ENGLAND’S TROUBLE AT NUMBER 9 LAID BARE
Jones turns to 33-year-old Heinz to replace axed Youngs
EDDIE JONES attempted to re-assure a raft of twenty- something scrum-halves that they still have a shot at England selection after dropping Ben Youngs, one of the near-untouchable stalwarts of his regime.
The head coach yesterday confirmed five changes to the starting XV following last weekend’s grim defeat in the Six Nations opener against France in Paris.
While Joe Marler has been removed from the matchday 23 and Courtney Lawes demoted to the bench, what stood out in this selection for the Calcutta Cup showdown with Scotland at Murrayfield tomorrow was the decision to consign Youngs to a role as understudy to Willi Heinz.
Jones said what he always says in these situations, that it is merely a slight shift in remit from being a starter to a so- called ‘finisher’. That is the familiar mantra. All 23 men on duty tomorrow are portrayed as equals but, in truth, hierarchies exist, especially at scrum-half.
Consider the overwhelming evidence. Youngs has made 44 Test appearances under Jones and the 30-year-old Tiger has started 37 of those matches. Few of his team-mates have matched his status as a fixture in the national team since Jones’s tenure began against the same rivals in Edinburgh, four years ago.
However, last Sunday, Youngs was given the runaround by the influential, imperious Antoine Dupont as France beat England 24-17. Jones was adamant that the alarming nature of that result would not govern his selection this week, but it appears to have done so at scrum-half.
The last top- end Test that featured Youngs as a replacement was England’s visit to Paris in March, 2016. Since then, the only games he hasn’t started have been against Italy, Samoa, the back-toback pre-World Cup friendlies against Wales last summer, and the pool-stage clash with the USA, when many regulars were rested.
So make no mistake, this is a statement selection. Youngs has discovered the hard way that a proud tally of 96 caps for his country and two more for the Lions have not provided immunity.
Jones will vehemently deny that he has been dropped but he has been, and that is certainly how everyone outside the England camp will interpret it. At the very least, this is a deliberate jolt designed to provoke a reaction.
Naturally, the head coach was more interested in talking about the promoted Heinz, rather than addressing the demotion of Youngs. Asked to assess the Gloucester captain, Jones said: ‘Great experience. Good calm head. Makes good decisions. Core skills are good. Good team man.’
There was a similar tribute from England captain Owen Farrell, who added: ‘Probably the main thing is that he is a real calm head.’
However, amid the words of praise for Heinz, the selection will revive concerns about succession planning in relation to England’s scrum-halves. Youngs has been nigh- on untouchable in the position and Danny Care was cast out after he grew infuriated by the status quo. Others have come and gone, without being able to truly establish themselves.
The likes of Ben Spencer, Dan Robson and Jack Maunder have played but there has always been a nagging sense that they have not been fully backed or trusted.
Joe Simpson and Ben Vellacott are others who have worn the tracksuit and trained, nothing more. Now, Northampton rookie Alex Mitchell is with England as the new scrum-half prospect, but time will tell whether he kicks on or joins the ranks of those tried and discarded.
Jones was reluctant to suggest that the Premiership doesn’t deliver sufficient Test-class No 9s. All he would say was: ‘It’s like any position — we don’t control who comes through. It’s no use making an assessment of who’s there and who’s not there. I’ve just got to pick the best that’s available. At the moment it’s Willi and Benny, and we obviously think Alex Mitchell has a lot of potential.’
The inclusion of the 22-year-old Mitchell suggests he has been identified as the emerging prospect. However, when asked what that means for all those in their mid-to-late 20s, still striving to play for England, Jones added: ‘The door’s never closed, it can always open.’
For now though, Youngs has been usurped by a 33-year- old Kiwi who first played for England last August. Heinz swiftly and passionately addressed the nationality issue and he is also determined to downplay any reservations relating to his age.
Speaking during the prechampionship training camp in Portugal, the former Crusaders scrum-half said: ‘I know people like to talk about my age but my body feels great, I’m loving it and I want to play for as long as I can.’
As an after-thought, he added: ‘Did you see Roger Federer? He had another good win. He’s still going well and he’s 38...’
Jones has opted to load his bench with six forwards for tomorrow’s match — only the fifth time since he has been in charge that he has gone down that route.
By having an entire tight-five unit in reserve, he has adopted an approach used by South Africa during their triumphant World Cup campaign, when they demoralised opponents by sending on what they called their ‘bomb squad’ during the second half.
Jones said: ‘We think it’s going to be a high-volume, high-intensity game in the forwards and you want to have as much artillery in that area as you can. We’ve got an obvious gameplan that we want to play against them. We’re not hiding from the fact that we want to take them on up front.’
England fly-half George Ford added: ‘When you have got the bench that we have, you are expecting a big impact. If you are on the field and see these guys running on, it gives you a lift. You think, “Here we go again, we have got some brilliant, powerful, fresh legs coming on”.’