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England explain long-awaited Simmonds recall, first Lynagh call-up

(Photo by Bob Bradford/CameraSport via Getty Images)

Eddie Jones has explained why he has finally chosen Lions back-rower Sam Simmonds in his 45-strong England training squad as well as issuing a first call-up for the uncapped Louis Lynagh. There has been for some time now a public campaign to get Simmonds, the record-breaking Premiership try-scorer, back into England fold for the first time since 2018 while Michael Lynagh, the legendary Wallaby, had questioned earlier this year why the RFU never sounded out his son regarding his future international plans.  

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England boss Jones steadfastly remained loyal throughout the 2020/21 season to first-choice No8 Billy Vunipola even though he appeared out of form while Simmonds was consistently generating headlines on a weekly basis for the excellence of his performances at Exeter. 

It seems the more there was a clamour for Simmonds to earn a call-up, the more Jones rigidly stuck by Vunipola but that favouritism has now been revoked as the Exeter forward, who was chosen by Warren Gatland to tour with the Lions in South Africa, has been included for next week’s mini-training camp. 

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How the Springboks can bounce back against the All Blacks next weekend

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How the Springboks can bounce back against the All Blacks next weekend

This has come at the expense of Vunipola despite Mark McCall claiming last week that the Saracens player was “as fit as I have seen him” following a busy pre-season on the training ground. 

Asked by RugbyPass why the time was now right to restore Simmonds to an England squad he has not been involved in for three-and-a-half years, Jones replied: “We asked him to go away and look at his game and he has been progressing well. 

“He did that last season and therefore he has got an opportunity to put his best foot forward. He has improved parts of his game, particularly how hard he is over the ball. He has improved that aspect of his game and he is also finding the ball a bit more in unstructured play. There has been some nice development in his game.”

Meanwhile, it was last June, in the wake of Lynagh’s title-winning try-scoring performances with Harlequins, that his father queried what the RFU were up to regarding potential England players as the 20-year-old was eligible for three countries: England through residency, Australia through his famous father and Italy through birth.

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Lynagh tweeted: “Qualified for England, Australia and Italy. Italy and Australia have contacted him within the last fortnight. The RFU/England Rugby have NEVER spoken to him about his intentions and goals. Strange, given that the now head of rugby once flew from Italy to ask a 17-year-old to commit to Italy.”

Some days later, ahead of the Test match versus the USA, Jones dismissively responded to the Lynagh social media post. “I’m not aware of the tweet and I am only here to talk about players who have been selected,” he said. The England coach had a very different stance on Tuesday morning, though, when Lynagh became one of eight uncapped players included in the latest squad. 

“He has a string of solid performances now. He has got good acceleration, he has got good power, he finds the line, he had got to find the ball a bit more. We chatted about that yesterday [Monday], and he has got youth. He has got that enthusiasm to improve. Based on his performances for Harlequins he deserves to be looked at so we will have a look at him.”

Jones’ selection, which also saw the omission of Mako Vunipola, George Ford and Jamie George on form, was effectively a line being drawn in the sand two years out from the 2023 World Cup in France, the tournament now hugely colouring the Australian’s thought process. 

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We are building a team towards the World Cup and at a World Cup you want to have a nice balance between experienced players and young, fresh, enthusiastic players who can add to the squad so it is part of the process,” he said.

“We have got five campaigns to the World Cup and our goal is to win the World Cup. Each campaign we want to get a little bit better and we understand the expectation for England is always to win, so we fully embrace that expectation and that is what we want to do. But at the same time, we have got to have a longer-term view about where we take the team and so we will have both of those in mind.  

“It’s an exciting time for the squad two years from the next World Cup. Almost after the Lions tour, you draw a bit of a line in the sand because then you are in the last two years before the World Cup and everything you do counts. We have a mini-camp starting on Sunday and it is an opportunity for the 45 selected players to put their best foot forward. 

“The camp will be more about administration than training but we will get to see where the players are. It’s a nice mix of experienced players and young players and players who did well in the summer and it is a chance for us to build the team for the World Cup so we are all ready to go. New coaching staff, so it’s a good time for the team to start moving forward again.”

 

 

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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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