With call-ups for Val Rapava-Ruskin and Cadan Murley and with Henry Slade and Alex Mitchell omitted, Planet Rugby’s James While joined England head coach Eddie Jones shortly after his November Tests squad announcement on Monday at the England Rugby Press Conference held at Twickenham.
There is 13 Test matches left until the 2023 Rugby World Cup begins, and Jones has named his 36-man squad for the November series. With several players injured, there’s a 30% change in personnel since the July tour to Australia, some enforced and some by choice.
Opportunity awaits
Jones believes he has picked an exciting squad based on adaptability and form. Wasps’ Jack Willis is included in the squad despite his club’s recent issues, and Jones is keen to see the youngster take his chance and will ensure the necessary support is there to get the flanker up to speed.
“Willis is not training with his club, obviously, so we’ve got some of our staff working with him to make sure he’s in the best physical condition. Jack’s simply got to get on with it. Good players get on with it- everyone feels for Wasps; I feel for their players, I feel for their staff, I feel for their fans, but Jack has an opportunity now and he’s got to make the most of it,” Jones said.
“I’m not sure how much that uncertainty reverberates through the players’ heads. All the best players are pretty single-minded about what they want to do and they want to be the best version of themselves and play in the best England team they can. I’m sure at times they have conversations over double espressos, but generally speaking I think their focus will be on what they can do.
“Jack’s got a history of resilience (after his comeback from a horrendous injury) and he’s a good, tough kid- there’s no reason why he won’t make the most of this. There’s an opportunity for him to be in his absolutely best physical condition – and that is a great opportunity,” Jones said.
Working hard with and without the ball
In the centres, Owen Farrell looks certain to start alongside fly-half Marcus Smith, with only three specialists in the squad (Manu Tuilagi, Guy Porter and Will Joseph). However, there is loads of firepower in the back three and Jones’ message is one of adaptability and an all-round skillset.
“The balance is about being good with the ball and without the ball. We saw a good, tough game with Leicester and Harlequins where there was some good attack and equally some good defence and certainly one of the most pleasing things for me on the weekend was Jonny May’s return to form.
“It wasn’t with the ball, it was without the ball, I think he made at least two try-saving tackles on his opposite wing. If you remember that (Marika) Koroibete tackle which he made on the opposite wing? A winger’s defensive work off the ball is so important. We know you if give Jonny May the ball in space he can score tries. But the big thing is to work hard off the ball and that’s why we’re so pleased to see Jonny May in form and for the selection of the other players, that’s also an important criteria.
“Sale have managed Manu really well. He’s progressing; each game he’s got a little bit better, but there’s still a way to go with him. Henry Slade’s come back from a serious shoulder injury, and we want him to keep playing – and keep playing well for Exeter. He’s starting to find his form, and we want him to show some good, consistent form.
“Players shouldn’t just expect to come back, should they? They’ve got to deserve their selection. He’s a good player, Henry, and there’s no doubt he’ll be back in the squad. We just want to see him have some consistent form for his club,” added Jones.
One of the more curious units of Jones’ selection is the front-row. With Will Stuart injured and Patrick Schickerling under a cloud of controversy over his potential ineligibility, the England head coach has gone for four looseheads and two tightheads, but with the caveat around Val Rapava-Ruskin that he has the potential to play both sides if needed.
“We’re looking to have a loosehead that can play tighthead (for the RWC 2023), so that’s one of the things we’re going to experiment a little bit with, and Val looks as if he can do that.”
Cross-sport coaching
Another big talking point of England’s squad is the addition of former Great Britain Hockey coach Danny Kerry to Jones’ backroom staff as a training co-ordinator. Kerry is known to have been a close confidant of Jones for several years, and the 62-year-old is thrilled to have him on board.
“Danny brings huge experience in big tournaments. He has won an Olympic gold medal, and he has coached at least three Olympics. He is a student of coaching, and we need to be the best coaching team in the world.
“If you look at any game of rugby at the moment you can control maybe 75 percent of it. Then you have this other 25 percent that you can’t control, that no-one can control, whether it be referee intervention, whether it be TMO, HIA, all those sorts of things.
“To coach a team to be really sure about how they want to play and then accept the game will be different, we need our coaching to be of the highest quality. Danny is going to add to that. He is one of those guys who loves coaching. We have consistently had him in camp to come in and observe, and when the opportunity came for him to add to the coaching team, albeit in an operational, organisational role, it was a huge bonus for us. He is the training co-ordinator. Coaches are like cows – sometimes you need to ring the bell and pull them all back in the same paddock. That is his job,” quipped Eddie.
Jones is known to be a fan of cross-sport coaching and, in particular, Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta – who has been assisting the England backroom staff with their thinking. Jones loves to chat with other leaders within sport and is effusive about the influences he’s recently had at his disposal.
“Artera came into the camp last autumn and we had a really good chat. He’s a super bright young coach. Because of Covid, you have these Zoom conferences now and we’ve got this great group that he’s in with also Matt LaFleur the Green Bay Packers head coach, George Karl who’s an NBA hall of famer, Mike Dunlap who was Michael Jordan’s head coach when he bought the Hornets.
“We just share stories and each other’s problems and try and come up with ideas of how we can take coaching forward. He (Arteta) is a brilliant young guy,” noted Jones.
“With Arsenal top of the league it’s all about a fast start. How fast they get out of the blocks. Every game they’re at it. They play with energy, they know how they want to play, they put the opposition on the back foot.
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“In rugby – and we’ve been good at it at times and not so good at other times – 75 per cent of Test matches are won by the team who score the first try. I don’t know what the percentage would be in the Premier League for teams who score the first goal, but I’d imagine it would be high.”
Referee decision-making
The Rugby Championship and July Tests statistically suggested that 92% of games are won by the team that concedes the least number of cards meaning discipline at Test level is key to success. However, Jones questions just how much human interaction can affect decision-making.
“I’m not sure there is such a thing as discipline. Set piece, a lot of the penalties come from set piece. Set piece is about the strength of your scrum or the strength of your maul. We are prioritising that, that is an important area. And then there is the controllable penalties, which are the roll away in the tackle. Certainly, we will be reinforcing that. I’ve had a quick chat to Wayne Barnes. I’ll have another chat to him to see where the referees are coming from.
“One of the things that is really coming through, and I think we saw that in the Rugby Championship, is how important social reciprocality is. The referees are under so much pressure now. They’ve got a failed referee in the grandstand – that’s the TMO! They are not usually old, they are usually blokes that have not been able to cut the mustard, and they are telling the one on the field who cuts the mustard what to do.
“They are under pressure the whole time – everyone is listening to it. So it is your ability to have a good conversation and find out how you can help the referee have a good game, because if the referee has a good game, generally it is a good game. That is the reality.
“We want to play good rugby and we want the referee to have a good game so it is understanding how can we help the referee have a good game and at the same time have a good game of rugby ourselves. I hope that there is no TMO that takes exception to that!” chuckled Jones.
“I think it’s more about social reciprocity. If they didn’t have four players chirping at him in the whole game then I don’t think Mathieu Raynal would have done that (the decision against Australia in the first Bledisloe Test). But because they had Nic White at him the whole time then he says ‘You’re not being very nice to me, so I’m not going to be nice to you.’ It’s human nature isn’t it?
“You have to have good relationships with him. We need to have one of our leaders establish a good relationship with him. We want the referee to have a good game so then we’re going to have a good game of rugby. We all want a good game of rugby. That’s important, and we can’t have players yelling and screaming at the referee.
“The best players I’ve seen at dealing with refs were John Eales by a mile – and also John Smit. Ability to understand their personality quickly. You’ve always got to be able to assess the referee on that day and make observations on the ref on that day. As well as have some prior knowledge, but it’s important you understand the referee on that day – what does he want from that game, what does he need? Sometimes he might be a bit more edgy than the others.”
The cycles of elite sport
The domestic game is in turmoil off the pitch, and Jones admits he understands the concerns but also believes in the cyclical nature of elite sport.
“I think you go through these cycles, mate. Every sporting competition I’ve seen starts small, is successful, everyone wants a team, a part of this. They get bigger, expand, and unless it’s a mass entertainment sport then the expansion has to come back, and you get back to a good size where it becomes economically viable to be a good competition. That’s all I see happening in English rugby. These cycles happen all the time in sport, so I wouldn’t get too depressed or upset about it, it’s part of the sport.”