EDDIE CALLS ON FORD BUT STICKS WITH OLD GUARD
■ FORD’S BACK TO FACE ITALY ■ ROOKIES FORCED TO WAIT
ENGLAND coach Eddie Jones has resisted radical surgery on his team in the wake of last week’s Scotland defeat by keeping faith with the bulk of his stalwarts for tomorrow’s Six Nations match against Italy at Twickenham. Anyone hoping Jones would use a game England will almost certainly win to blood some fresh faces after the dismal 11-6 reverse to the Scots will be left disappointed, with exciting uncapped backs Paolo Odogwu and Harry Randall not even making the bench. Centre Ollie Lawrence, who has touched the ball just ten times in his three England starts, is out of the squad altogether while George Ford returns at flyhalf and captain Owen Farrell moves back to centre alongside Henry Slade. Jones described last Saturday as a ‘difficult game’ for 21-yearold Lawrence and said: ‘There are areas in his development we want him to work on because we want him to be a 50-cap player. ‘His ability to go away and work on that will be the test of his resilience.’
As for Randall and Odogwu, who many England fans would love to see get a run-out, he said: ‘Both those guys are making inroads and progress and each week they get a little bit closer.’
First-choice props Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler return, Luke Cowan-Dickie gets a fourth start on his 28th appearance at hooker and Courtney Lawes comes in at blindside flanker.
Jones clearly believes utilising experience is the best way to rediscover England’s swagger against a side who look increasingly out of their depth in the Six Nations with each passing year.
‘We are not making any sort of excuses but last week there were various variables that we didn’t handle well,’ Jones said.
‘As I said, I accept full responsibility for that. I got it wrong but this week I can guarantee we are right on the money.
‘Because we’ve had a loss and the team have been criticised from North to South Pole, the mood is not as upbeat so you’ve got to work a bit harder to get everyone thinking in a positive way and we’ve done that.
‘We want to get on the front foot. We want to be back to playing front-foot rugby. That’s when we’re one of the most damaging teams in the world and that’s what we want to get back to.’