Eddie’s script needs polish
EVENTUALLY we got to see a sketchy outline of what Eddie Jones is thinking of for his England Mark II.
The trouble is, thanks to smart Italian strategy that baffled the England pack, when it came it featured neither the personnel nor the style Jones had in mind.
The try that swung the match summed it up. The England pack had twisted and turned and driven for all of five metres from their own lineout but could not breach the line. Finally the screaming of the backs was heard and when the ball came their way, it was over in a flash, George Ford sending a long pass to Jamie George, who put Jack Nowell over.
The score showed a clarity and directness not evident for the first 70 minutes, largely due to a starvation diet.
Jones had torn up the script behind the scrum for a match against the tournament’s most frail team – and not just by ordering Jonny May to shave while allowing Elliot Daly a beard.
Yes he retained the Ford-Farrell axis, but by selecting Ben Te’o at outside-centre, one place wider than his position for Worcester, he is trying to create another focal point for the attack to stretch the opposition.
Similarly, Daly plays club rugby in midfield but Jones wants him in the back three to make the most of his rugby intelligence and searing change of pace. Jones had given us a Stuart Hogg Elliot Daly Garry Ringrose Robbie Henshaw Tim Visser Johnny Sexton Conor Murray Rob Evans Rory Best Tadhg Furlong Joe Launchbury COMMENT glimpse of this fluidity in earlier selections – for instance, by switching Maro Itoje from lock to back row, while retaining his scrummaging power by packing him down in the second row.
All this talk of ‘finishers’ was another hint. It may be a ruse to make the bench warmers feel important but also reveals Jones’ desire to pick horses for courses. Some players are just better in the final third than they are in the first.
Now the experiment has been broadened into the attack. And once England’s baffled forwards had their heads cleared during the interval and came out like scalded cats, they finally had decent ball to play with.
Danny Care scored a trademark try then Ford’s pass out of the tackle changed the angle enough for the backs to cut loose and Te’o to put Daly away with a flat miss-pass.
Te’o scored too and ran straight and hard, with the ball or as a decoy, showing what Jones sees in the ex-rugby league star while Nowell in 20 minutes scored and showed a nose for the line that May seemed to have lost with his beard. Flashes then, a few bright sparks, but this close shave leaves Jones needing another opportunity to drive his side into a bright attacking future. Richie Gray CJ Stander Hamish Watson Jamie Heaslip
MAN OF THE MOMENT
ITALY coach Conor O’Shea for producing a tactical masterstroke that left England bemused and saved his side from what many predicted would be a cricket score.