Given the option of beating Ireland in a fortnight’s time or winning the Rugby World Cup there is absolutely no doubt which Eddie Jones would choose. The more interesting question is to what extent will England’s prospects in Japan be shaped by the 2019 Six Nations? Forecasting imminent world domination is tougher if your team has just finished in the championship’s bottom half.
That is not to say England need to show all their cards right now; Jones has played enough media poker in his career to know exactly how that game works. What is important, though, is that England display just enough of their true selves to cause their rivals disquiet. In that respect, Jones’s 35-man squad for the Ireland game unquestionably contains more aces than it did three months ago.
For starters there appears to be something wrong with the ink cartridge in the Twickenham printer. How else to explain the fact the list of injured players does not extend over its usual multiple pages? Even the absence of Dylan Hartley until the Wales game at least is not, on the face of it, a grievous blow. Anyone who has watched Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Singleton this season will know England, finally, have legitimate hooking options beyond the faithful old family firm of Hartley and George.
The Vunipolas are both back and so, too, are Maro Itoje and a fully fit Nathan Hughes. England can start Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi together in midfield if they so wish, with the even bigger Joe Cokanasiga (if fit) on one wing. Joe Launchbury and Dan Cole also return, bringing valuable experience and nous, and Dan Robson has finally made the cut at scrum-half. Barring the latest unfortunate setback suffered by Bath’s outstanding openside Sam Underhill, Jones would definitely have settled in advance for the hand this year’s Six Nations croupier has so far dealt him.
With a few young bolters to keep everyone on their toes – Gloucester’s Ollie Thorley and Saracens’ Ben Earl have both deservedly caught Jones’s eye – it now comes down to precisely how England want to play. With every passing day the answer becomes clearer: hard, direct, relentless, ruthless. Both up front and behind England look potentially better equipped to break the gainline than at any previous stage in Jones’s tenure.
Forwards: Jack Clifford (Harlequins), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Nathan Hughes (Wasps), Maro Itoje (Saracens), George Kruis (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs), Brad Shields (Wasps), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Jack Singleton (Worcester Warriors), Billy Vunipola (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs), Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
Back: Chris Ashton (Sale Sharks), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Joe Cokanasiga (Bath), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), Dan Robson (Wasps), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors), Ollie Thorley (Gloucester), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Graham Henry was once asked to nominate the No 1 priority of successful rugby teams. “Getting over the advantage line off first phase,” was his swift reply. The modern game has altered in all kinds of ways but that old tenet still holds true.
While it may not sound unduly sophisticated, Jones is not too concerned with reinventing the wheel. He has long felt that what he calls “the England way” involves less in the way of morris dancing and more about urging big men to go out and smash people. It might not sound pretty but Test rugby is no beauty contest, particularly in a World Cup year. Another of coaching’s golden rules is to pick people the opposition do not fancy playing against. In this respect England are unquestionably on the rise.
It still requires England to keep improving around the breakdown, to be smarter in their on-the-hoof decision-making and to be accurate and fleet-footed enough behind the scrum to unsettle even well-organised sides such as Ireland. Get the platform and the basics right and Jones reckons England will be more than competitive. “In some places we have deliberately created competition. We need players at their absolute best, chomping at the bit and for that they need to be hungry. I think this is a very strong squad and very capable of beating Ireland.”
It may not be everyone’s notion of rugby poetry but the idea of Jack Nowell or Chris Ashton probing close to the rucks, with a sharp No 9 like Robson in support, and Tuilagi and Cokanasiga pawing the Aviva Stadium turf will hardly depress England supporters. Jones also looked as relaxed and content at the squad announcement as he has done in some time, perhaps because he senses his long-held red rose vision might yet materialise. He does not want England peaking prematurely but a strong, fast start in Dublin would cause the whole rugby world to sit up.
