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Another change for England as Bath confirm serious Watson injury

(Photo by PA)

Bath have confirmed the worst about the injury sustained last Sunday by recent Lions tourist Anthony Watson, admitting that the England winger suffered an ACL rupture that will rule him out from playing for quite some time into 2022. No exact timeframe was given for the length of the 27-year-old layoff’s but he is unlikely to be fit his country’s 2022 Six Nations campaign given the type of injury involved.

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England have since confirmed that his place in the squad will now go to Joe Marchant, the Harlequins back to join with the rest of the squad when they meet on Monday to travel to Jersey.

Watson isn’t unfamiliar with serious injury, as he has previously battled back from two ruptured achilles, but this latest setback is especially untimely as he had been one of England’s rare few shining lights during their miserable fifth place 2021 Six Nations finish and his form was good enough to earn two Lions Test starts versus the Springboks in South Africa.

Video Spacer

What Eddie Jones said about his England squad at his Monday media briefing

Video Spacer

What Eddie Jones said about his England squad at his Monday media briefing

The seasoned winger was injured 62 minutes into last Sunday’s 71-17 hammering for Bath by Saracens and while he was picked in the England Autumn Nations Series squad the following day, it was always contingent on what the outcome of the initial scan on his knee was. That eventually confirmed the bad news that he won’t play again until 2022 and is unavailable for the upcoming matches versus Tonga, Australia and South Africa.

A Bath statement read: “Bath can confirm that Anthony Watson suffered an ACL rupture during Sunday’s fixture against Saracens. Our medical team are now seeking further advice from a specialist knee consultant in order to provide the best rehabilitation possible for Anthony in the short, medium and long-term.”

Bath boss Stuart Hooper added: “We are all feeling Anthony’s disappointment right now. He is a remarkable athlete who will put as much work into his rehabilitation as he does into his on-field performance. We know Anthony will come back stronger from this and we will support him every step of the way.”

The disappointing update on Watson emerged on the same Tuesday afternoon that it was confirmed Luke Cowan-Dickie would also miss the entire autumn series with England. His ankle injury for Exeter last Saturday at Wasps didn’t prevent him from being selected in Eddie Jones’ 34-strong Test squad on Monday, but he had to pull out 24 hours later and his place was given to Jamie George. 

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Saracens hooker George had been one of the most high profile omissions from the England squad but has now earned a reprieve not long after it was speculated by some pundits that his omission on Monday was potentially a Test career-ending decision by Jones. 

   

 

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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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