Jones drops Ford for crunch Aussie clash
ENGLAND have dropped George Ford in order to beef up their midfield in expectation of a Samu Kerevi-led assault from Australia when the rivals clash in tomorrow’s World Cup quarter-final.
In a shock selection by Eddie Jones, Ford loses the fly-half duties to captain Owen Farrell with Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade paired together in the centres.
Ford has been superb since his restoration as ringmaster during the warm-up series for Japan 2019 and started all three group games, on board we have brought in a load of new sponsors and new businesses that want to be involved with Jamaican rugby league.
“We’re trying to build a base in Leeds because hopefully that’s where we will be based in the World Cup.
“We’re hoping that all the Caribbean communities from Leeds, Huddersfield and Bradford and the local areas come and get behind this Jamaican team. We can be a team but he is confined to a bench role for the Oita Stadium showdown.
Farrell will act as chief conductor as Eddie Jones reverts to his firstchoice midfield for the Six Nations.
The decision has shades of the World Cup four years ago when Ford was axed for the pivotal group game against Wales in favour of Farrell.
Back then it was the ball-carrying threat of Jamie Roberts that shaped Stuart Lancaster’s thinking, now it is Kerevi’s tackle-busting brilliance over the last 18 months that has influenced Jones.
“We just feel this is our best combination for this week. Kerevi is that people are proud of and one that is competitive at the World Cup.”
The 2021 World Cup may be in the distance for now but just around the corner is a huge clash on Sunday to raise the profile of Jamaican rugby league.
As mentioned, Lawrence will face some of his teammates and he is excited at the prospect of Jamaica testing their skills against some established Super League players.
“It’ll be good fun,” he said. “I’m a damaging ball carrier and defensively we feel like it’s a pretty strong 10-12-13 combination,” Jones said.
“We know Australia are a high possession and high phase team.
“We think those three guys are well equipped to handle it. We need to defend with brutality.
“We believe we’ve got the defensive capabilities to handle them and cause them a few problems. George is disappointed but he knows he’s got an important role in the team.”
Jones has acted conservatively by dropping the in-form Ford and used to coming up against the boys all the time in training, so we’ll know each other’s games very well.
“It’ll be good to come up against some of the young boys but it’s going to be a massive challenge.
“They’re all full-time pro’s and Super League stars that are hopefully using the Knights to step into the full England squad.
“It’s going to be Jamaica’s biggest test so far and one we are looking forward to.” giving Slade his first start since June. Knee ligament damage prevented him from playing in the four warm-up Tests and he has been limited to 40 minutes in this World Cup after his comeback against Tonga was ended by a recurrence of the same injury.
When asked about how he will respond to Jones’ call to be ‘brutal’ in defence, Slade said: “You can’t be brutal and lose your head, so it’s about being physical and brutal and making those good decisions.
“It’s really nice to have that vote of confidence from Eddie by starting this game.”