Jones sets out his vision of a multifaceted England team

Coach looks to versatile players with power as he plots for the future, writes Charlie Morgan

More multi-positional players in squad

After a 33-30 victory over Wales to finish this instalment of England’s 2020 Six Nations campaign, head coach Eddie Jones was asked about the performance of Henry Slade.

The 26-year-old Exeter Chief had replaced Jonny May in the early stages, shifting Elliot Daly to the left wing. May failed a head injury assessment, so Slade stayed on for 72 minutes.

Despite two errors, his display as stand-in full-back was impressively assured. Jones acknowledged as much. In fact, he almost seemed disappointed that there had not been further scope to tinker.

“We’re increasing the depth of our squad,” he said. “And increasing the versatility of our players. If we’d had another injury, we’d have had to play Ben Earl at blindside wing. He’s been training there, so that’s another option.”

It is 14 months since Jones publicly floated the idea of Jack Nowell as a hybrid wing-cumflanker. In the interim, South Africa have surged to World Cup glory with a selection strategy comprising a six-two split of forwards on the bench.

All four props were aggressive, brawny scrummagers. Both hookers could scavenge at the breakdown. Pieter-steph du Toit, a former lock, caused havoc as a back-rower. The final member of the Springboks’ “Bomb Squad” – a collective moniker given to their replacements – was Francois Steyn, who is adept at full-back or fly-half.

All of that chimes with what England have attempted at various stages.

Jones persevered with Courtney Lawes at blindside flanker, although Lewis Ludlam started in Scotland. The presence of 20-yearold Ted Hill, who will surely tour Japan, reflected the importance of one rangy back-rower.

Jones moved to a six-two bench after England’s loss to France. The pacier Earl was preferred to Ludlam. Ultimately, Slade proved he can be the back-line Swiss army knife to fix an early setback from the No23 shirt.

Down the line, Cameron Redpath might be a potential candidate for that function. Joe Cokanasiga has slotted in at No8. Similar in-game switches are unlikely to slow down.

There is a reactive element to this, clearly. The influence of Matt Proudfoot, South Africa’s former scrum coach, would appear to have spread beyond set-piece improvements. England even tried a midfield maul in Paris.

Still, Jones would appear to have rediscovered his touch for changing games with proactive replacements. Joe Launchbury, his “maul specialist”, foiled a catchand-drive from Wales late on.

World Rugby is researching a cap on tactical replacements as a measure to prevent injury. Jones will have to react accordingly, but Kyle Sinckler and Jamie George lasted 80 minutes against Scotland.

Innovative kicking tactics – with and without the ball

England hung Manu Tuilagi (right) in the backfield at the weekend, borrowing an innovative tactic used by Leicester this season.

When in action for Geordan Murphy’s men, one of Tuilagi or rampaging prop Ellis Genge has stayed alongside full-back Telusa Veainu rather than chasing restarts. If an opposition clearance has remained in-field, Tigers have had a powerful tackle-breaker on hand. It is a plan that can be exploited. Bristol conjured a try directly from a restart at Welford Road, chipping over Genge for Piers O’conor to score.

Wales, renowned for kicking long rather than for touch and probably wary of England’s line-out anyway, adapted superbly on Saturday. At half-time, they moved Nick Tompkins into a catching position.

He darted away from Daly, isolated George Kruis and exchanged passes with Josh Navidi. Tuilagi, fulfilling a role that Billy Vunipola had previously taken on, was powerless to prevent a score finished by Justin Tipuric.

Even so, it did demonstrate how carefully England think about cat-and-mouse kicking patterns. In Ben Youngs, George Ford, Owen Farrell, Daly and Slade, Jones has rammed his back line full of kicking options in an attempt to manipulate back-field coverage of rivals. May chipped and chased brilliantly at the Stade de France.

Only once, in their defeat by Les Bleus, have England kicked fewer times than their opponents in this Six Nations. They have averaged 35 kicks per match, even more than last year. Sinckler and Kruis have contributed to those totals.

Since defence coach John Mitchell arrived in late 2018, England have not wasted energy or hung around in possession. A habit of scoring early tries, and coaxing the trailing team into pushing passes, aids this constricting style.

Again, South Africa will have been studied. Felix Jones, a former Munster colleague of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, employed as an analyst by the Springboks, said a pre-tournament win over Japan in Kumagaya gave the eventual champions a headstart on how important it would be for them to feel comfortable without the ball in stifling conditions.

In that 41-7 win, they kicked 33 times and accumulated only 54 attacking rucks, yet feasted on turnovers. Destructive defence and getting in behind teams by kicking would prove useful. In the final against England, South Africa scored their two tries from transition situations.

Eventually, kicking prowess may force defensive systems to change from 13-2 and 14-1 formations, where they generally are now with wingers up flat, towards a greater emphasis on back-field coverage. If the 50-22 kicking law comes in, that process will accelerate. Then, we can expect passing to come back into fashion.

Sacrificing ball-in-play power for mobility

Most law changes introduced by rugby union chiefs have come with the aim of enhancing the spectacle. Usually, that means increasing ball-in-play time.

Whispers before the Six Nations suggested that Jones was eager to see Tom Curry at the base of the scrum, whether or not Billy Vunipola had been available. The mobile, tenacious Sale Shark has subsequently excelled. Vunipola will add to his 51 caps. But Jones is continually re-evaluating the blend and balance required for modern Test matches.

Last August, he highlighted full-back and outside centre as positions that epitomised the sport’s evolution into “basically a mixture of NFL [American football] and soccer”. Jones added: “You

England hung Manu Tuilagi in the backfield – a tactic used by Leicester this season

have the first three phases that are all power and precision. Then you have the kick-return game which becomes soccer.”

England’s head coach stated that “a 13 who can kick, run and pass and a full-back who can attack from deep” were crucial. Perhaps he now thinks that heft is less of a priority for No8s. Duane Vermeulen of South Africa might argue otherwise, of course.

On the other end of the scale, Cheslin Kolbe has reinforced the enduring worth of explosive evasion. Earl and hot-stepping Worcester Warriors centre Ollie Lawrence should tour, and play, this summer to see if they can translate promise on to the international scene. Joe Marchant, on loan to the Blues, has started his six-month sabbatical in Super Rugby very well.

Japan’s playing style poses a different and valuable challenge to England. They will likely persevere with some variation of the 1-3-2-2 shape that helped the Brave Blossoms to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Keeping possession and attempting to outmanoeuvre England, Japan will fundamentally deliver a more cohesive, quicker and slicker version of the game plans that Ireland and Wales brought to Twickenham. Lungs and legs will burn in intense heat.

As things stand, pending the rearrangement of their trip to Italy, the fixture to follow that two-test trip is against New Zealand on Nov 7.

The future will arrive fast.