These five could be World Cup bolters
NICK CAIN PICKS FIVE MEN EDDIE JONES SHOULD CONSIDER CAREFULY
EDDIE Jones says at regular intervals that he has almost all his England squad in place. Then another injury to a key player throws a spanner in the works, and the England coach has to get out the repair kit.
The ankle ligament damage sustained by Sam Underhill in last weekend’s Bath v Leicester encounter is a case in point, with the inspirational England openside ruled out of the Six Nations opener against Ireland, and doubtful for the second round game against France.
The loss of Underhill for the start of the tournament is a blow, because he has all the hallmarks of being the all-action, rugged, ball-winning openside England have been lacking in the 15 years since Neil Back was in his pomp.
Every injury is nevertheless a window of opportunity for another player, and for a coach to demonstrate how sharp his selection skills are. Jones already has a replacement in the fit-again Tom Curry, but, while there is a lot to like about the Sale flanker, at present he does not have Underhill’s latching power and strength at the breakdown.
Having said earlier in his tenure that he could make do without openside specialists, Jones has done an about-turn. It is a timely change of perspective given that there is every sign that the ability of breakdown specialists to steal or slow down opposition ball will remain at a premium in the 2019 World Cup.
The England coach should therefore be thinking in terms of a stockpile of No.7s, not least because Underhill and Curry have been injury prone, and because Mark Wilson – who shone in the Autumn series – is at his best at No.8/blindside, rather than openside.
At the top of that stockpile should be Lewis Ludlam. The 23-year-old Northampton openside is not yet as effective at the breakdown as Underhill, but for nuisance value he is in the same category. Ludlam’s tenacity and grappling strength stands out, he defends well, and he is a strong support runner.
The Saints flanker has competition from Matt Kvesic, who has changed shape at Exeter and returned to the leaner more athletic version we knew at Worcester. Another openside Jones should consider is Gloucester’s Lewis Ludlow. He has kamikaze tendencies, but Ludlow’s speed to the breakdown and guts gives any coach plenty to work with.
Given the high rate of attrition in the Premiership, and the impact on the England squad of injuries sustained whether on club or international duty – as well as the alarming troughs in form that have affected some of his experienced players – Jones will have to ensure that over the next nine months there are no slip-ups in selection.
Ludlam is the first of five players earmarked in this feature because of the impact they have made over the course of this season, and it is as a reminder to the England coach that many a World Cup gem has been unearthed less than a year out from the tournament.
Last season Jones learned the hard way that he could not afford to give sinecures to those 2015 World Cup veterans who, spurred on by their desire to make amends for their pool exit, came good for him in an unbeaten 2016.
When decline set in the during the 2018 Six Nations defeats by Scotland, France and Ireland, Jones was slow to react – and it has left him having to play catch-up in a number of key positions.
Hopefully, the lessons he draws from the success of the enforced injury changes of Ben Moon at loosehead and Wilson at No.8 during the autumn, will enable him to get to grips with succession plans in a number of key positions.
Tight-head and scrum-half are at the top of the list of priorities with a new Six Nations campaign looming.
Kyle Sinckler raised his game significantly during the autumn against New Zealand and Australia after a disappointing tour of South Africa, but it is too soon for the Harlequins tight-head to be considered unassailable. The same applies to his main rival for the England No.3 shirt, Exeter’s Harry Williams.
In pure scrummaging terms Nick Schonert looks like the best tight-head technician in the Premiership, but the Worcester prop’s contribution around the pitch is not as persuasive.
For sheer impact this season in a struggling side, Will Stuart at Wasps is a young prop Jones should be fast-tracking – especially if he wants to be true to his plan of being four-deep in every position before the World Cup.
Stuart served an apprenticeship at Wasps, which included being sent to Blackheath, Birmingham Moseley and Nottingham to learn his trade, before the former England U20 prop was awarded a full contract at the start of the season.
When an injury to Jake CooperWoolley opened the door for Stuart, the 22-year-old seized his chance,
“Jones will have to ensure that over the next nine months there are no slipups in selection”
becoming a bulwark in an otherwise shaky side. The evidence of Stuart’s precocious strength was highlighted in last weekend’s Big Game at Twickenham when he came off the bench against Harlequins to use his 6ft 2in, 19 stone frame to knock Joe Marler onto the back foot at a scrum, and followed it up by smashing over for Wasps only try from a pick-and-drive. Where the age factor is concerned it is noteworthy that the New Zealand tight-head centurion, Owen Franks, was first capped against Australia when he was 21, and by the time he was 22 he was established as the cornerstone of the All Black scrum. It is premature to suggest that Stuart is an English equivalent of Franks. However, it is not premature to take a very close interest and assist in Stuart’s immediate development, because nine months can be a long time in pro rugby. Scrum-half is another position where Jones appears to have lockeddown his options, with Ben Youngs and Danny Care the chosen ones, and Richard Wigglesworth added this autumn mainly because of the quality of his box-kicking.
Having spurned the opportunity to give either Ben Spencer or Dan Robson a genuine Test baptism in South Africa in June, Jones’ decision to call up Wigglesworth – who will be 36 before the World Cup – made it clear that in his book maturity rules at scrum-half.
The issue Jones has to tackle is that Youngs (29) and Care (32) go up and down like yo-yos when it comes to the form book, and at the moment he has no other options.
If the England coach is looking for maturity, consistency of performance, and the added bonus of a scrum-half leader who prompts and pushes his forwards, he need look no further than Will Chudley.
His human dynamo style made him a favourite son of the Sandy Park crowd when he was at Exeter, and since joining Bath he has gone from strength to strength. Chudley’s leadership qualities have seen him promoted to captain, while his quick unfussy service and organisational skills have lifted Bath.
When it came to high tempo workrate
“Youngs and Care go up and down like yo-yos when it comes to the form book”
and authority he was a notch up on Youngs with a man-of-the-match showing at the Rec last weekend, and at 30 is still full of running.
At outside-centre the water also appears muddied despite the return to action of Leicester’s Manu Tuilagi and Worcester’s Ben Te’o. Although it is a boon for England in terms of sheer physical presence and power, the best midfields – like the best back rows – are all about how effectively the component parts fit together.
The classic centre combination, and arguably still the best, is to have a dynamic powerhouse carrier at 12 and an elusive 13 with bewitching footwork and searing acceleration. At their best Elliott Daly and Jonathan Joseph tick those boxes at 13, while Henry Slade does not.
Slade finished the autumn in credit, but there is still a sense that he is looking for his rightful position, and that he might be a better fit at 10 or 15 than outside-centre.
Joe Marchant’s displays for Harlequins this season leave no doubt that he is an outside-centre from the classic mould, or that he is starting to fulfil the promise he showed as an England U20 junior world champion in 2016.
Marchant grabbed the headlines when he caught a ricochet off the posts from a penalty to score a brilliant opportunist try against Saracens earlier this season, and last weekend at Twickenham he showed similar quick wits to dodge the upright and ground Care’s grubber to ensure victory over Wasps.
He is one of those players capable of cutting defences to shreds given an iota of space, and with Joseph still injured and Daly at full-back, he appears to have the attributes to make the step to Test level.
Last but not least is Jonny Hill, the 6ft 7ins Exeter second row. Hill was outstanding for the Chiefs last season, and although he has only just returned from injury, he will be hoping to make up for lost time.
There is a perception that England are flush with second row options, but the wear and tear among the big men is constant. Already this season Wasps Joe Launchbury has been absent until this weekend, Maro Itoje has been sidelined since the Autumn series with a chipped knee, and Saracens team-mate George Kruis has had running repairs at regular intervals over the last two seasons.
Hill was part of the England tour squad to South Africa in June, but did not get the chance to put down a marker. That is a pity, because the speed with which the tallest of the England locks gets into the air makes him a formidable line-out jumper. He delivers fast ball off top like a slot machine paying out, and augments his set-piece attributes with his speed around the pitch and dexterity.
Whether or not opportunity knocks for Hill, Ludlum, Stuart, Chudley and Marchant between now and the World Cup will be contingent on injuries to established England squad players, and on their capacity to play well enough consistently to catch the eye of Jones.
What is not in question is that they are bolters who, if unleashed, have shown they could go like the clappers.