Back Jack shows way forward
JACK NOWELL is under consideration to play in the forwards for England in what would be the most left-field selection of Eddie Jones’ tenure.
The Exeter wing is back in the squad after tearing his hamstring before England’s last Test against Australia and is officially named as a back, where he has played his entire career. But Jones yesterday said Nowell is being considered as a hybrid, capable of switching to the back row during a game.
“The next change is you will have players who can play backs and forwards. It is going to happen. The game is going towards it,” said head coach Jones.
“He is definitely an option at No7. We haven’t tried him out but he is definitely an option because he has great ball carrying, great tackling skill; he puts his head over the ball, he’s a tough little bloke. He is going to be the new breed of player.”
Jones’ vision is not for Nowell to replace Tom Curry but to play alongside him in a four-man back row.
“There is no reason why you can’t play nine forwards,” said Jones. “When Japan played Georgia in the final warmup game before the 2015 World Cup, we played nine forwards. No one knew. There are great opportunities in the game to change it and we are looking at opportunities to change it. Maybe one of the opportunities is nine forwards.
“It’s like in football. Mike Bassett. 4-4-2 – everyone used to play that. Then it became 5-3-2-1, or whatever it was, so there is no reason in rugby why there might not be changes in formations. Exciting, isn’t it?”