Forget the asterisk, young Marcus can make his mark
I RAISED my eyebrows at the rapid promotion of prop Lewis Boyce into the England squad and I am surprised there is an asterisk next to Marcus Smith’s name, denoting his ‘apprentice’ status. This needs to stop. Smith, even at 18, is having a storming season for Harlequins and, almost more than any English player, has the ability to change the course of a game in a 10-minute burst of unpredictable brilliance. He would be a great tactical option to bring off the bench and, in the event of an early injury to George Ford, has proven he can play at the top level for the full 80 minutes. In terms of form and game time at No 10 this season he would rank above Alex Lozowski. The fact that Zach Mercer is no longer considered an ‘apprentice’ tells us he is very much in the back-row mix where the absence of Billy Vunipola, Nathan Hughes, Tom Curry and James Haskell means England must consider their options carefully. Mercer has gone well at No 8 in an inconsistent Bath team and would bring pace and a line-out presence. Sam Simmonds has the pace of an openside even though he plays mostly at No 8 for Exeter while Sam Underhill is a destructive seven with a limited presence in the loose. Chris Robshaw is still very much the man in possession at blindside flanker, although the option of Maro Itoje or Courtney Lawes remains. I’m glad that a third hooker has been named, you need three at training and on call at all times. It is such a pivotal positon in the setpiece and you need three players who are 100 per cent up to speed. A couple of other things intrigue me. Why this sudden desire to name bigger squads? Scotland have named 40 players, Wales 39, Ireland 36 and England 35. The countdown to the World Cup has started and you will only have 31 players available in Japan. The casting of the net is over, it is time to concentrate on the selection process and treat the Six Nations like a World Cup. Eddie clearly likes an asterisk and going forward I would like to see him put an asterisk next to his current 31 first choices no matter how big a squad. Up the ante. Let the players know what his World Cup 31 is if the tournament was starting
tomorrow. I have long advocated that the Six Nations needs to be played out over five consecutive weekends to replicate the final five weekends of a World Cup. At the moment it is spread over seven weekends with bigger squads and players on instant callup. That’s not the ideal preparation and the proof is that only one Six Nations team has ever won the World Cup.
WHY DITCH A GOOD IDEA?
EDDIE JONES’ contract extension to 2021 — and the fact he will be an England coaching mentor after the World Cup — did make me chuckle. When Jones took the job two years ago the RFU, for the first time, actually appointed an experienced international coach who had been there and done it. This includes me by the way, as I was England’s first professional coach and therefore, by definition, had zero international experience. Eddie comes in with a bucketload of international experience — both good and bad — and that determines how he has chosen his coaching team and how he controls the squad. Brilliant. That is the key lesson to learn and take on board. But now, having got it right, the RFU seem to be saying this model should never happen again in future! The next coach should be nurtured in the Eddie Jones way and there should be a seamless handover, whatever that means. This is not the reality of professional sport and not the best process for getting the right person who should, hopefully, come in with lots of personal experience, shake things up and move everything on again regardless of how successful or otherwise Eddie has been. I would have given Eddie another fouryear contract — providing England have an outstanding World Cup — but this should have been kept confidential. I would not have announced it on the eve of a Six Nations tournament. I am sure Warren Gatland and Joe Schmidt will have also had a chuckle. If the World Cup does not happen the way Eddie wants it, I do not see him hanging around for the inquest and fallout — contract or no contract.