Farrell and Itoje begged to play, but I’m the boss
EDDIE LAYS DOWN THE LAW
IT WAS the response that Eddie Jones had expected and hoped for, a response which spoke volumes. When England’s head coach told two of his leading Lions that they were being rested this weekend, they were distinctly unimpressed.
As reported by Sportsmail yesterday, Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje were absent from the matchday 23 named by Jones for the autumn opener against Argentina tomorrow. It went down like a lead balloon when he broke the news to them.
‘They hate it, which is a great reaction,’ said the Australian. ‘They hate it because they want to play every Test. They love playing for England. They are proud of playing for England and they want to be part of a winning team. They don’t like it. So, we have got to convince them that it is in their best interests.’
Asked if the pair protested against the decision, Jones added: ‘Yeah, yeah, but at the end of the day, not everyone is on the same level and they have to understand I run the team. I make the decisions. And I do it in the best interests of the team and the best interests of the individual.
‘They’ve played all three Tests for the Lions, played consistently for their clubs, played consistently for us and we feel it’s in their best interests to do some conditioning work. But both of them were unhappy about it. That’s why they are such great players, because they are so competitive.’
Jones and his assistants opted to leave out Farrell and Itoje but pick their other Lions, including key figures from the British and Irish Test team — Mako Vunipola, Elliot Daly and Anthony Watson, who all start. The head coach revealed that the process came down to a balance between evaluating fitness data and trusting his selection instincts.
‘You get wellness stats, urine stats, psychological stats, reload and reform stats, GPS stats. You get all this information, but it’s a bit like being a horse trainer. You see all these things but you’ve got to look at the person and see what they are ready to do. It comes down to my gut feel for what they need. I just said, “This is goingoing to be the right thing for you”.’
While other Lions will have their workload managed over ver England’s remaining Tests this his month against Australia and d Samoa, Vunipola may be treated as a special case.
Jones added: ‘One thing I do know is that he loves playing rugby and he hates training, so that is a pretty simple equation for me. I don’t see much value in him m going on training blocks. At the moment he is much better ter off playing.’
Henry Slade has been chosensen to fill the void left at No 12 by the absence of Farrell and the Exeter centre’s alliance with Jonathan Joseph will be the eighth different midfield partnership deployed by Jones. He was first alerted to Slade’s supreme natural talent during the last World Cup when coach of Japan.
‘I remember seeing this kid who had nice balance and speed,’ Jones said. ‘Then I didn’t see him again. I thought he’d been taken somewhere! I came here and watched him play for Exeter and he was OK, but you could still see he had something about him.
‘It’s taken him some time. Sometimes those really talented kids don’t understand how you have to work hard, to turn that talent into consistent performance. When you’re a superstar young player, you tend to do the big things well but you don’t do the small things well because you’ve got other ppeople ttoo do the small thingthings. He has lealearned that he has to do the small things well.’
Bath wing Anthony Watson has been reinstated in the starting line-up with Jones noting a new mindset since his return from a successful tour with the Lions. ‘I see this change in his eyes,’ he said. ‘He wants to be the best in the world. Before he was this young kid who was fast and people liked him, but now he wants to be the best in the world.’
Up front, Sam Underhill was preferred at openside flanker and his rookie rival, Sale’s Tom Curry, was named among the replacements only to dislocate his wrist in training which will rule him out of all the autumn Tests.
Exeter back-rower Sam Simmonds, who had been sent back to his club, was recalled and he is now in line for a Test debut off the bench.