Changes lack expected razzmatazz– but signs are there of a new direction

➤ Jones gives Curry freedom to develop at No 8 while shake-up of the leadership group offers coach ‘something a bit different’

You had to scratch the surface to uncover the changing face of this England team, but the changes, while subtle, were there. Eddie Jones’s first pick of the autumn campaign may have lacked the razzmatazz expected after his wider squad had included the core of the team who led Harlequins to their dazzling Premiership triumph.

It is perhaps a hangover from England’s fifth-place finish in last season’s Six Nations that discouraged Jones from using the match against Tonga, who shipped 60 points to Scotland last weekend, for greater experimentation in personnel.

As it turned out, not one Quins player made the starting XV to face Tonga at Twickenham tomorrow, including their talisman Marcus Smith. The 22-year-old would have started but for a niggling leg injury that prevented him from training.

Jones was forced to change tack, resorting instead to starting captain Owen Farrell at fly-half for the first time since the defeat by Scotland in the Six Nations in February. Smith has been cleared to play, and England supporters can expect to see him come off the bench in the second half, but may be forced to wait until the match against Australia to see him play inside Farrell in a combination that Jones hopes could yet prove the heartbeat of his side for the 2023 World Cup.

The inclusion of young guns Freddie Steward at full-back and Adam Radwan on the right wing brings an exciting and untested dimension to England’s attacking game, at least. But, overall, Jones held back on a major overhaul.

Instead, the subtle changes could be found in an experienced pack, where the most intriguing calls have been made. Ellis Genge is preferred to Joe Marler at loosehead, with Jones officially confirming the Leicester prop as part of a new leadership team he has put in place for the World Cup. It also includes Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry, who, significantly, starts at No8 ahead of Alex Dombrandt.

Given that Tonga are by quite some way the weakest of England’s three opponents this autumn, it feels like a missed opportunity not to have given Dombrandt a start, given his stunning impact for Harlequins and his intuitive relationship with Smith. But Jones believes that Curry has the potential to rival Ardie Savea as the greatest back-row forward in the world. And in a back row with Lawes’s line-out presence and ball-carrying, and Sam Underhill’s

ferociousness over the ball, his selection at No8 allows him a freer licence to mix his game up and develop further.

“The good players keep on adding to their game,” Jones said. “Richie Mccaw was the same. He started out as a defender, became a great link player at the end of his career, and that’s the thing with Tom Curry. So we want to keep challenging him to be a better player. And playing No8 is a different set of skills. You’ve got to read the game a lot more, and playing eight will help him become an even better seven.”

Curry’s influence is not only positional but also at the centre of the leadership group, along with Lawes and Genge, which brings us to the most seminal decision. Leaders set the tone for any squad and, after axing George Ford and Billy and Mako Vunipola, Jones wants a new direction for his England side. “They all bring something a bit different to the party,” Jones said.

Genge’s promotion is, perhaps, most significant of all, following his leadership role in Leicester’s impressive start to their Premiership campaign, and Jones is energised by the impact that he and Kyle Sinckler, his front-row colleague, can have, since they have matured from the “raging bull” start to their international careers in 2016. “They are funny, those two,” Jones said. “When they started off together they wanted to hit everything that moved, to argue everything, the whole world was against them.

“Now they have gone through this little bit of maturation, they are both finding themselves a lot more, finding out what the strengths of their games are. And in terms of their attack, they have an X-factor about them.

“Both of them have a ball-carrying ability that isn’t seen in most props. So, we want them to keep working on that and keep working in their scrummaging, and to be the face of the diversity of England rugby. You look at their backgrounds, it’s a fantastic story for England rugby.”

‘You have got to read the game more, and playing eight will help Tom to become a better seven’