Jones embraces restart with three games in three days
Eddie Jones had his temperature checked and wore a mask while practising social distancing, visiting three games. Yesterday, the England coach (right) watched Wasps win 34-21 at Northampton. He also witnessed Harlequins beat Sale Sharks on Friday and arrived at half-time of Exeter’s win over Leicester on Saturday.
Eddie Jones started the weekend on Friday night by witnessing a standout performance by Harlequins’ Chris Robshaw, a familiar face from England’s past. Yesterday, the England head coach departed Franklin’s Gardens having seen a glimpse of its future in the shape of Wasps’ back-row tearaway Jack Willis.
Wasps’ bonus-point win allows them to leapfrog Northampton into the top four, a remarkable transformation since head coach Lee Blackett took the reins from Dai Young, when the club were 10th. It was a victory based on their domination of the breakdown, where Wasps twin opensides Willis and Thomas Young, the broadcasters’ man of the match, ran riot. Despite boasting nearly two-thirds of possession and territory, Saints conceded 17 turnovers; their all-england-capped back row of Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Teimana Harrison were comprehensively bested.
Willis is not exactly a new kid on the block. The 23-year-old was due to tour South Africa in 2018 before rupturing the ACL in his right knee. In his absence, Tom Curry started all three Tests and cemented himself as a world-class talent as Willis spent 16 months on the sidelines.
He was just finding his form again before the coronavirus pandemic struck. If anything, his effectiveness has been amplified by the law interpretations at the breakdown. Once over the ball, Willis is impossible to shift and, with an engine that could power a tank, that means he seems to be contesting every other breakdown. He also popped up with a try as Josh Bassett (twice) and Ben Harris also crossed. Even if Curry – or Sam Underhill for that matter – is not going anywhere any time soon, Willis is placing himself in that selection equation.
“Jack is proving himself at this moment, he is working hard and he won’t die wondering in his career,” Blackett said. “I think England’s back row is as strong as it’s ever been, but Jack will be there or thereabouts. If he keeps playing well and working hard, I’m pretty sure he’ll get a call up.”
Northampton fly-half Dan Biggar kicked two first-half penalties, but was also responsible for the set-piece from which Wasps scored their first try after kicking past the dead-ball line. Wasps’ execution was flawless. Jimmy Gopperth delayed his pass to Jacob Umaga, who flipped on while absorbing the contact, allowing Bassett a straightforward finish.
“We practised defending that move 100 times,” Chris Boyd, the Saints director of rugby, said. “You can’t afford to leak soft tries.”
Boyd’s frustration only mounted as Wasps’ second score also came from a scrum after 18 minutes. It was executed in a similar clinical manner as full-back Matteo Minozzi was brought up just short and that man Willis was present to snipe from close range for his fourth try in his past six outings.
Northampton manoeuvred themselves into promising positions, particularly with their work at the restarts, but a combination of poor handling and Wasps’ stout defence prevented them from capitalising. Centre Malakai Fekitoa acted as the tone-setter. Twice he rattled the bones of opposite number Fraser Dingwall, although the second time it drew a yellow card from referee Karl Dickson as his shoulder rode up into his chin. Saints failed to capitalise.
After the break, Northampton took a leaf from Wasps’ playbook by using the scrum as a try-scoring platform, deploying 19-stone Taqele Naiyaravoro on the crash before scrum-half Alex Mitchell dived over. Wasps replied with Harris’s pushover try and extended their advantage to 24-13 as replacement Lima Sopoaga kicked a penalty.
Sopogoa, though, was rightly sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on which prevented a certain try. Northampton immediately capitalised as David Ribbans scored from a driving maul and a Biggar penalty cut Wasps’ lead to three points.
However, Sopoaga scored his second penalty before Wasps scored a glorious fourth try to seal their fourth win a row. Young seized on a loose kick and, in an instant, Sopoaga and Dan Robson had flown down the left touchline for Bassett to score his second.
“I did not see that coming,” Boyd said. “We put ourselves under pressure in training a lot, but that was the pre-season game we needed.”