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'Genuinely baffled' - England's back row selection the major talking point in Jones' squad

(Photo by Andrew Matthews - Pool/Getty Images)

Wasps flanker Jack Willis is England’s unlucky absentee this Guinness Six Nations after missing out on Eddie Jones’ slimline 28-man squad.

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The RPA players’ player of the year is part of the shadow squad, losing his place from the autumn to Mark Wilson, who joins the regular triumvirate of Billy Vunipola, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, as well as ‘finisher’ Ben Earl.

The squad is smaller in size than usual as a safety precaution, which means there are inevitably more surprising omissions.

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Mike Brown on everything from turning over his head coach’s bed to his fist fight with Ben Te’o:

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Mike Brown on everything from turning over his head coach’s bed to his fist fight with Ben Te’o:

Although there are still plenty of calls for their inclusion, the absence of the Simmonds brothers is no longer news to anyone these days, and it would have been a surprise if anything if they were selected. Willis, on the other hand, is slightly different.

The Wasps sensation is included in the shadow squad, and was given a taste of Test rugby in the autumn. He is certainly part of Jones’ plans, but the coach has turned to a player he has a lot of trust in in Wilson.

Though he has only played once for England since the World Cup final in 2019, the Newcastle Falcons flanker has never let Jones when called upon, and has covered the back row for England adroitly in the past. His industry and grit are two qualities that will please the head coach, and his club warrants a recall.

Outside of that, the rest of the loose forwards are more or less undroppable, or certainly in Jones’ eyes.

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With a limited squad, the Australian will want to know exactly what he will get from his resources, and he has shown a lot of trust in Wilson before and it has paid off.

With that said, there is still room for new additions to the England squad, as Jones has traditionally liked to blood new faces into his squads. Bristol Bears’ Harry Randall and Wasps’ Paolo Odogwu are two deserving additions, with the Wasps winger storming into contention in recent weeks. Beno Obano is the other uncapped member of the squad, although the Bath prop has been part of the England set-up before.

With a unique squad size, finding the balance between experience and initiating new players would have been tough, which helps explain some calls.

There were more like that:

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https://twitter.com/MK_AWFC/status/1352668712394960901?s=20

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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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