England crisis paves way for skipper Genge
ENGLaND have been plunged into turmoil on the eve of their autumn series, with two captains a doubt for the opener against argentina — at least — and injuries mounting. But Eddie Jones can find a silver lining around a giant cloud.
Courtney Lawes won’t be in Jersey for the training camp and now Owen Farrell is unlikely to be there either. The Saracens fly-half and skipper was knocked out against Exeter and Sportsmail understands that he won’t be able to fly, which means he will need to go through return-to-play protocols at his club.
London Irish flier henry arundell will be assessed today after hobbling off with a foot injury on Friday — in a game which saw Jonny May suffer a suspected elbow dislocation.
as if that wasn’t enough, Farrell’s setback at Sandy Park was compounded for Jones by Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie suffering a knee injury. England are already without Jamie George for their Tests against the Pumas, Japan, New Zealand and South africa, so resources are stretched at the heart of the front row.
But the current state of chaos presents opportunities. Jones will consider a swift recall for Exeter’s playmaker centre, henry Slade — who was left out of the 36-man training squad — knowing that he could join Marcus Smith and Manu Tuilagi in a potentially devastating midfield alliance. he will also mull over the captaincy and should turn to Ellis Genge.
The Bristol prop has developed into one of the world’s pre-eminent looseheads in the last year. he is as aggressive, explosive and confrontational as ever but he has added layers of late, having demonstrated his leadership prowess as captain of title-winning Leicester last season.
England have spoken of the need for a charm offensive with referees and Genge can handle that.
Despite the tough persona, he is an instinctive people person with emotional intelligence. against argentina, Jones’ side will need to bring passion and a show of force, and Genge can set the tone, just as he did in australia when his thunderous ball-carrying inspired the comeback series win.
Frankly, even if Farrell recovers from his head knock, Jones should install Genge anyway. Leave Farrell to maintain his fired-up motivator routine away from referees. Leave Maro Itoje to be an individual asset in the pack and let the England No 1 wear the armband. Tom Curry has done it and proved he can step in, so now Jones can assess another back-up.
That looks a decent silver lining.