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Andy Goode: 'You would have to question the morality of the decision if he was allowed to be named in the England squad'

(Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Eddie Jones having to operate with just a 28-man England squad for the Six Nations throws up a number of issues for him, most notably what to do about Kyle Sinckler. The Bristol prop has been given a two-week suspension for “failing to respect the authority of the match official” after shouting “are you f***ing serious” at referee Karl Dickson in their Gallagher Premiership game against Exeter last weekend.

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Officially, he is due to miss the Bears’ next two fixtures against Bath and Sale and be free to play again on February 9 but surely if he is named in the England squad next Friday, seven days before Bristol’s next game against Bath, that will change.

The regulations state that if any of the above games are cancelled or rearranged then the player’s free to play date will be amended to ensure the sanction remains meaningful.

They might not be cancelled but if Sinckler is included in the England squad, he has to miss the opening two games of the Six Nations as he wouldn’t have been available for the Bath game and that part of the sanction wouldn’t remain “meaningful”.

You would have to question the morality of the decision if he was allowed to be named in the England squad and only miss the opening game of the Six Nations against Scotland. World Rugby could obviously intervene as well, so Jones will be left with a conundrum.

If he chooses to name Sinckler in his squad, then he will have to include three tightheads. If he leaves him out, then he will miss the entire competition unless there is an injury at tighthead. The RFU, Premiership Rugby and the RPA have all agreed to a smaller squad being named to reduce movement in and out of camp because of the challenges presented by Covid-19 and we understand there won’t be the usual chopping and changing.

Even without the Sinckler situation, sticking to 28 players throughout presents problems for Jones when you consider he had a 36-man squad to work with for last year’s Six Nations and the World Cup allows 31 players to be included.

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There is always the debate at World Cup time around which positions a coach leaves himself short in and that will be the case even more with three fewer players at his disposal. If it wasn’t for the Sinckler situation, I’d expect Jones to name six front rowers, four locks, six back rowers, three half-backs, four centres (including Owen Farrell) and five players in the back three.

Of course, a smaller squad also means there is virtually no chance that we will see the likes of Joe Simmonds MBE, Marcus Smith and co given opportunities to impress in an England environment. They could have been given a run in the autumn, though, and weren’t so it is, in reality, going to be a similar squad and a similar situation for Jones in the Six Nations as it was in the Autumn Nations Cup.

He used just 29 players in that tournament and Joe Marler only played in one game for 37 minutes, so he shouldn’t have too much of a problem. But one area where the smaller squad may mean a slightly different approach is in training, which is notoriously tough with England.

Jones likes to do 15 on 15 quite a lot in a controlled, contact environment and he isn’t going to have the numbers. He will have to adapt in terms of the intensity of training and maybe backload a training week a bit more rather than frontload it because he is normally used to operating with a large group and then releasing some back to clubs midweek.

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As much as Jones would want as many players at his disposal as possible, it won’t affect England’s chances and he will fully expect to retain the title. But Sinckler’s selection does pose a major moral and practical headache for him before the tournament has even begun.

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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