Physically and mentally England are suddenly in a better place than they were a few days ago. Eddie Jones, 58 on Tuesday, has certainly had worse birthdays with Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Jack Nowell all back training ahead of schedule and available for this weekend’s Six Nations kick-off.
Jones even used the word “miracles” to describe the return of Robshaw (back), Brown (shoulder) and Nowell (ankle), all of whom he had previously classified as doubtful starters against Italy in Rome on Sunday. Only Zach Mercer, who has a viral infection, was unable to train in Bagshot, a testament to the hard work of England’s medical and strength and conditioning staff.
England’s starting XV to face the Azzurri will not be unveiled until Friday but the availability of Robshaw and Brown in particular will be a sizeable relief to the management. Robshaw can now slot into a back row also potentially containing Maro Itoje and Sam Simmonds while the experienced Brown is free to resume at full-back. If that frees up Anthony Watson and Jonny May to start on the wings with Denny Solomona or Nowell on the bench, England will have all their back-three bases covered.
It might yet prove fractionally too early for Nowell but Jones is continuing to talk up the Cornish winger as a possible option at outside-centre: “He reminds me a bit of Conrad Smith. The idea came into my head two years ago when Exeter played Clermont. They had some injuries and he went to 13 and played quite well. The more positions he plays the more chance he has of playing for England.”
Out in the Portuguese sunshine last Friday, meanwhile, the entire squad trained so fluently that Jones was still purring about it four days later. “It was probably the best training week we’ve had as a team. I felt a real resurgence in energy and focus, we’ve got everyone ready to train and we’re ready to go.”
The next challenge, according to the Australian, will be mental, specifically the ability to ignore all the historians reminding him that no country has ever won three successive outright Six Nations titles. “The home and away element of the Six Nations is shoved down your throat consistently. It’s like the team is being brainwashed into thinking that way,” said Jones.
“People come up and say: ‘Goodness me it’s going to be a hard Six Nations for you, You’ve got three away games, how are you going to cope?’ I think there’s so much premeditation of what’s going to happen that it becomes the belief. As soon as that happens it can become reality. How come great teams win virtually every game but don’t win the grand slam? That’s happened consistently in the history of Six Nations. Is their skill level less? Are they less fit? No, it’s all in the mind. Our job is to create a team good enough to think it doesn’t matter where we play.”
