McCONNOCHIE GETS CHANCE TO IMPRESS JONES

IN A different life, he might have been lining up for Scotland. Yet, tomorrow against Wales, Ruaridh McConnochie will step out in Cardiff in England colours to win his first cap. The Bath wing and Sevens specialist was picked in the team to face Warren Gatland’s men at Twickenham last weekend but was among a trio of late withdrawals due to injury. With Scottish parents, he was qualified to represent Gregor Townsend’s men but there was never any suggestion of him switching allegiances from the land of his birth. ‘He played for England Sevens for a number of years, so that means he would have been captured,’ explained the Scotland head coach recently. ‘I remember meeting his dad — who was very Scottish — and he said he had a son called Ruaridh who was playing (for) London Scottish juniors at the time. ‘This must have been before I was at Glasgow, so he was a name that I looked out for. To first of all see him get a Sevens opportunity to play for England, and then get a XVs contract and play really well shows how good a player he is. ‘It is great that someone who is Scottish qualified is doing well but he wasn’t available for us unfortunately.’ England attack coach Scott Wisemantel is also backing the Rio 2016 silver medallist to thrive, despite the cauldronlike atmosphere awaiting in the Welsh capital. ‘It’s a great opportunity for him. He deserves his chance and it was unfortunate last week when he had the minor injury blow,’ said Wisemantel. ‘Cardiff on Saturday will be intense but once he gets going and once the whistle is blown, he’ll settle and will be fine. ‘He won’t have any problems. The guy has played on the big stage — the Olympic Games. So it won’t be a problem at all.’ England have welcomed a string of injuries to their back row as an opportunity to form a contingency plan in case disaster strikes at the World Cup. Head coach Eddie Jones has taken the unusual step of naming two hookers on the bench for Wales, with Jamie George and Jack Singleton supporting Luke Cowan-Dickie. Tom Curry, Mark Wilson and Sam Underhill are unavailable through injury, forcing England to examine unlikely options for the back of the scrum. Anthony Watson has been left out of the matchday 23 after completing his comeback from a 17-month absence. England captain Owen Farrell makes his first appearance of the World Cup warm-up schedule but is confined to a place on the bench.