The head coach has rung the changes again for his Six Nations squad but if another poor performance follows then questions will have to be asked of his selection methodsThere has been much talk in Downing Street circles this week of “Operation Red Meat”, which apparently involves lobbing juicy policy initiatives at Tory backbenchers to distract them from recent events. With Eddie Jones it is slightly different: “Operation Dead Meat” seems to be the subtext of most of his England squad announcements these days.The selection door, we are constantly informed, is never closed. Admittedly, Jamie George was recalled from squad oblivion in November and Jack Nowell has resurfaced after three years of injury-hit Six Nations exile. But try telling George...
With the Twickenham crowd screaming at the end of a helter-skelter game, the England fly-half was the calmest man around to slot the match-winning penaltyAnd Eddie said it wasn’t about revenge. You could have fooled me in the final hectic moments of this helter-skelter game, when all the Twickenham crowd was up on its feet and screaming, while the players down below set about each other, pushing and shoving in the rush of blood, everyone desperate to stake their claim on the game. There were two points in it then, and less than a minute left to play. And from the middle of all this chaos, out stepped Marcus Smith, to line up the match-winning kick. It was only 25...
The Springboks fought hard but were unable to dominate the contest in the way they did two years ago in the World Cup finalSo much of the buildup this week recalled the events of 2 November 2019 in Yokohama. Back then, the Springbok pack scrummed England off the park, laying an indomitable foundation from which they controlled the game. When England’s backs got a sniff of the ball the South Africa defenders held the line like Spartans at Thermopylae.For the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s contest the opposite was true. England’s outside backs regularly outmanoeuvred the Springbok rush defence, scoring tries in either corner by sucking in the peripheral wing. Kyle Sinckler, so cruelly injured in the opening exchanges of...
England’s bullish head coach has dipped into his pick ‘n’ mix in a bid to handle the world champions’ heavy-duty forward packMuch has changed since Eddie Jones last named a team to face South Africa. Back in 2019 he was in a packed hotel ballroom in Tokyo awaiting a Rugby World Cup final that, ultimately, did not remotely pan out the way he planned. Two Covid-disrupted years on he is stuck on Zoom and admits he still awakes in the morning reflecting on the Springboks’ convincing 32-12 triumph in Japan.Which is perhaps why, before Saturday’s Twickenham Test, Jones chose to lay down as bullish a pre-match challenge to an opposing side as he has for some time. “Post the World...
Fans at home see Erasmus as a brave knight, charging into dragon fire to preserve the dignity of his peopleThe Springboks are in need of a new water carrier for Saturday’s match at Twickenham. Responsibilities include marshalling the defence, identifying weaknesses in the opposition’s line and relaying important information from the coach’s box. Oh, and hydrating the players on the field.The incumbent, Rassie Erasmus, who moonlights as the director of rugby, has been banned from all rugby activities for two months and suspended from all match‑day activities until September next year. His punishment, meted out by World Rugby for his 62-minute video in which he criticised in detail the refereeing performance of Nic Berry in the first Test of the...