Jones outlines why England revamp includes Furbank at full-back

Eddie Jones has explained his much-changed England team selection to face France, an XV that includes a surprise first start at full-back for George Furbank since Italy in October 2020 with current first-choice No15 Freddie Steward switched to the right wing after last weekend’s No14 Max Malins was dropped entirely from the squad earlier this week. 

A total of five changes were made to the starting team with Ben Youngs promoted from the bench for Harry Randall, Will Stuart getting the jump on Kyle Sinkler as the starting tighthead, Nick Isiekwe replacing the suspended Charlie Ewels at lock while fit-again Sam Underhill will start his first Test match since last November in place of the injured Tom Curry. 

The inclusion of Furbank at full-back was the surprise selection, however. The 25-year-old made an uncomfortable Test debut against France in February 2020 and even won the last of his five caps as the starting No10 against Tonga four months ago when Owen Farrell was a late withdrawal and Marcus Smith had only trained at that week’s captain’s run.  

Jamie Noon previews the final round of the Six Nations | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 25

Jamie Noon previews the final round of the Six Nations | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 25

Now Furbank is back at full-back, a position he last occupied at Test level in Rome 17 months ago, and his inclusion has led to the 21-year-old Steward suddenly getting crowbarred into the right wing position after nine successive starts at No15.

“It’s more tactical about the way we think the game is going to be played,” said Jones when asked to explain why Steward had been switched to the England wide channel to accommodate Furbank. “France is the highest kicking team in the world so I don’t think they are going to deviate away from that too much.

“France are going to be a massively aroused team. They come through the centre with their big forwards and once they tie you up a little bit they spread the ball to the backs but they won’t do that without using their long kicking game to get them up the field, so they are a very disciplined team in attack and defence and we would anticipate them playing a very sort of similar game.”

Elsewhere, Jones resisted the temptation to keep skipper Courtney Lawes packing down in the second row after he shifted in there from the blindside to link up with Maro Itoje at the scrum following the second-minute red-carding of Ewels in the 15-32 loss to Ireland. 

Ewels has since copped a three-match ban for clattering into James Ryan but rather than look to Lawes to fill in from the start in Paris in the engine room, Jones has left his captain starting at No6 and has also ignored last week’s second row sub Joe Launchbury to instead recall Nick Isiekwe, a starter at lock in the early February games against Scotland and Italy.   

“The lineout contest is going to be important and Nick is our second best lineout exponent,” explained the England coach. “He played very well early in the Six Nations. We feel like he can give us that energy around the ruck, particularly playing against a French side that is going to take you on around there. We feel Courtney’s best position is six. He can fill in at lock but we don’t feel that is his best position.”

Switching to tighthead, Stuart has been given a rare starting berth. Just three of his previous 19 caps have been as a starter but Jones felt it best that he steps up this week and keeps Sinckler waiting in reserve on the bench after he failed his HIA during the loss to Ireland. 

“Will Stuart has impressed us in the Six Nations,” said Jones. “Kyle has had a difficult last two weeks. He had no training last week because of his back and this week he has been doing the return to play protocol through concussion so the only training session he did was today [Thursday]. So that makes it difficult for him to start the game and therefore that is a fairly simple one to explain.”

As regards the other two changes, Youngs for Randall and Underhill for Curry, the England boss added: “Harry and Ben, we have used them starting or finishing, we feel that Harry’s pace at the end of the game is going to be invaluable. There may be opportunities to play against a more tiring defence and therefore he is better for us at the end of the game rather than the start.  

“Sam is fit, he hasn’t been fit since autumn. We know that at his best he is a world-class flanker. He has got a real sparkle in his eye, he has come back refreshed. He has had a tough time through injury, illness and concussion but he has got a real spring in his step.”

Rather than traditionally travel to an away Six Nations game two days before the fixture, England ripped up their plans and instead arrived in Paris on Tuesday evening in order to freshen up body and mind before taking on the Grand Slam-chasing France on Saturday. Jones claimed the change-up has been worthwhile with some of his players spotted out and about taking in the Parisian sights on Thursday. 

“The game will give us the most accurate feedback but we have had a really good preparation. We wanted to freshen the boys up. The Ireland game took a lot out of them physically and emotionally so we have freshened them up.

“We only had one training session this week which was yesterday [Wednesday] at the Stade Francais training ground. It was a really good, fast, high-quality session. Boys are recovering again today and we feel like we are going to be in good condition to play at our best on Saturday night… 

“Physical and mental go together, there is no separation. A big game like Ireland when you fight back and put yourself in a position to win the game and unfortunately you can’t finish, it takes a lot out of you and anyone who watch the game on Saturday could see the effort that the players gave and the spirit they played with, so we wanted to make sure that we gave them a good recovery time.”