Makes sense to plan ahead after dark days following 2003 success
Don’t you just love this time of the season, with expectation and anticipation building for what we hope lies ahead? We are just a few weeks out from the start of the Six Nations and everyone is naming their squads.
Despite the loss of a number of players, some through injury others through their own stupidity, England remain clear favourites to win a record third tournament on the bounce – no matter what Eddie Jones has said.
It may sound a bit harsh to say ‘stupidity’ for those players banned, but unlike when I played, when you could take your time and wait for the opportunity to seek revenge for an act of foul play done to you during the match, now it is very different.
Modern players have grown up with cameras and citing officers who generally pick up on the majority of misdemeanours, unlike in my day when you had to look after yourself or suffer the consequences.
Players know that you can’t take a sly dig or shoulder charge at an opponent without being caught and probably banned, so revenge is unnecessary and only serves the opposition.
I am not suggesting that if there is a stand up fight they take the punches without defending themselves, but, fortunately, there aren’t too many major fights these days, as players are professional, and seemingly less volatile than in the amateur days.
Still, one player’s misfortune is another player’s opportunity and it has given Eddie Jones the chance to blood some new players and build the strength in depth he is looking for before the World Cup.
Jones is nothing if not a consummate planner; he knew what he wanted going forward to the World Cup and now, since his contract extension, what he needs to build a legacy, after what we all hope will be a World Cup win for England.
The additional two years added to his contract are hopefully to ensure that Jones has sufficient time after the World Cup either to bring in a new man, or to get his current coaches up to speed as to how the current model of English rugby ticks.
Jones is now looking beyond the Japan World Cup in 2019, and blooding these new players is a part of that process, as it will leave (whoever eventually takes the reins of England) a squad of players hungry to be a part of the success that has been England under Jones.
As Jones and his coaches put the new boys through their paces in the pre-six Nations training camp in Portugal, he will be hoping that some players will show the talents needed to fill the almost inevitable holes created by injuries in his first choice World Cup squad.
With just over a year and a half to go, the chances are that a few players will be injured and not recover in time for selection. It is now crucial for Jones that he finds the players able to step in if needed.
Those young players will also be at the forefront of the post-World Cup squad, as some of the older players will be retired from the England setup and Jones will want to leave his replacement with the foundation of the next new generation of England players.
One of those talents is young Harlquins fly-half Marcus Smith who without doubt will be a star – but I was a bit puzzled by Jones’ comment when he asked if Smith was paid to run sideways.
A recent study identifies the number of collisions as a major contributor to the increase in the injuries suffered by Premiership players.
This number, it seems, is on an upward curve as more players run straight at opponents and either try to break, or make tackles. A simple way to avoid this is for a player to do what we were all told as young players and that is to look for space. The idea of the game is to create and find space either for yourself or a teammate to run into and by doing so, break the defensive line.
Smith is a natural talent who often finds and creates spaces that other players miss, despite the rush defence that now pervades the game.
“Smith is a natural talent who often finds spaces that other players miss”
As Jones looks to the future he may decide that a bit of lateral running is just as successful as lateral thinking.
One aspect that still troubles the RFU is the way that everything fell apart so quickly after that great November night in 2003.
After that final England lost their first game at Twickenham, even though the coaching setup had remained the same. However, a number of key players left the squad thus leaving a void that was hard to fill, and it was this that started the decline in England’s fortunes.
It has taken 12 years, three World Cups and five coaches for England to truly get back into consistently winning rugby. The RFU really don’t need to be seen to be making the same mistakes again.