Eddie Jones will face the first real test of his England career this Wednesday, when he announces his first England Elite Player Squad. Under the RFU rules, Jones can make 10 changes from the 33 man squad (31 + two on stand-by) named by Stuart Lancaster for the World Cup, but has one additional space free after Sam Burgess’s defection back to rugby league.
It is unlikely that he will make as many as 11 changes. Jones has not been here for long and to overhaul the squad having seen so little of his charges playing would represent quite a gamble. But there will at least be a handful – here are the ones we would recommend.
N.B. Jones will also name a Saxons squad (despite them having no fixtures) from which players can be called into the EPS squad later in the year.
IN: Maro Itoje
OUT: Geoff Parling
The time of Itoje is now. 2016 could well be his year and, after injuries to Kruis, Slater and Attwood, he will almost certainly be moved into the EPS. He has had a stunning start to the season and is almost unbelievably calm on the pitch for someone still so young. The adage goes that if they’re good enough, they’re old enough – never has that been truer than in the case of Itoje, who could be at the heart of England’s pack for the next 10+ years.
IN: Dylan Hartley
OUT: Rob Webber
Talk of Hartley being captain seems remarkably premature, given he has been injured for much of the season and kept out of the team by Mike Heywood since returning. Despite that, his experience and the fact that he is a known quantity should see him restored to the squad at the expense of Rob Webber, whose chance has surely been and gone.
IN: Danny Cipriani
OUT: Sam Burgess
The fly-half jersey will be one of the most scrutinised positions – as it always is. Cipriani deserves a run in the squad at the very least – if not the starting 10 jersey. Jones favours ball-players in the back-line, and it would be the perfect message to replace the failed blunt force that was Burgess, with the silkiness of Cipriani. Owen Farrell will likely be considered as an option at 12, too, meaning there is space for the extra fly-half.
IN: Elliot Daly
OUT: Brad Barritt
Elliot Daly simply has to be included, but which player makes way is up for debate. I was in Brad Barritt’s camp before the World Cup as he felt like the best option out there, but having watched the way the top teams used their centres at the tournament – and the threat they both invariably posed – it is hard to make an argument for Barritt’s inclusion. He is brilliant domestically for Saracens, but on the next level that international rugby undoubtedly occupies, his game is not good enough in several areas.
IN: Jack Clifford
OUT: James Haskell
Haskell has had his moments in an England shirt but has generally been seen as versatile back-up in case of injury. Clifford is just as versatile, but is a more skilful all round player – his break to set up the decisive try against Saracens also proves how quick he is. He has the pedigree, so why not get him involved now? The only potential stumbling block could be his own versatility – which of six, seven or eight is he best suited to?
IN: Matt Kvesic
OUT: Calum Clark
Kvesic has been in and around the England squad for the past few years but was never given his chance ahead of Robshaw. Now it has all but been confirmed that Jones will want an actual fetcher, Kvesic must be given his chance. He faces stiff competition from Will Fraser and Luke Wallace, but of the three he is the best over the ball at the breakdown. Calum Clark – one of two members of the 33 that were on World Cup standby – drops out with injury.
IN: Joe Simpson
OUT: Richard Wigglesworth
Richard Wigglesworth is very good at what he does – there are few better at managing a game from scrum-half than the Saracens man. But if Jones really wants his team to go out and attack, as he has stated, he should name Wasps’ Joe Simpson in his squad. The Coventry side have been a bit hit and miss this season, but in terms of pure pace and attacking threat, Simpson is as good as anyone.
IN: Marland Yarde/Chris Ashton
OUT: Jonny May
Either of these two would be more than worthy of filling the space left by the unfortunately crocked Jonny May. Ashton has been prolific for Saracens but seems also to have addressed some of the deficiencies of his past, while Yarde is looking back to his pacy, powerful best – the key will be whether he can stay fit, because the way Quins are playing at the moment, he will have the chance to shine when the tracks harden up again.
So, that is a set of eight proposed changes – what do you think of them? Are there any you disagree with, or are there others that you would like to see? Let us know below!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
What does that leave the squad looking like?
I for one certainly wouldn’t lose Haskell, in fact I’d be tempted to start him at 6 with Kvesic at 7 for the Scotland game. Would also look to have Roko in over Ashton or Yarde – better all round skill set.
Agree with all the others though. What does that leave the squad looking like? Also, with those changes, what are the 12 options?
Would far rather have Robshaw at 6 than Haskell. A more intelligent, more effective player who is in top form at the moment
More intelligent? Yep. More effective? I disagree on that one. Haskell has more effect at the breakdown than Robshaw does in my opinion, and is a more dynamic carrier.
I can actually see Robshaw not making the cut and Haskell being retained, even though I agree with Pablito. I think Haskell looks great when playing alongside Smith or Hughes, not so much when he is in the leader/ thinker role, as he would be for England if lining up alongside Billy and Kvesic.
Robshaw could miss the EPS completely and it won’t be due to rugby reasons. The constant media barrage from his coach, quins players, England players, his mum his girlfriend etc, regarding what a great guy/ player/ captain he is, does not reflect well on him.
It is a level of media saturation that the Hask would be proud of. At worst he is directly behind it, at best he is complicit. If he wasn’t so insecure he would have told all his cheer leaders to shut the f*ck up a while ago and let his rugby do the talking. Not sure Fast Eddie will want such an insecure (and indecisive) presence at the start of his new dawn.
Agree with Benjit here in a slightly different way. I just think he is indicative of all that was wrong with the Lancaster era; one that Jones was very critical of. It is almost worth getting rid of Robshaw on that basis alone.
Tactically, it would be better not to exclude anyone who is injured. He can call up replacements at will from the Saxons (whom he could stuff with fetchers, inside centres, tightheads and locks, as they don’t have to play any matches!). In fact, there is precedent for a call up from outside the Saxons being allowed.
So May and Clark should remain. Parling could survive in the light of injuries at lock, and he could translate Borthwick’s convoluted lineout instructions to the thicker members of the squad!
may and clark are injured
I suspect there will be few left field picks. Mitch Lees was on the radar prior to his injury. I wonder whether Matt Symons of Irish might come in. Whilst Irish have struggled he was a success in super rugby and might add some much needed grunt to the 2nd row.
I feel his choice at 12 will have to be left field given his lack of options.
All good picks, those out (May aside) are largely one paced grafters, so don’t fit with what Jones says he’s looking for in his players.
Ashton cound feature again in the future but he is reliant on others to create his opportinities. I wonder if the side will not initially be sufficiently cohesive to allow him to do what he does best. Would prefer Roko, or alteneratively someone who has run a decent number of tries in for a struggling club, Alex Lewington.
Much as it might be the fans choice to do so, I’d be very surprised if Brad Barritt is dropped from the EPS entirely. Fingers crossed though!
I can see him getting a reprieve here due to the lack of any real options at 12 – Manu’s only just back from injury, Slade is out, and the three other capped players – Burrell, Eastmond, Twelvetrees – aren’t exactly banging the door down. I can see Johnny Williams getting a very early call-up, out of necessity more than anything!
Josh Beaumont is a must for me. Great option at 6, great call carrier, lineout option and good defensively
Why at 6 – he plays his rugby at 8. We have to stop picking players out of position
Personally think skills at 8 transfer well to six and his attributes would do better as a 6 at international. A lot of 6s have played club rugby at 8.
I really don’t get this fuss of playing people out of position. It can work fine it you do it intelligently.
Can Barritt play 13 at test level? No, he can barely play 12.
Can Farrell play 10 and 12? If he continues to offer the running threat he shows this season, yes.
Watson can be picked on the wing despite him playing mostly 15 for Bath.
The point is, if top class players have the skill set, of course they can play there.
NZ happily pick Ben Smith at 15 or wing. Nonu shifted to 13 in WC final no problem. McCaw owns the 7 shirt for NZ but has worn 8 on occasion for Crusaders when needed. Pocock wearing the 8 shirt worked ok for Aus too. Kriel playing 13 for SA despite playing 15 a lot in Super Rugby worked fine.
Point is – as long as the coach has a brain that allows him to analyse players skill sets and what the position needs; it works fine. Along with that, combinations are important. i.e. Robshaw wore the 7 shirt last year at Quins to satisfy the media, but they had Wallace in the 6 shirt.
I agree with the above comment, there is no need to replace injured players with one of your 10 picks.
Players like Launchbury and Tuilagi should be picked if they are first choice, and then we can call up injury cover if they’re not going to make the start of the tournament.
My 33 would be:
Forwards:
Mako, Marler
Hartley, Youngs, George
Cole, Brookes, Wilson
Launchbury, Parling, Kruis, Lawes,
Robshaw, Itoje, Kvesic, Fraser
Vunipola, Morgan
So from the World Cup squad that’s replacing Haskell, Wood and Clark with Itoje, Kvesic and Fraser. I’d then look to call up Clifford from the Saxons as cover for an injured lock, and use Itoje’s versatility to cover for this. I’d also call up Henry Thomas to cover Brookes’ injury.
Backs:
Youngs, Care, Simpson
Ford, Farrell, Cipriani
Tuilagi, Joseph, Slade, Daly
May, Nowell, Watson, Brown, Goode
So again, that’s replacing Wigglesworth, Burgess, Barritt and Burrell (was he the named backs cover?) with Simpson, Cipriani, Tuilagi and Daly. I’d then need injury cover for Slade and May (both out for the season), but I can look at players in the last two rounds of the Champions Cup pool stage and then make a form pick. The contenders at 12 are probably Hill, Burrell and Twelvetrees, with Roko, Yarde and Ashton competing for the wing spot. Gun to my head right now, I’d probably add Burrell and Ashton.
So that’s 7 swaps (not including injury cover), but only Wood and Barritt were first team starters, and back-row and centres have been where we’ve had trouble finding the right combo.
Get the theory. But in that case, Tuilagi technically is fit. He played for Leicester at the weekend. What happens if he is fit to play, but not test match ready?
Seems like an unnecessary risk.
Per the original EPS agreement, players can be temporarily replaced as long as they fulfill the criteria of being released back to their clubs. http://www.premiershiprugby.com/downloads/PRLTermsto_RFU270307.pdf
So if Eddie Jones names Tuilagi in his EPS, looks at him in the first week before the Six Nations then decides he isn’t ready, he can release him back to Tigers and call up someone for the Saxons in the short-term. Then, if Tuilagi gets a couple more games under his belt, Jones can remove his injury cover and recall Tuilagi to the EPS squad and he can play in the later matches.
If he doesn’t name Tuilagi (or Launchbury or Kruis, or any player who may miss the first games) in the squad, he will have to leave them out unless he can bring them back through injury to an EPS squad member.
Knowing Tuilagi is a doubt, he should pack extra centres into the Saxons (you don’t need a balanced squad as they have no matches) and he can therefore call-up a replacement from a wider player pool.
Pretty solid logic – with a bit of luck Jones is reading this.
Is there any rules around selecting players that we already know will miss the whole EPS window? i.e. Slade and May
I don’t see the point of selecting players we know are injured long term and will miss the whole tournament. Are you trying not to hurt their feelings or something EJ gets to pick another EPS before the summer tours so can reverse decisions then.
If a player will return from injury during the course of the tournament then by all means select them and call up an injury replacement cover
I think Rob has explained really clearly the logic behind selecting those players that are injured. It significantly increases flexibility in positions where there are still a few options to decide between. Not sure what is hard to grasp about it?
Pick an injured player, and get the opportunity to select for a wide pool of Saxons. Select a fit player, and you’re stuck with him.
There’s a tour to Australia coming up at the end of the year too don’t forget, and I think this EPS announcement will cover that too. If there’s a chance Slade or May are going to be fit for the tour then Jones probably has to name them in the EPS or Saxons.
What the heck is happening to Leicester recently just seen that they have now signed JP Peiterson for next season.
Looks like they have gone from being a powerhouse of English national talent with a great academy set up to being the English version of Toulon in the space of three seasons.
They currently have one of the lowest English qualified squads and with the signing of Toouma and Peiterson its only going to get worse
In a word – Cockerill. The worst DOR in my book. Consistently underdelivers despite having the best resources and now looking to buy success to cover his own inadequacies.
Not sure that is fair. I’m really not a fan of Leicester, but to compare them to Toulon seems daft. Outside of Ayerza, isn’t the rest of their typical starting pack English qualified? So you go: Ayerza, Youngs, Cole, Kitchener, Slater, Croft, O’Connor, McCaffrey
When you throw Youngs, Burns, Smith and Tait in who all start regularly. Only really Smith is in danger of missing out on the arrival of Toomua. Pietersen will only dislodge Thompstone, Goneva or Betham – so no English qualified miss out there.
Discount Toulon but packed full of internationals nether less
Who their regular starting line up is, is debatable. I would say Williams and Veainu start over Burns and Tait
Also McCaffrey is Aussie and O’Connor Kiwi (unless he decides to switch)
However objectively the squad stats read:
Toulon French players 24/48 = 50%
Leicester English players 21/46 = 45.6%
To suggest Farrell as an inside centre is ridiculous. He has frightened no one in that position. He has no pace and little vision. Because of his lack of basic speed he would be unlikely to draw players to him as they would be unlikely to see him as a threat. Fly half perhaps, but he does not come close to Ford in terms of creative skills. Just look at the best inside centres that are available for England from any club inside or outside of the UK and take your pick. There is a problem at number 12, yes, so the crisis rule should apply. As it should do at open-side wing forward. There is a 19 year old gem of a number 7 playing in Wales called Sam Underhill and if England doesn’t move quickly then Wales will, as it did with Warburton. I hope that Eddy Jones is brave enough to take on the narrow minded establishment and pick the best teams possible rather that slip into the problems that the last regime suffered. Michael Cheaka did very well for Oz by getting his way, which was sensible. We need to pick the best from wherever they play and stop thinking that we can change players’ positions at international level. It has never really worked even at high end club level and if it ever did, it took a great deal of time and perseverance for the conversion from one position to another. Adept, specific and competent positional skills take a long time to develop so please Eddy, just pick the best in the positions that they are best suited and experienced.
think its a real shame that the Saxons squad are not going to play a game – they really don’t use them well as a development tool. Surely they could arrange a short tour or something to get the players some experience and have a good look at them in a managed environment.
Well, whoever (sorry can’t rmember) wished on a previous feed that the new Jones era might bring an end to the ridiculous thing of the press “announcing” the squad before the actual official announcement from the Head Coach, sorry, apparently things aren’t changing, both Times and Telegraph are running stories along the lines of “we understand that…” about the new squad and I have no doubt that they will end up being entirely correct with their magic crystal balls…
Seen a few bits regarding rumours – but nothing concrete? I’ve not seen anywhere actually quote who is in or out? Unless I’ve missed something?
Under SL. we knew the exact names before announcements so I was thinking this had improved.
All I’ve seen is info saying that some experienced names are out; so I’m thinking the likes of Haskell, Wood, Robshaw and Parling may go.
looks pretty concrete to me
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/international/england/12096327/Six-Nations-2016-Eddie-Jones-to-name-seven-new-faces-in-first-England-squad.html
That’s what I thought Leon, although its not quoted per se, its written in a langauage which seems pretty confident that they know that this will happen, The Times has a very similar article!
Someone close to the top clearly has a very cosy arrangement with the press.
Hopefully Jones has told his closest confidants slightly different team sheets to weed out the mole
Oh same old problems then!
So this is what the times have – if this happens I will be a very happy man. not sure I’d even make one change to that. Obviously Brookes and Slade come in when fit, but otherwise it is pretty much the squad to take us forward. Actually I’d have Roko over Yarde, but that’s pretty much a flip of a coin.
Props: Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Paul Hill, Dan Cole, Matt Mullan
Hookers: Dylan Hartley, Jamie George, Tom Youngs
Second Rows: George Kruis, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje
Back rows: James Haskell, Chris Robshaw, Billy Vunipola Will Fraser, Jack Clifford, Josh Beaumont
Scrum halves: Danny Care, Joe Simpson, Ben Youngs
Fly halves: Owen Farrell, George Ford
Centres: Elliot Daly, Jonathan Joseph, Manu Tuilagi, Ollie Devoto
Back three: Mike Brown, Alex Goode, Chris Ashton, Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Marland Yarde
Ditto Jacob, although I’d dump Haskell for Ewers once he’s fit again
Oh yeh I’d definitely like to Ewers come in. Probably over Robshaw for me, but we’ve had this debate!
Would also like to potentially see Auterac come in at some point. Not the finished article but he looks like he has real potential.
So Tuilagi and Devoto are the two 12 options? Not much pressure on Devoto then!!
Assume we’ll see Farrell start there against Scotland?
So looks like Ksevic is going to miss out – I feel he is somewhat unfortunate
Not sure it is completely concrete – some disagreement between the various papers’ apparent squads: e.g. whether it is Marler or Mullan; Burrell, Devoto or Hill and Roko or Yarde… Still a few surprises to come I think
Perhaps EJ has taken Leon’s advice and is trying to find the leaker!
That was me Liono
Looks like the leaks are going to continue. I wish they.’d find whoever is doing it and demote them to parking duties at Twickenham
I hope Eddie Jones isn’t complicit in it and that it’ll be one of the things he changes come the 6 Nations
Sod the journos – they can do some work for a change and find their own scoops rather than being spoonfed everything
Agree about Auterac
I also think Henry Thomas could be a fantastic prop if he can get his inconsistency issues sorted out
To complete the front row set, I also hop EJ has an eye on Tommy Taylor at Sale
The above is meant as a response to Jacob further up thread
Not sure about Thomas. I think both Brookes and HIll look better in the scrum which mean they are ahead of him for me.
Tommy Taylor is definitely one that should be looked at!
Why hasn’t Stuart Hooper been mooted as Captain, leads form the front and Bath are a very different team when Hooper plays