England must find their middle seven – and then stick with them
With a year to go to the World Cup, Eddie Jones requires continuity from numbers six to 13 if his side are to be contenders
Iwas delighted to be asked to be a panel member at The Telegraph subscriber event at Twickenham on Thursday to mark one year until the Rugby World Cup in Japan. More than 600 attendees made for a great evening and a lively discussion. But one topic of the debate kept me thinking all the way back up to Leeds later on.
The discussion concerned the so-called “problem areas” in Eddie Jones’s England team: namely, the back row and the midfield.
The constant chopping and changing in these two areas – much of it influenced by injuries, it has to be said – has been the centre of ongoing debate. With the World Cup less than a year away, stability and continuity in selection is going to become ever more important in creating a confident and successful team.
Of course, there is a certain amount of luck involved when it comes to continuity of selection. You need your chosen players to stay injury-free. But think of England’s team in 2003: you can name every player in that team because they all played in the build-up to the tournament and the two seasons before, in all the big games.
Similarly the All Blacks in 2015. Yes, you can come together and evolve during a tournament, as Australia did in 2003, England in 2007, and France in 2011. But none of those teams ultimately won. The best teams know each other so well; they know their roles, their tactics.
And so to the selections. I was asked on Thursday for my view regarding the back row and the midfield. Personally I would extend the net a bit wider. What England need above all is a stable and well-established “middle seven”. By that I mean numbers six to 13; the back row, the half-backs and the centres. At the moment, this is the half of the side which is not stable but these are the players responsible for determining how a team play: for supplying the creativity, the link play. They all feed off one another, which is why I think of the middle seven as one big unit. It needs training and playing time together.
Of course, having put the concept forward on Thursday night, I was asked who I would pick in my middle seven. On the night, as part of the debate, I selected the following players (while there may be less experience in some positions, there are still 12 games to go until the World Cup which allows time to gel together): 6, Michael Rhodes; 7, Sam Underhill; 8, Billy Vunipola; 9, Ben Youngs; 10, Owen Farrell; 12, Manu Tuilagi; 13, Alex Lozowski.
Obviously these selections are based on form, and are injury-permitting. But my reasoning is as follows. You do not select individuals, you select combinations. I look at that back row and I think it has good balance. I like Underhill. He is aggressive over the ball and a proper openside. Although Tom Curry is coming up on the rails, I would go with Underhill now. On the blind side, Rhodes has established himself as a hugely effective player for Saracens. Like Billy Vunipola, he is a strong carrier and I think it is important that Billy is not always the “go-to” carrier in the team as that makes England predictable. It also means when Billy does carry he can have greater impact.
I have gone with Ben Youngs at scrum-half and Farrell at 10. I think Farrell’s effectiveness at 12, not least for the Lions in New Zealand, as well as England, has maybe blinded people to the fact that he is probably, along with Beauden Barrett and Johnny Sexton, one of the top three fly halves in the world. So just select him in his best position and let him dictate the game from there.
That is easier to do when you have a fit and firing Tuilagi outside you. England have missed his wreckingball presence. When fit, he was one of their truly world-class players and if he can stay fit and gets sharper, he is a potential match-winner.
Outside him I have gone with Lozowski just ahead of Henry Slade. I think with Tuilagi at 12 I want another ballplayer, someone who can bring the back three into the game. Lozowski is talented, skilful and defensively he stands up to scrutiny. I think he can emerge as a real weapon for England, although Slade is playing very well.
Of course, injuries will lay waste to the best-laid plans. Form will come and go. But what I would stress again is that whoever Eddie Jones goes with, whoever he thinks will give his team the best shot at winning, he gives those players the chance to grow and develop together through this autumn and the Six Nations. Now is the time to establish a stable platform from which to build. It is no coincidence England were very settled for the first 18 months under Jones.
I reckon he would want to be playing his preferred seven in three out of the four autumn Tests minimum, and throughout the Six Nations (the four warm-up games next summer are played in a completely different context).
Coaches will always go with their own gut feeling, as well as marrying tactics to players, but right now, looking at that middle seven, I would be pretty excited if I was coaching. Their speed around the field, their carrying, the combination of power and pace, the footballing ability.
It is so important to get this right. England are blessed with top-class players at lock – Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes – all of whom are capable of roaming and playing the modern all-court game which Brodie Retallick has made his trademark. England also have lethal players across
Now is the time to establish a stable platform from which to build
the back three in Elliot Daly, Jonny May, Anthony Watson, perhaps even Joe Cokanasiga. But to get them in the game, to bring out their best, the heart of the team must be functioning as a stable unit. That middle seven – it will be key to unlocking England’s potential in Japan.