Armand will stay in the fast lane despite England ‘traffic’ jam
Eddie Jones says Exeter flanker must do more in the congestion zone, but player is not for turning
‘Traffic.’ A more highly strung, antagonistic character than Don Armand might have the word on a bedroom poster or scrawled across his wrist tape as part of a snarling pre-match routine.
Eddie Jones is a master of using the press to manoeuvre a message. England’s head coach knows how closely his every sentence is scrutinised, so he clearly takes care when publicly evaluating a player. And Armand’s consistency and resourcefulness mean the backrower has been highlighted to Jones more than once. Back in May, following Exeter Chiefs’ Premiership title victory, the message was that he needed to rack up more involvements during games.
After his omission from the autumn series in the wake of his Test debut from the bench in Argentina and an all-action start to the season, Armand’s form was raised with Jones again. The verdict? “He has great line-out attributes and is very good wide out, but we like our number sixes to carry more in the traffic.”
The assessment inevitably reached him, but the affable Armand laughs when it comes up in conversation. The back-row forward, one of Rob Baxter’s trademark signings, who arrived at Sandy Park from Cape Town Super Rugby franchise the Stormers in the summer of 2013, is not anticipating a Six Nations role. “It’s quite a tough one to wrap your head around,” he admits of the T-word.
“But Rob responded to that when he just said I had to keep doing what I was doing. If a place opens up, great. If I’m playing well enough, they’ll make a place for me. I can’t really change what I do because what I’ve been doing has got me where I am.
“If I start to focus on making sure I’m in heavy traffic, I might stop focusing on other things that are going well.
“Obviously there might be times that I could try to work my way in or be the one to put my hand up in heavy traffic, but it’s not something that I’ll actively chase in the game. I’m lucky in that we don’t rely on individual brilliance. As long as everyone is doing their role, you can enjoy yourself.”
Armand is not about to wander off-script in pursuit of personal gain. But while he does occasionally migrate towards the touchline as part of Chiefs’ meticulous attacking patterns, it is not as if the harder yards are shirked. Teams know they need to muscle up to stop him in narrow channels as well.
Helping Exeter surge into a 17-3 lead over Leinster at the Aviva Stadium recently, Armand slipped a clever pass to try-scorer Sam Skinner from five metres out. Later in this first half, he bounced Sean Cronin to the floor. There were plenty of subtle, steely contributions at the breakdown and in defence that did not catch the eye as easily.
Indeed, he embraced the crackling intensity of those Anglo-irish fixtures and says the pair of defeats have been used as a launch-pad. “Whether we win or lose we’re learning some really important lessons in the matches.”
Saturday’s display in a 35-14 victory over Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens, wearing the No7 shirt, offered yet more evidence of how Zimbabwe-born Armand has become an adopted, adored Devonian.
One young fan, Beau, celebrated his fourth birthday at the start of this month. An icing figurine of Armand adorned his cake. Earlier this year, Beau attended a friend’s party as his hero – fake beard, Mohawk haircut, the works. “That was very accurate, actually! It was awesome,” says Armand.
Exeter host Leicester Tigers on New Year’s Eve before travelling to Newcastle.
Then ties against Glasgow Warriors and Montpellier decide their Champions Cup fate. Armand has not had time to think of specific resolutions for 2018, beyond more of the same.
Even if that is not enough for Jones, the Chiefs will still be delighted.