have to step up, but whoever is picked in the pack, we’re going to have to make sure we carry with vigour and intensity.” Easier said than done against the Springbok behemoths. If there is one pack in world rugby to avoid being underpowered against, it is South Africa’s.
“Whatever South African team you play, whether it’s Under-20s or senior rugby, there’s always that physical challenge and you have to meet, if not surpass it,” said Itoje. “We are very clear on the type of rugby we want to play. English rugby is about being confrontational, playing on the front foot, having a dominant set-piece and being smart.”
Itoje sat out training yesterday but insisted his absence was down to planned rest rather than injury.
Alex Lozowski, who was another to be dispatched home yesterday, will attend a European disciplinary hearing tonight in London for a high tackle on Glasgow’s Ruaridh Jackson in Saracens’ Heineken Cup match at Scotstoun a fortnight ago.