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The Wallabies legend Jones likens 'desire to attack' Arundell to

(Photo montage by Tom Parker)

Eddie Jones has explained why new England call-up Henry Arundell reminds him of the legendary Matt Giteau, the 39-year-old who brought the curtain down on his 103-cap Test career with the Wallabies in 2016.  It was Jones who handed Giteau his Test debut in 2002 just two months after his 20th birthday and he has now sung the praises of a fast-rising 19-year-old Englishman who has shot to fame in recent weeks with his live television exploits for London Irish. 

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Arundell was awarded the man of the match for igniting a Gallagher Premiership comeback as a replacement that saw his team bounce back from being 25 points down to draw with Wasps last month. The following Sunday he again came off the bench to run the length of the field to score an amazing solo try in a narrow one-point Challenge Cup defeat at Toulon. 

England boss Jones was present at the Irish versus Wasps game in Brentford and he visited the club’s training ground in the days after. It led to Arundell getting included as one of ten uncapped players in his 36-man training squad for next week’s mini-training camp in London and the head coach explained on Tuesday what had caught his eye about the youngster.   

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The Breakdown | Episode 13 | Sky Sport NZ

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The Breakdown | Episode 13 | Sky Sport NZ

“There has been a fair bit of publicity about the young boy from London Irish but we will just wait and see,” he enthused about Arundell, who has been involved with England at age-grade level.

“We watched him during the 20s, he was impressive in the 20s. He has got exceptional pace, he probably reminds me a lot of Matt Giteau in terms of his desire to attack. Not the way he plays but his desire to attack. 

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“I was particularly impressed when I went out and watched him play against Wasps. The first ball that was kicked to him he knocked it on cold, so it wasn’t a great start. There was all this hoo-ha about him being a fantastic player and he knocks the ball on cold. The next ball he gets he gets a long pass, sees backspace, chips and scores and that is the sort of mindset you want to see from young players that want to take on the game. That is impressive with his pace.”

Ten clubs were represented in the squad of 36 named by Jones to assemble in London on Sunday, Leicester, Bath and Northampton each providing six players ahead of preparations for a summer schedule that begins against the Barbarians on June 19 and continues with the three-Test tour to Australia. This is a small step but a significant step,” said Jones about the England camp.

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“It’s a bit of an experimental squad because of the fact that we are preparing for the Barbarians game and then going on the Australian tour. As a result, we have left some senior players out as there are some young guys we want to have a look at. The quality of rugby in Europe over the last few weekends has been extremely high so looking forward to getting the players together and getting a bit of a base ready for Australia.”

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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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