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Jonny May update becomes the latest setback for troubled England

By PA
(Photo by Alex Davidson/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

England wing Jonny May is set to miss Saturday’s second Test against Australia as he continues his recovery from the episode of covid that ruled him out of the series opener. Still reeling from the loss of Tom Curry for the rest of the tour due to a concussion, England are resigned to being without May for their attempt to keep the series alive at Suncorp Stadium.

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May tested positive for covid on arrival in Perth and was forced to spend seven days in self-isolation, which ended too late to feature in the 30-28 defeat at Optus Stadium. The 32-year-old was expected to be restored to the wing at the expense of Joe Cokanasiga but he has been unable to train fully since leaving quarantine, placing his involvement in the remainder of the series in doubt.

“It was a long seven days for Jonny! He’s been back on his feet today [Tuesday] running, but he didn’t join in with the team. It will be a graded return to full training for him,” defence coach Anthony Seibold said. “We tried to include Jonny while he was in isolation, so sending him the team meetings, the backs meetings.

Video Spacer

Post-match press conference with England head coach Eddie Jones and captain Courtney Lawes following their 30-28 loss to Australia.

Video Spacer

Post-match press conference with England head coach Eddie Jones and captain Courtney Lawes following their 30-28 loss to Australia.

“We have used him as a really experienced Test player. We have a really young group in the backs, so he has been a bit of a resource for those guys.”

The unavailability of May means that England boss Eddie Jones must decide whether to persevere with the underperforming Cokanasiga on the left wing, give Henry Arundell a full debut, or award Tommy Freeman his first cap. Jack Nowell’s impact carrying around the edges in the first Test assures him of continuing on the other wing.

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England’s squad will be reduced to 35 players when Curry returns home on Wednesday, his tour ended by the concussion incurred in the first half in Perth. Curry’s head whipped backwards while tackling Sami Kerevi but having been given the all-clear during an on-field examination, he presented with symptoms at half-time and was ruled out by an HIA.

Three head knocks over the last six months have resulted in a cautious approach to his recovery. “It’s about looking after the welfare of Tom. There is a longer-term piece at play with Tom’s health,” Seibold said. “He has had some concussions over the recent period of time so the medical staff would rather err on the side of caution. We don’t have any concerns over his medium to longer-term health.

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“The medical team have made the decision that rather than keeping Tom for the rest of the tour he can get home, get some rest and recover back home. He is in good form, I was talking to him this morning. He is disappointed he is not staying and can’t play because he is a competitor, but there is a longer-term view at play.”

Sam Underhill is the leading contender among the three options to replace Curry at openside with Lewis Ludlam and Jack Willis also being considered. “Sam was one of the outstanding players at the 2019 World Cup,” Seibold added.

“He missed out on selection for the first Test but he has competed really strongly to put him in the frame for the second one. Lewis Ludlam came on and competed really strongly when Tom came off with the HIA.

“He has been a great leader for Northampton this year and when he comes into camp you can certainly tell why he is the captain of his club. He has got some great leadership qualities and he competes really hard. Jack Willis from Wasps is really good over the ball, he competes really strongly defensively.”

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J
JW 1 hour ago
Why England's defence of the realm has crumbled without Felix Jones

This piece is nothing more than the result of revisionist fancy of Northern Hemisphere rugby fans. Seeing what they want to see, helped but some surprisingly good results and a desire to get excited about doing something well.


I went back through the 6N highlights and sure enough in every English win I remembered seeing these exact holes on the inside, that are supposedly the fallout out of a Felix Jones system breaking down in the hands of some replacement. Every time the commentators mentioned England being targeted up the seam/around the ruck or whatever. Each game had a try scored on the inside of the blitz, no doubt it was a theme throughout all of their games. Will Jordan specifically says that Holland had design that move to target space he saw during their home series win.


Well I'm here to tell you they were the same holes in a Felix Jones system being built as well. This woe is now sentiment has got to stop. The game is on a high, these games have been fantastic! It is Englands attack that has seen their stocks increase this year, and no doubt that is what SB told him was the teams priority. Or it's simply science, with Englands elite players having worked towards a new player welfare and management system, as part of new partnership with the ERU, that's dictating what the players can and can't put their bodies through.


The only bit of truth in this article is that Felix is not there to work on fixing his defence. England threw away another good chance of winning in the weekend when they froze all enterprise under pressure when no longer playing attacking footy for the second half. That mindset helped (or not helped if you like) of course by all this knee jerk, red brained criticism.

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