Eddie must find missing links to be top of world
THIS is the season when England will have to find their missing links if they are to emerge as a true threat to New Zealand’s global domination.The links in question are at openside, where they need a ball-player who can give them continuity for the first time since Neil Back was strutting his stuff in 2003, and at inside-centre where they need the option of a powerrunner who sucks in enough defenders to create gaps out wide.
The good news for Eddie Jones in the wake of England’s resounding success over the Wallabies is that the head coach will not be short of exciting options at either openside or inside-centre when he announces a provisional Elite Player Squad of 45 tomorrow, ahead of the August 5-8 training camp.
Matt Kvesic, Jack Clifford, Teimana Harrison and Will Fraser are among those hoping to step into the openside breach following the toe injury which is expected to sideline James Haskell for the autumn series, while Manu Tuilagi and Ben Te’o should be hungry to take on the mantle of the midfield strongman.
What New Zealand’s 3-0 series whitewash of Wales showed us (again) is that when it comes to support play they are in a league of their own. Since then it has also been highlighted by the excellence of the Chiefs, Hurricanes and Highlanders in the Super 18, with the Kiwis providing three of the four semi-finalists.
One of the most crucial components is the ability of New Zealand back row forwards – and in particular openside flankers like Sam Cane and Ardie Savea – to provide the first links in the chain of the buzz-saw that cuts the opposition to shreds.
The other links are provided by front five forwards who are as comfortable in the wide open spaces as the backs they are mingling with. Kiwi rugby is now the beneficiary of having been pioneers for the last two decades in demanding running-handling skills from the big men wearing the jerseys from 1 to 5.
Most of the All Black tight five are now so comfortable on the ball that the prospect of try-scoring chances going begging because a ‘grunt’ has dropped a pass under pressure, or stuck his head down when there’s a three-man overlap, are as rare as Brexit voters in Westminster.
Under Jones there have been clear signs that England are heading in the same direction, with good handlers increasingly the rule rather than the exception in the England front five. Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Paul Hill, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes all burnished their credentials in Australia, while Alec Hepburn,Tommy Taylor, Mitch Lees and Dave Attwood did the same for the Saxons in their 2-0 win over South Africa ‘A’.
However, while the heavyweights in the England pack have been getting their act together, there are still holes in their back row fabric. Despite Haskell’s inspired displays at No.7 in the first two Tests against the Wallabies, and Chris Robshaw’s demonstration that he is far more effective as a Test blindside than he was at openside, the reality is that their series-turning contribution was defensive rather than offensive.
With the exception of Billy Vunipola’s punishing charges from No.8, and a couple of memorable attacking incursions by Haskell in the first Test in Brisbane, the England back row were much more about being bristlingly combative in the tackle than being creative in attack.
The abiding image is one of Haskell as a destroyer, and Robshaw as his non-stop accomplice, combining to blunt the Aussie threats – although, by the same token, England’s attack lacked the close support and line-breaking thrust from flankers that New Zealand, and Australia, specialise in.
By definition, neither of England’s celebrated 6.5’s are linking opensides in the mould of Richie McCaw, George Smith or Michael Hooper.The main characteristic of Antipodean 7s is the ability to track the runner and then accelerate to take the pass, irrespective of whether it goes left or right.Whether they then pass quickly, or make further ground, is not as important as the fact that a specialist 7 is a core component in providing the continuity that forces open the cracks in the opposition defence.
That leaves Kvesic in the best position to press his case since playing a promising part in England’s 2013 series win in Argentina. Kvesic proved last season that he is the best breakdown operator in the Premiership, topping the table with 29 despite being in a Gloucester side which struggled for consistency. This included an outstanding performance for his club in a home win over Wasps, in which he outplayed George Smith not long after the Aussie veteran had been invited into the England camp by Jones as an openside consultant. The word at Kingsholm is that one of Kvesic’s greatest regrets was that he missed out when Smith came in to do his England sessions on Wednesday afternoons, because he was invariably on the road back to Gloucester having been released for weekend club duty. Kvesic’s strength over the ball paid dividends for the Saxons, and so did his strength as a carrier – improving in an area he had been told needed attention. Jones likes players who have no quit in them, and if the Gloucester openside starts the season strongly he should get his chance. Clifford left Australia with his reputation enhanced after coming off the bench in the final quarter of the last two Tests, but he has not had a great deal of match play at openside for club, or country. It will be difficult for Jones to make a decision until he sees more of him at 7 for Quins, but he has already said that Clifford’s future may rest more at blindside or No.8. Harrison will be frustrated that he was unable to make more of an impact in his first half-hour as a starter in Sydney, but again he will have been rusty after playing for Northampton at 8 rather than 7 last season.With any luck the arrival of French No.8 Louis Picamoles at Franklin’s Gardens will mean Harrison returning to tear it up at openside. Nor can Will Fraser be discounted, but he will certainly have to make a sustained impression with Saracens before he is called up by Jones – although it should be easier to do so now Jacques Burger: has retired.
Elsewhere in the pack expect to see Joe Marler reintated in the loose-head ranks after his sabbatical, and Hepburn’s energy and dynamism in the lose for the Saxons will see him push Matt Mullan and Ellis Genge. At hooker the pecking order of Dylan Harley and Jamie George is unlikely o be disrupted, although Tommy Taylor’s tour de force for the Saxons could see the new Wasps man leapfrog Luke Cowan-Dickie. It is unlikely that there will be much change to the tight-head contingent
of Dan Cole, Paul Hill, Kyle Sinckler, and Kieran Brookes. However, if Jake Cooper-Woolley can steer clear of calf trouble he has the physical presence to be a Test contender. The second row also looks settled with Kruis, Itoje, Launchbury and Lawes in the vanguard, but the physical clout offered by Lees and Attwood will keep them on their toes.
Nathan Hughes is likely to be the big newcomer in the back row, but the barnstorming Fijian-born import may have to get used to the idea of blindside with Billy Vunipola ensconced at No.8, and Josh Beaumont also looking for a recall. Wherever he plays, Hughes will only intensify the competition, and he and the Exeter duo of Dave Ewers and Don Armand will keep the heat on Robshaw.
There is an outside chance, too, that the England coach could give Callum Chick (Newcastle), the impressive England U20 Junior World Champion No.8, an early introduction to the senior squad. It would be no surprise if an invitation was also offered to his precociously talented team-mate, Joe Marchant, after the Harlequins outside-centre scored twice in the 45-21 win against Ireland in the final.
I do not expect to see too many other new permutations in the backline, although Dan Robson deserves to challenge the established Ben Youngs-Danny Care pecking order at scrum-half following a breakthrough season with Wasps.
George Ford and Owen Farrell are both nailed on as international flyhalves, as well as a tried and tested 10-12 combination after England’s most successful season for 13 years. Nevertheless, with Tuilagi fit again after recovering from the hamstring injury which ruled him out of the Australia tour, there is little doubt that Jones will want to unleash the Leicester powerhouse at inside-centre in the autumn.
Tuilagi at his best will give England another dimension, irrespective if he starts or comes off the bench. However, unless Jones makes an exception, he will need to be in peak condition – which is something he has struggled to regain following the litany of injuries he has suffered.
Whether that leaves room for either Henry Slade, who failed to force himself into contention in Australia, Luther Burrell who was extracted after only half an hour at 12 in Brisbane, or Danny Cipriani, who pulled the strings at 10 to keep the Saxons on track, is difficult to predict. What is more straightforward is that Jonathan Joseph and Elliot Daly remain in the box-seat at outsidecentre.
In the back three it seems unlikely that Chris Ashton will be rehabilitated after declining to tour South Africa, with the wing berths accounted for already by Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson and Marland Yarde. In addition, Semesa Rokoduguni showed strongly for the Saxons, and with Jonny May expected to be fit soon after the start of the season, there are not enough seats on the bus.
The register of how impressed Jones was with the Saxons will be reflected in whether Mike Haley, the young Sale full-back, gets to pitch against Mike Brown and Alex Goode.
One of the most defining Jones’ characteristics so far has been the clarity of his selection, and how many of the awkward choices he has had to make have been on the money. To name a few: the decision to appoint Hartley as captain; the promotion of Itoje; the decision to move Robshaw to blindside and give Haskell his backing; the elevation of Billy Vunipola as one of the vice-captains; and the conviction with which he paired Ford and Farrell at 10-12.
If the England head coach shows the same faultless handling ability going into the autumn series – especially in finding inspired solutions at openside flanker and in the midfield combinations – then those links might soon have All Black coach Steve Hansen looking over his shoulder.
“The head coach is not short of exciting options at openside or inside centre”