England are weighing up whether to play George Ford and Owen Farrell alongside each other against South Africa on Saturday as they look to recover from their defeat to New Zealand. An enforced midfield change may be needed either way with Kyle Eastmond having picked up a stomach bug.
Stuart Lancaster, who oversaw a frank debrief of the squad on Monday, is awaiting an update on Eastmond’s health before he makes a final call. “I’m sure he’ll get over the sickness and diarrhoea but it’s about how much it takes out of him and the knock-on effect of not doing the work,” the England coach said. “The obvious options are to put George in at 10 and Owen at 12, or bring someone like Billy Twelvetrees in at 12.
“We have to be careful not to make too many changes going into this weekend. We have to give the players a second chance but, having said that, one of the reasons we brought George Ford and Ben Youngs on [against the All Blacks] was to improve our ability to exit our own half. Some of our kicking from nine, particularly, and also 10 wasn’t quite good enough. The combination [of Ford and Farrell] is something we have looked at, did look at, and will look at in the future, without a doubt.”
England are also monitoring the conditions of Courtney Lawes and Dylan Hartley, who suffered head knocks against the All Blacks. The Northampton pair are following strict concussion protocols but, assuming they do not suffer any further symptoms, are expected to be passed fit on Thursday. The Bath duo of Semesa Rokoduguni and Dave Attwood also sat out training with a bruised hip and sore knee respectively but Lancaster said neither player is a serious concern. The England management, though, have had to draft in another hooker, London Irish’s David Paice, and an extra lock to ensure the pack have enough available bodies to train fully.
Lancaster confirmed the entire squad had held an honest postmortem on the New Zealand match. “It was pretty straight,” he said. “We didn’t gloss over anything and we know we have got to improve. I think there will be a reaction from South Africa to their loss against Ireland.”
England’s players are also desperate to atone for their disappointing second-half effort against the All Blacks. “From speaking to the players and sensing the mood, there is a lot of frustration with ourselves,” Lancaster said. “I don’t think self-belief has been dented in that we’re on the wrong direction but it has made it more important to put in that 100% performance.”
Lancaster brushed aside French newspaper speculation that Hartley is contemplating a move to Montpellier after next year’s World Cup. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Lancaster said. “It’s definitely never been mentioned in camp.”
