Cape Town gives Eddie space, but he needs to find more answers
IF you want a measure of just how much rugby success means to South Africans an editorial in the Cape
Times on the eve of the third Test provided it. It described the last two weeks as “wonderful for Springbok rugby” after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series against England. It also heaped plaudits on new coach Rassie Erasmus for lifting the spirit of the nation, and praised his inspired black and white transformation selection as heralding a new future for the sport in South Africa, while consigning the “horrors” of the Heynecke Meyer and Alister Coetzee eras to distant memory.
This contrasted starkly with the position Eddie Jones found himself in. Whatever the England coach had to say this week about loving adversity for its characterbuilding components, this has not been a wonderful period for Jones and his squad despite yesterday’s Test win in Cape Town which has the benefit of reducing the heat on England’s head coach at least until the autumn.
At the same time as Jones was giving assurances that everyone in the England camp is doing everything in their power to turn the corner after five successive Test defeats, the focus seemed to be wavering. In the aftermath of the second Test loss in Bloemfontein player ructions with a supporter (Joe Marler and Mike Brown), and Ben Youngs issuing a rapid apology for walking out of a post-match broadcast interview, did nothing to improve their image as a beleaguered outfit struggling to deal with their rapid decline.
Jones also seemed to be struggling for answers this week as he kept making references to the 450 caps-worth of experience he had left behind. Given that 255 of those belong to previous captain Dylan Hartley (93), Dan Cole (85), and James Haskell (77), he was clutching at straws, especially as their World Cup places would have been in serious jeopardy had this tour been a triumph.
In the cases of Hartley and Cole that was almost entirely down to a lack of form, with neither of them playing well in England’s Six Nations slide. The idea that both should now be held up as potential saviours when England return home does what not tally with the pre-tour evidence – irrespective of how many caps they have.
What this series against South Africa has uncovered is that the second phase of Jones’ World Cup plan is at best unconvincing , and his selection plans are a mess. The England pack required a rebuild at the start of the season, and by delaying until this tour, Jones now goes into the third phase – starting with an Autumn itinerary against the Springboks, All Blacks, and Wallabies which is fraught with pitfalls – with only three forwards who should be considered certainties: Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, and Maro Itoje.
There are big selection question-marks everywhere you look, including a backline in a similar state of flux – but let’s get back to the forwards.
Mako Vunipola is not one of them, because the Saracens loose-head is a force of nature. He was not at his most effective against the Springboks, who targeted him with low chop-tackles, but after a muchneeded rest he should be back to his formidable best.
Jamie George is another in urgent need of a battery recharge, but the Saracens hooker is one of the best footballers in the
“There are big selection question-marks everywhere you look, including a backline in a state of flux”
team, and there is very little difference between him and Hartley at the set-piece. Luke Cowan-Dickie is also an option because he is the most powerful carrier of the three, but line-out glitches still let him down.
Tight-head is more of a conundrum because to become a dominant scrum England – rather than the current holding operation – need a powerhouse of the sort that Ireland have in Tadgh Furlong.
There has been no sign on this tour that Kyle Sinckler has made any big gains as a scrummager since the Lions tour, and standing-up in the scrum before the decisive second Test penalty try awarded to the Springboks did him no favours.
However, Cole was in similar difficulties against some of the Super sides in New Zealand last summer, and his form was a long way from the command performance in the Six Nations predicted by Jones.
The best bet on the evidence of this tour is Harry Williams, who was solid when he came off the bench in all three Tests. However, the 20 stone Exeter No.3 has not yet made an unassailable case to be the first choice at his club ahead of Tomas Francis. He also failed to get a start ahead of Sinckler on this tour, suggesting he has yet to convince the coach that he is England’s next world class scrum strongman.
The other option left open to Jones is Worcester’s Nick Schonert, who came off the bench in the 63-45 defeat by the Barbarians at the end of last month. The only hitch is that Jones decided against having a closer look at the South African-born prop on this tour, even though he is considered by some to be the best scrummaging tighthead in the Premiership.
The second row is also far from fixed despite Itoje’s presence. The Saracens ultraathlete has the versatility to play at blindside but he is more suited to second row, and more effective there. The other lock berth is still undecided, with Courtney Lawes, George Kruis, Joe Launchbury and Exeter’s Jonny Hill all in the frame.
When Launchbury was brought back into the second Test starting line-up after injury he was heralded by some of his team-mates as world class. Only consistently outstanding displays at international
level earn you that accolade, and the Wasps captain has fallen short of that this season – although he was a more galvanising force in Cape Town.
Lawes has had a break, and is one of England’s most capable carriers but his lack of poundage means that a combination of him and Itoje is lightweight compared to the heavies in rival packs, and that gives Kruis and Hill a window of opportunity. However, the biggest, most powerful England second row, Dave Attwood, remains in limbo, somewhere between Bath and Toulon.
In the back row Billy Vunipola should be a cast-iron World Cup selection but the No.8’s latest arm injury shrouds that in a fog of uncertainty, and with Nathan Hughes also injury-prone Jones may have to rethink.
Brad Shields, Mark Wison and Don Armand are his blindsid/No.8 options, and if Armand’s Exeter team-mate Dave Ewers can get his powerhouse carrying game back into gear again he could be an important addition.
Openside is also wide open with Tom Curry making good headway in South Africa, but while he may be ahead of Sam Underhill and Newcastle’s Gary Graham as a link-man, both are stronger over the ball than the Sale tyro.
The main issues raised in the backs by this summer series in South Africa are at 9, 10 and 12. The first is whether Jones has time to find a scrum-half who is not only an astute tactician but a driving force who bosses the pack in the way Faf de Klerk did for the Springboks.
Youngs was put in the shade by De Klerk, and in the first two Tests he simply did not seem influential enough for a Test scrumhalf with over 70 caps. He was better in Cape Town but the jury remains out.
It was strange that Dan Robson did not get a start alongside Danny Cipriani, his Wasps half-back partner, in Cape Town, and have the opportunity to show whether he can be the No.9 general England require urgently.
Cipriani’s selection at fly-half showed that Jones is still undecided about his midfield, with George Ford eased out of the starting 23 for the third Test, and no answer to the shortage of midfield carrying power with Ben Te’o sidelined by injury and Manu Tuilagi still searching for peak fitness.
This has been a tour which raised endless questions for Eddie Jones before the last Test in Cape Town, but provided very few answers.
Hopefully, the win at Newlands will see them start flooding in.