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Size matters for England in Argentina

114kg of prime London Irish wing Joe Cokanasiga

Relatively unknown monsters in England shirts are heading to South America next month. James Harrington wonders why.

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England coach Eddie Jones has, on the whole, been treading softly amid all the noise of the impending Lions’ tour.

But this week he briefly popped his head above the parapet to explain why he had selected an XXXL backline for England’s Lions-shorn two-Test Argentina tour.

The backs in the Premiership are too small, he claimed, saying the off-season South American jaunt would give him the chance to blood a new batch of heavyweight contenders.

So, now we know. Size is why Jones has opted for 19-year-old 114kg London Irish wing Joe Cokanasiga, and Saracens’ 22-year-old 99kg fifth-choice wideman Nathan Earle ahead of, say, Wasps 86kg cruiserweight Christian Wade – whose record-breaking 17 Premiership tries this season came, apparently, despite the fact he’s such a little guy.

Never mind that England U20 international Cokanasiga has never played top-flight domestic rugby, and has featured in only seven games in the second-tier Championship. Never mind that Earle has started just four games for Saracens since heading north from New Zealand at the start of the year, and is a long-term investment for the club that Jones is trying to push through.

This is why 1.95m, 108kg 20-year-old Harry Mallinder will loom like a blond clean-shaven Chewbacca alongside the 1.89m, 96kg 24-year-old Henry Slade in a midfield the size of a small planet. Even the relatively small cross-code, cross-hemisphere Denny Solomona comes in at 91kg – but that’s still 1kg less than fly-half Alex Lozowski.

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Of the backs heading to Argentina, George Ford is among the smallest at a mere 84kg. Hell, even scrum-half Jack Maunder is 83kg – and they’re supposed to be small. Danny Care is 85kg, but late training camp surprise call-up Willi Heinz is well into the 90kgs category.

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In Cokanasiga and Earle – and to a lesser extent Mallinder – Jones has opted for youth, neck-injuring size and raw envy-inducing talent. Players to be moulded and polished. He has form for recognising the dazzling qualities of unhewn diamonds. He found, nurtured and delivered unto rugby superstardom none other than George Smith.

Is he hoping to do it again? He’s given himself every opportunity with a squad featuring 15 uncapped players. Many will be cast aside in the months and years ahead of the World Cup in Japan, such is the cruel and uncompromising nature of international rugby. But others will shine bright and make lasting impressions.

But this size thing is surprising. Jones wants a backline of players who are more than 94kg – more than Beauden Barrett, Cory Jane, Nehe Milner-Skudder, a trio of players who, it has to be said, have done OK despite their seeming absence of weight.

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Maybe Eddie has seen something in his crystal ball. It has rained tries in all domestic competitions this season. They’re going white line-mad in Super Rugby, the three European leagues all broke their try-scoring records before the playoffs. But this golden nimble-footed hot-stepping try-frenzy period, too, shall pass.

Defences will catch up. And the first-strike catch-all weapon for any defence is size. Jones is looking World Cup-distances down the line. And he’s betting big for … well … big. We’ll just have to wait and see whether he’s right.

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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 3 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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