Eddie has to find the answers ...and fast
IT was Eddie Jones’ first faceto-face press conference with the rugby media for over two years on Tuesday, and it did not take long for him to deliver a ringing vote of thanks to the RFU. Having been confirmed as England head coach through to the 2023 World Cup by his line boss Bill Sweeney, despite a second successive faltering Six Nations campaign – each tournament ending in three losses and two wins – Jones declared, “the support from the RFU has been world-class”.
No surprises there. However, what was a surprise was that the tone of the question and answer session at Twickenham was more constructive than confrontational.
The blocking-shots and antagonism that were often present in his lockdown Zoom output were in short supply as he gave considered, informative answers to most questions from the floor.
One of the exceptions was that there was little illumination about his interface with the RFU’s ‘nonames’ performance review panel, other than that it had been “useful”, and that being asked what England were doing, “makes you reflective, which is important”. Jones added that he has, “a pretty good understanding of what we’ve got to do”, as well as how he wants to play, and which players he will pick in order to be successful at the World Cup.
He revealed that his certainty about selection is such that 80 per cent of his 33-man World Cup squad is already mapped out. The idea that he has 26 players inked-in is a very high number given England’s decline since defeat in the 2019 final, and also because his delay in rebuilding has left him with many more selection questions than answers 16 months before France ‘23.
While Jones has never lacked conviction in his own selection ability, it has been called into doubt on a number of occasions by critics, including this columnist, and by his own admission some of his calls have been faulty. However, when it came to questions about the backline, Jones had a clear message about the importance of winning collisions, and why having power players like Manu Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga fighting fit is essential.
However, Jones said he was not prepared to endorse a specially tailored injury-prevention training regime to protect Tuilagi. Instead, he responded – quite rightly – that it is unrealistic to shield an international player from the rigours of playing at that level, saying, “you have got to equip a player to handle the most difficult parts of the game”.
The head coach’s reintroduction of Cokanasiga, and obvious enthusiasm for the twin strike-force that he and the 19-year-old Henry Arundell could become, was another sign that his backline selection plans are embryonic.
Cokanasiga is a rare talent, but the big man has hardly played since being injured on England duty in Japan in 2019, and he is a long way from top form given his recent displays for a dismal Bath side. The excitement around Arundell is understandable, but while he has escaped scrutiny up until now as a Premiership novice, the London Irish new boy’s try scoring pyrotechnics dictate that he will now be heavily marked.
The value of their inclusion in the 36-man training squad, alongside another tyro in Louis Lynagh, is that it brings a new dynamic at wing which challenges the five-year established order of Jonny May, Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell and Elliot Daly.
Competition for places is an essential galvanising force, but it still leaves a tangle of unresolved backline permutations for Jones to wrestle with over the next six months, not least whether Owen Farrell or Marcus Smith is his starting fly-half. Farrell at 10 gives him a tried and tested combination if Tuilagi is at 12 and Henry Slade 13 – but Smith is the man in possession. There is also uncertainty whether a 10-12 pairing with Farrell will inhibit the Harlequins 10, or inspire him, and if it has any future if Tuilagi or Cokanasiga are not there as barriercrashing heavy duty Humvees.
Another unknown still blowing in the wind is whether Mark Atkinson, Ollie Devoto or Ollie Lawrence can provide England with cover for Tuilagi, because none of them was included in the training squad.
Another backline conundrum is what happens next at scrum-half ? It has been a hub of excellence in almost every World Cup-winning side, and the absence of Sale’s Raffi Quirke from the Australia tour due to a hamstring injury is a blow because he has pace, presence, and pocket-rocket dynamism. In the interim, Jones has to decide whether to stick with Ben Youngs, or see which of the inexperienced but hightempo trio of Harry Randall, Alex Mitchell, or Jack van Poortvliet shines brightest in Australia.
The elephant in the room is that England’s backline permutations will be academic if illusions about the Red Rose pack being a formidable force which suffers from a few temporary power failures are not revised rapidly.
England have not had anything more than an average international pack since RWC2019, and having another look at the final against South Africa recently a clear picture emerges. It is of a pack which not only played its final a week early, but also has yet to rebuild its confidence and demonstrate a burning desire to become the world’s best.
When I asked Jones whether he believes England are in as good a place to challenge for the World Cup as they were in the build-up to 2019 his initial reply was forward-orientated. He said: “I think so. We can have a really strong pack, and I think we’ve shown that at times – and if you look at the game at the moment the significance of scrum and maul penalties is huge. The maul is being refereed differently again, which is allowing sides to have dominant mauls. We can potentially have a very strong pack, and then if we get our best talent on the field we can have a combative backline, and potentially an outside (back) three that’s got gas – which will give us an opportunity to win the World Cup.”
The problem is the England pack, with the exceptions of Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, and Ellis Genge, is short-changing the honesty box.
Jones has to fix an unstable scrum which requires a rock-solid tighthead, and a driving maul which lacks cohesion and smart shifts and variations. Add to that indiscipline, with Tom Curry switching positions and penalty-prone, and overall you have a pack which is not close to France and Ireland at the set piece, or in the loose. England’s quality of ball presentation and clear-out, speed of ruck ball, and ability to win turn-overs, is second rate.
Jones is setting great store by getting England in World Cup-winning shape during the three months he gets with them pre-tournament. Yet, it will be what happens on the Australia tour, in the autumn internationals, and the 2023 Six Nations, in terms of team-building, intense competition, and most importantly, selection, that will set the template.
Publicly, ‘Fast Eddie’ is accentuating the positives, but he is on a wing and a prayer. Jones has never faced a bigger task as a head coach than taking England from where they are now, to winning the 2023 World Cup.
“Jones has to fix an unstable scrum and a maul that lacks cohesion”