Arundell is far more than just a speedster
FAIR play to Eddie Jones for getting Henry Arundell involved so quickly with the England senior squad and heading off possible Celtic predators waving granny’s birth certificate, but Jones now faces the dilemma – I wouldn’t say problem – of how to unleash a pretty special if relatively untested talent.
Having been lucky enough to catch almost all of Arundell’s stunning tries this season for England U20 and London Irish the first thing is to remember that he is not just an out-an-out gas merchant, although I would happily back him over 110 metres, in rugby boots, against any other player in the Premiership.
Oh no, there is magic and nous there as well. Take that brilliant chip and chase in the Premiership Cup semi-final against Leicester. Ben Kay on comms for BT Sport called it a lucky bounce when he collected the ball after his kick and sped home but Ben did him a misservice in my opinion.
Arundell has been chippng and chasing all his rugby life and he knew from the trajectory of the ball as it left his foot and the shape it was making as it came to earth that it was going to kick sharp left. Rewind the footage and there he is moving down through the gears from overdrive to third and veering to the left some ten yards before the ball bounces in anticipation before accelerating away again. I can recall the young Austin Healy doing likewise and try telling Austin he got lucky with the bounce!
And that utterly memorable length of the field try against Toulon. Yes, admire the Exocet pace as he carved his way up through the middle but then that sensational dabbing on the brakes and syncopated two footed shuffle to the right before hitting the turbo again. And then, just because he could, he repeated the exercise again to shred the final defender and round off a score for the ages
So England need to fully appreciate what they have on their hands here. They must look at Henry Arundell the rugby talent and not just the speedster with Olympian pace. Don’t pigeonhole him, handle with care, stay patient and then reap the benefits.