Launchbury back at best to let Eddie shuffle pack
THESE end-of-season games can be a bit hit and miss but yesterday’s match against Wales proved very useful for England and could have a big influence on the team to start against Australia in the first Test.
Joe Launchbury produced an exceptional man- of- the- match performance — lineouts, tackling, restarts, running hard, everything — and proved conclusively that he is back to where he was before his serious neck injury and before the emergence of Saracens double act Maro Itoje and George Kruis.
That is nothing but good news for Eddie Jones, who now has an interesting option. Itoje is as quick as any Test No 6 and played most of his age-group rugby there. England could now start the European Player of the Year there against Australia in Brisbane and reintroduce Launchbury into the second row. That is a very scary England line-out indeed.
Jack Clifford was dynamic at No 8 and showed real gas to race home for his try, regardless of whether it came from a knock- on or not. He starts at openside for me in Australia.
George Ford is going through a rough patch and has my sympathy, we have all been there, but on this showing Owen Farrell is looking more and more certain to be moved back to fly-half. Which of course will open up the old debate at No 12. It wasn’t just Ford’s one- out- ofseven kicking from the tee yesterday, he was kicking out of hand more than he usually does, sometimes because it was the easy option rather than the obvious choice of play. In fairness to Ford, he has got used to having the playmaking Farrell inside him with England this season, while Luther Burrell is heavy artillery pure and simple — although he took his try very well. That inside centre slot is central again. Many Tuilagi is injured, Ben Te’o is an unknown quantity at this level and had a quiet Pro 12 final, while Henry Slade mixed the good with some uncharacteristic mistakes in the Premiership final. Just one real negative for me. I have no idea why Danny Care hoofed the ball into touch with England in a very promising attacking position from a rolling maul at the end of added time. The game was well won. Great. But now set yourself a challenge. OK England, it’s deep in added time and you need six points to win the series decider against Australia in Sydney. What next? Let’s rehearse this. Let’s put ourselves under pressure and make this happen. In addition you had a load of replacements like Ollie Devoto, Elliot Daly, Ellis Genge and Matt Kvesic, who rarely get any England game time, absolutely bursting for the opportunity to show their worth. I suspect they were pretty disappointed with Care’s decision. Generally though, a good day for England, some real data and performance to work on.