Using Lawes at 6 ‘impacts on make-up of the bench’

ED SLATER believes Eddie Jones will stick with Courtney Lawes as his preferred blindside option due to his huge value in the lineout and around the breakdown – but has questioned the make up of his bench.

Gloucester and former England Saxons lock Slater said: “Courtney is a brilliant player and you have to put him in that team somewhere.

“Moving forward it depends how you want to impact the breakdown. Lawes’ strength is that second man hit, where he can drive them backwards one or two metres. He makes their No.9 have to work harder and the support players have to work to clear the ruck out.

“He’s probably not going to get over the ball for a turnover but he will make those second man hits and he will have a massive impact and drive them back, so that’s his X-factor at the breakdown.” However, playing Lawes,

right, at No.6 impacts the second row places on the bench.

“There’s the approach where coaches like to have a second row on the bench and a back row who can cover lock, in the idea that they have the lineout skills and the mobility of a back rower,” Slater said.

“England struggled in the lineout against New Zealand, particularly in the second-half.

“Who knows what would have happened if the balance on the bench had been a little different. Jones maybe felt they needed to reinforce the set-piece because Brodie Rettalick, Sam Whitelock and Kieran Read are a huge lineout combination for the All Blacks.

“Personally, I like a second row and a back row on the bench. You could argue the back-five of the scrum are all fairly similar now, bar that No.7 role.

“But if you are going with a back row they have to be more than just a 6, 7 or 8 to cover a variety of positions. And if you are going to have two second rowers on the bench, you’re probably not going to have someone like myself, let’s be realistic.

“More often than not they are going to be mobile guys and lineout options, so that’s why two locks on the bench instead of a back row make sense to me.”

Slater, 30, has seen the role of the second row change vastly. He said: “I remember when I first started at Leicester, stats were about tackles made, tackles missed and carries – there wasn’t meterage or anything like that.

“Everything is recorded now and if you’re hiding, you get found out pretty quickly.”