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'You destroy young people when you give them false hope'

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

Soon-to-depart Northampton boss Chris Boyd has taken a potshot at Eddie Jones’ penchant for calling up-and-coming prospects into the England set-up and then not capping them. Saints winger Tommy Freeman is the latest Franklin’s Gardens player to be courted by the Test coach, featuring in multiple training squads across the international season without making a debut.

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It’s a pattern that Boyd knows well as numerous other Northampton players have been on the England fringes only to fall back into the shadows and be left waiting to get another call. Lewis Ludlam, George Furbank, Alex Mitchell and Piers Francis have all had fleeting caps under Jones without becoming regular picks, Paul Hill was waiting four years in between games until last summer, while Ollie Sleightholme, Fraser Dingwall and Dave Ribbans have all made training squads without getting capped.

It was something Boyd spoke about at the start of the 2021/22 Gallager Premiership season, telling RugbyPass at the time: “The trick now is we have had a number of guys out of our academy that have all had little snippets of opportunities to go into the England environment but in the back-end, none of those has really gone on to consolidate themselves.

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“There is a group of youngsters here and it is probably time they started putting in some really consistent performances to see if they can really go to the next level.”

That next level came up for discussion this week when the UK Telegraph secured a round table interview at the PRL awards night with the four Premiership semi-final bosses – Northampton’s Boyd, Saracens’ McCall, Harlequins’ Tabai Matson and Leicester’s Steve Borthwick – and among the many questions posed was the invite for the DoRs to pick one player they would like to see play for England on next month’s tour to Australia.

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Boyd replied: “I’m not sure I have got an answer for that.” When it was put to him that the 21-year-old Freeman, a rookie with 28 Premiership appearances, was perhaps someone the Saints would like to see in Test action, the DoR added: “I don’t think you want to go down my theory on that, but I would not pick anyone for England who has not played at least 50 games for their club. I think you destroy young people when you give them false hope.”

Have you seen evidence of that? “Plenty,” insisted Boyd. Meanwhile, Leicester boss Borthwick chose Ellis Genge. “He is our club captain and he has been a tremendous leader for us. I think he is growing into his role with England. I know he is going to play in an incredible Test series in Australia.”

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Saracens boss McCall went with Mako Vunipola, the prop who hasn’t played for England since March 2021. “I’d say Mako, the same position, so hopefully he pushes Genge close. Obviously, Mako has had a year where he has not been required for international duty, which has been a hell of a test for him because he is used to being involved.

“He has been phenomenal for our club and particularly during the Six Nations period he took the captaincy of the club for ten weeks and was incredible, not just his playing ability but his influence within the group. He will be close again and I think he deserves it after the way he has played this season.”

Harlequins head coach Matson rounded off the topic. “I hope (Alex) Dombrandt gets on the tour. His journey has been really interesting and different compared to a lot of international players. He is still just finding his feet as a professional.”

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J
Jonny 872 days ago

Henry Arundell hasn't played anywhere near 50 games for his club. If Eddie Jones hadn't picked him, would Gregor Townsend have waited 50 games? I doubt it.

Nice idea in theory and might work in NZ where Boyd is from but England probably have to operate differently, or lose even more talent players they've developed to their rivals.

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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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