Bath man’s 50th Test is a massive gamble by Jones
Lomax in final vow after his injury hell
JONNY LOMAX is relishing the chance to focus purely on his performance in the World Club Challenge tonight, five years after a nightmare in the showpiece.
Lomax played full-back as South Sydney brushed Saints aside 39-0 in 2015, in a game that sandwiched two horrendous knee injuries.
The 29-year-old is now one of the most influential players in Super League and cannot wait to take on
ENGLAND’S Amy Jones is desperate to become a World Cup winner next month after suffering a series of heartbreaks.
Since a victorious first edition of the Women’s Twenty20 event in 2009, England have lost three finals in that competition.
“I have never experienced winning aWorld Cup and I have fallen short in a lot of finals,” said
Sydney Roosters at St Helens tonight. He said: “Last time I was four games in from an ACL reconstruction, and the game after that it re-went. “From my own point of view I’m in a totally different place physically and mentally. “Being challenged brings you out the other side stronger. In 2015 I was probably in a mindset of questioning whether my knee and my body was right.”
JONATHAN JOSEPH celebrate his 50th cap England tomorrow with first start on the wing.
It is seven years since the Bath centre even started a club game there and that was back in his London Irish days.
In naming Joseph as his No11 – although whether he plays left or right wing will only become apparent at kickoff – Eddie Jones is continuing with the same selection eccentricity that has Tom Curry, a flanker, picked at No8 again.
If it works, all well and good and the England coach can produce one of his ‘I told you so’ smiles.
If it fails and Joseph exposed by Ireland’s triedand-trusted kicking game, England will be out of the Six Nations title race and Jones will have exposed himself to two weeks of uncomfortable scrutiny.
“He’s one of our best will for his is defenders in space, competent under the high ball and has great running skills,” said Jones, below. “With the resources we have available, he’s the best guy for that spot.
“If you look at the amount of possession we are going to get at the weekend, 40 per cent is going to be from structured, where people have set positions, and 60 per cent or more is going to be from unstructured, where they don’t have set positions.
“We are looking at the majority of the possession from no set positions and, therefore, we look at picking the best players.” Jones likes positional flexibility – Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes play most of their club rugby in different shirt numbers to those they will wear against Ireland. And he had a decision to make thanks to George Furbank’s groin injury, but Elliot Daly’s return to full-back has triggered a left-field solution.
England are down on wings with three who went to the World Cup – Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell and Joe Cokanasiga – injured.
But the Joseph selection is baffling given Jones still had a specialist wing alternative in his squad in Ollie Thorley, who has now been released to play for Gloucester.
“Ollie’s progressing well,” said Jones. “He’s still got some work to do on his game before he’s ready, but we’re in the process of getting him ready to play Test rugby.”
The other backline changes are more logical with Manu Tuilagi slotting back into the centre position Joseph occupied against Scotland two weeks ago, and Ben Youngs promoted back to the starting scrum-half role ahead of Willi Heinz. In the pack, Joe Marler
Referee: J Peyper (S Africa) Kick-off: 3pm
takes the absent Mako Vunipola’s spot, while Lawes replaces Northampton clubmate Lewis Ludlam, who drops out of the 23.
“Lewis has probably flattened out a little bit but that’s common with young players,” said Jones.
Saracens flanker Ben Earl, who Jones believes is agile enough to cover backline positions as well, keeps his place on the bench after making his debut at Murrayfield, with Henry Slade back alongside him after two months out because of a fractured ankle.