The Eddie Jones Era: Youngs out. Youngsters In.
Eddie Jones made his first major decision as England boss earlier this week when he released his provisional squad for the upcoming 6 Nations campaign.
One thing is immediately clear, Jones is backing youth. The inclusion of the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Maro Itoje, and Jack Clifford are all examples of this. It is now just under four years until the next World Cup and this is clearly the prize Jones is hunting, he has no intention of not being the man in charge come the opening ceremony in Japan in 2019 and he is building his starting 15 from now. As such, he has wasted no time in making a variety of changes to Stuart Lancaster's 2015 World cup squad that failed so dramatically.
Seven un-capped players have made the 33-man provisional squad, Josh Beaumont, Paul Hill, Ollie Devoto, Elliot Daly, and the above mentioned Clifford, Itoje and Sam Hill, are all included. What is evident is that Eddie Jones is not necessarily picking the best 33 English players, playing in England, at this very point, but a mixture of players who are at the top of their game, and ones who can, with the right treatment, become successful test players. A balance of experience, form and youth are what I see contained within his selections.
Where there are players brought in, there must also be ones who miss out. Tom Youngs, Leicester's hooker was one of the unlucky ones. I choose to mention Youngs, because as a Leicester Tigers fan, his exclusion was one of the first things I noticed. However, this didn't come as a total shock to me. Dylan Hartley, Jamie George, and Luke Cowan-Dickie were all preferred to Youngs. Eddie Jones made it very clear early on that he was not put off by Hartley's past antics, if you strip away this aspect to his game you are a left with a very solid set-piece forward. The other two options, are youthful, another thing Jones made it clear he would be favouring. Youngs is, in my opinion right now, better than both these options, and its not ridiculous to say Eddie Jones probably knows this. So why are they in his team and Tom Youngs isn't? Simply because Jones believes that George and Cowan-Dickie have the ability, time, and temperaments to one day surpass Youngs. He sees the Tiger's hooker as having reached his pinnacle, and if he's wrong, he's left Tom Youngs with no other option but to go out their and prove it in the Premiership. Eddie Jones wants to win the 6 Nations: hence Dylan Hartley. However, Eddie Jones also wants to win the World Cup: hence Jamie George and Cowan-Dickie. When I take off my red, green and white tinted, tiger print spectacles I have to concede there is logic in Jones' call. Win me the World Cup Eddie and you can send the rest of my lot back to Welford Road.
One thing I will wholeheartedly applaud Eddie Jones for is his decision to stick with only English-based players. Jones must establish himself as the new figurehead of English rugby, he cannot allow players like Abendanon and Armitage to become exempt from the rules. He must keep morale with his homegrown talents who have honoured the RFU's rules as well as saying to those abroad 'no matter how big you think you are, I'm a little bit bigger, I'm in charge'.They are exceptional players, yes, but the rule is there for a reason and no-one should be above it. The policy is also working, this year's Aviva Premiership has been immensely exciting, and Jones' squad features at least one player from 10 of the 12 teams - only Worcester and Newcastle aren't represented.
There is experience in his ranks though, the likes of Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown all remain but the dropping of players like Geoff Parling, Tom Wood and Tom Youngs sends out a big message. Eddie Jones regards no-one as having their spot nailed down and everyone has to prove their worth in every game from here on out. Fail to do so and you're out.
The full 33-man training squad is as follows:
Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens), Chris Ashton (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter), Anthony Watson (Bath), Marland Yarde (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Ollie Devoto (Exeter; injury replacement for Manu Tuilagi, Leicester), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Sam Hill (Exeter; injury replacement for Henry Slade, Exeter) Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester)
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester), Paul Hill (Northampton), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Bath; injury replacement for Kieran Brookes, Northampton), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Josh Beaumont (Sale), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), James Haskell (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester; injury replacement for Dave Ewers, Exeter), Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Henry Justice
One thing is immediately clear, Jones is backing youth. The inclusion of the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Maro Itoje, and Jack Clifford are all examples of this. It is now just under four years until the next World Cup and this is clearly the prize Jones is hunting, he has no intention of not being the man in charge come the opening ceremony in Japan in 2019 and he is building his starting 15 from now. As such, he has wasted no time in making a variety of changes to Stuart Lancaster's 2015 World cup squad that failed so dramatically.
Seven un-capped players have made the 33-man provisional squad, Josh Beaumont, Paul Hill, Ollie Devoto, Elliot Daly, and the above mentioned Clifford, Itoje and Sam Hill, are all included. What is evident is that Eddie Jones is not necessarily picking the best 33 English players, playing in England, at this very point, but a mixture of players who are at the top of their game, and ones who can, with the right treatment, become successful test players. A balance of experience, form and youth are what I see contained within his selections.
 |
| Eddie Jones led Japan to a famous win over South Africa. |
Where there are players brought in, there must also be ones who miss out. Tom Youngs, Leicester's hooker was one of the unlucky ones. I choose to mention Youngs, because as a Leicester Tigers fan, his exclusion was one of the first things I noticed. However, this didn't come as a total shock to me. Dylan Hartley, Jamie George, and Luke Cowan-Dickie were all preferred to Youngs. Eddie Jones made it very clear early on that he was not put off by Hartley's past antics, if you strip away this aspect to his game you are a left with a very solid set-piece forward. The other two options, are youthful, another thing Jones made it clear he would be favouring. Youngs is, in my opinion right now, better than both these options, and its not ridiculous to say Eddie Jones probably knows this. So why are they in his team and Tom Youngs isn't? Simply because Jones believes that George and Cowan-Dickie have the ability, time, and temperaments to one day surpass Youngs. He sees the Tiger's hooker as having reached his pinnacle, and if he's wrong, he's left Tom Youngs with no other option but to go out their and prove it in the Premiership. Eddie Jones wants to win the 6 Nations: hence Dylan Hartley. However, Eddie Jones also wants to win the World Cup: hence Jamie George and Cowan-Dickie. When I take off my red, green and white tinted, tiger print spectacles I have to concede there is logic in Jones' call. Win me the World Cup Eddie and you can send the rest of my lot back to Welford Road.
One thing I will wholeheartedly applaud Eddie Jones for is his decision to stick with only English-based players. Jones must establish himself as the new figurehead of English rugby, he cannot allow players like Abendanon and Armitage to become exempt from the rules. He must keep morale with his homegrown talents who have honoured the RFU's rules as well as saying to those abroad 'no matter how big you think you are, I'm a little bit bigger, I'm in charge'.They are exceptional players, yes, but the rule is there for a reason and no-one should be above it. The policy is also working, this year's Aviva Premiership has been immensely exciting, and Jones' squad features at least one player from 10 of the 12 teams - only Worcester and Newcastle aren't represented.
 |
| Tom Youngs was left out of Jones' squad. |
There is experience in his ranks though, the likes of Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown all remain but the dropping of players like Geoff Parling, Tom Wood and Tom Youngs sends out a big message. Eddie Jones regards no-one as having their spot nailed down and everyone has to prove their worth in every game from here on out. Fail to do so and you're out.
The full 33-man training squad is as follows:
Backs: Mike Brown (Harlequins), Alex Goode (Saracens), Chris Ashton (Saracens), Jack Nowell (Exeter), Anthony Watson (Bath), Marland Yarde (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Ollie Devoto (Exeter; injury replacement for Manu Tuilagi, Leicester), Jonathan Joseph (Bath), Sam Hill (Exeter; injury replacement for Henry Slade, Exeter) Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Bath), Danny Care (Harlequins), Ben Youngs (Leicester)
Forwards: Dan Cole (Leicester), Paul Hill (Northampton), Matt Mullan (Wasps), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Henry Thomas (Bath; injury replacement for Kieran Brookes, Northampton), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), Josh Beaumont (Sale), Jack Clifford (Harlequins), James Haskell (Wasps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Matt Kvesic (Gloucester; injury replacement for Dave Ewers, Exeter), Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Henry Justice
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