ROUGH DIAMONDS!
Jones hails props Genge and Sinckler
ENGLAND’S ‘rough diamonds’ will join forces for the first time tomorrow, with orders to stay true to their aggressive nature at the heart of the forward battle against Italy at Twickenham.
Leicester prop Ellis Genge was selected by Eddie Jones yesterday for only his fourth Test start and the 24-yearold loosehead will be lining up for the first time alongside his close friend, Harlequins tighthead Kyle Sinckler, 25.
The pair are regarded by their head coach as rising forces who have managed to suppress their fighting instincts just enough to be prize assets. Genge and Sinckler have not been on the field together for England yet, but they’ve been throwing their weight around within the set-up for some time.
After naming a team with five starting changes, Jones recalled how the rookie front- rowers ‘wanted to fight with everyone and argue with everyone’ during a training session on the Gold Coast at the start of England’s tour of Australia in 2016. ‘For the whole session we just tried to keep those two calm,’ he added.
‘They’ve matured and I’m really pleased with their progress. Kyle has probably been ahead of Genge in terms of that growth rate but Genge is really starting to get the bit between his teeth.’
Jones has made no secret of his desire to add tough, working-class players to his squad. He values Genge and Sinckler as unorthodox men from that mould.
‘They are massively different in character but they have similar backgrounds and similar desires of why they want to be good. They’ve both got the potential to be outstanding props,’ he said.
Test rugby comes with forensic scrutiny, but Jones does not want to refine his prop pair too much.
‘There’s that great book written by Dr Steve Peters, The Chimp
Paradox, and we don’t want to take the chimp out of them. We want them to be aggressive, tough, relentless props, but understand the discipline of playing for your team, playing against a team and playing with the referee,’ Jones said. ‘For those naturally aggressive players, it’s always a challenge, but as they play more games at the top level, they learn to channel it in a very productive way.’
Asked if this type of player is now a rarity, Jones added: ‘I think so because the game has become a lot more streamlined in terms of elite development. If you’re a good player in England you get recruited by a public school, then you go to an academy and have to behave in a certain way. Those rough diamonds still come through, but there are fewer.’
Jones will deploy a heavyweight back line featuring a new midfield alliance of Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi, with the giant Bath wing Joe Cokanasiga out wide. This is the sort of extreme physicality which Jones felt his side lacked when they were giving away more than a stone in weight per back to Australia for an autumn Test at Twickenham in November 2016.
He wanted to super-size his side and, finally, his ambition has been realised. ‘In certain games, it’s massively important,’ said Jones about harnessing formidable bulk to take a direct approach. ‘When you’re not getting fast ruck ball, the only way to get through the line is by smashing through it.
‘At times you need to have a team who can play like that. When the game is tight you need a bigger back line. We have to be able to pick that sort of team, if that sort of game is coming up — and maybe it’s going to be that sort of game on Saturday.’
Other changes have been made up front, with lock Joe Launchbury starting in place of the injured Courtney Lawes and Brad Shields chosen at blindside.
ENGLAND: Daly; Cokanasiga, Tuilagi, Te’o, May; Farrell (capt), Youngs; Genge, George, Sinckler; Launchbury, Kruis; Shields, B Vunipola, Curry.
Subs: Cowan-Dickie, Moon, Cole, Hughes, Wilson, Robson, Ford, Slade.
ITALY: Hayward; Padovani, Campagnaro, Morisi, Esposito; Allan, Tebaldi: Lovotti, Bigi, Ferrari; Ruzza, Budd; Negri, Parisse (capt), Steyn. Subs: Ghiraldini, Traore, Pasquali, Sisi, Polledri, Palazzani, McKinley, Castello.