England will attempt to rescue their Six Nations title quest with a revamped team after Eddie Jones made five changes to the starting line-up for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland.
Ben Youngs’ demotion to the bench is the biggest call of the major surgery performed in response to the 24-17 defeat by France that kicked off England’s campaign in such disappointing fashion.
Youngs has been first choice scrumhalf for virtually the entirety of the Jones era but he has been replaced in the starting 15 by Willi Heinz and is limited to supplying cover from the bench.
Flanker Courtney Lawes, prop Joe Marler and lock Charlie Ewels have also paid the price for the first-half collapse at the Stade de France, losing their places to Lewis Ludlam, Mako Vunipola and George Kruis.
The final change is enforced by Manu Tuilagi’s absence for at least one match because of a groin strain, creating an opening at outside centre for Jonathan Joseph.
“The main consideration is always the same – pick the best 23,” Jones said,
“We’ve just changed the order of a number of players to get the right balance to the game. This is not rotation, we are picking the best 23.
“We’re not happy with how we played in the first 40 minutes against France and this is a new game and we have a great chance to play well.”
George Furbank endured an error-strewn Test debut in Paris but he survives at full-back and is present as part of an unchanged back three.
There is no Luke Cowan-Dickie on the bench due to his partner going into labour, so Tom Dunn could make his debut as a replacement, as could uncapped Saracens flanker Ben Earl.
Jones had opted for a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench, pointing to a game plan of overpowering Scotland up front as England look to bounce back from two comprehensive defeats in succession.
“Consistency is a challenge for every team. Sometimes the circumstances make it difficult to find your best and we found that last week,” he said.
“We’re always trying to learn and find ways to get better, we had a good lesson last week. Sometimes these things need to be learned.”
Harry Jones
Expert
I think it was Sean Fitzpatrick who said that. So true. Good post.
ThugbyFan
Roar Guru
In the France game England really missed the power of the Vunipola brothers and Manu Tuilagi once he was injured. These days it’s almost de rigueur in international rugby to have the toughness and speed of two or more players of PI heritage (and I say this from an Aussie angle where the WB RWC2019 squad had 5 PI imports and loads more born in Oz with PI heritage). Eddy Jones has to take the heat for the loss against France. Some of his selections seem M.Cheika-like. It almost seems that he didn’t look at how France went in the RWC2019 or was he too cocky after last years 6-N flogging of France by England? Was flabbergasted that G.Kruis was demoted for C.Ewels who went OK but is not of Kruis quality. Also the experimental back row means an unbalanced team and gawd knows what the thinking is of E.Daly on the wing instead of fb where he is of proven class. Hasn’t England got any other wingers, for example the massive train that resembles a human aka Joe Cokanasiga, or is he wounded? Add the halfback problems mentioned by N.Back and HarryJ and the Red Roses spluttered all game. Even so, Jonny Mays is really living up to his hype, both of his tries were rip-snorters. I posted this next part elsewhere but thought it might be more appreciated here. :silly: Wasn’t it lovely to see Eddie Jones struggling for words after he “motor-mouthed” Les Blues about brutality and “the lessons of test rugby” prior to the match. And dare I say the Roar post-match video in the Pom dressing room should be nominated for an Academy award for most entertaining of the year. Some of the above mentioned errors/problems have been resolved and tbh I expect England players to come out breathing fire this weekend and flog the FinnRussell-less Scooots. For all the hype, the Ireland v Scotland game last week was a stinker and it’s easy to see why they had a horrible RWC2019.
mzilikazi
Roar Pro
There was a faction calling for Dombrandt to come in at 8. I had not seen much of him, but a clip from nic Bishop shows a very mobile big man. The Scots scrum looked good against Ireland. If they trouble England, a No 8 who is not good at the back of a disrupted scrum could be costly.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Wouldn't disagree with any of that, assuming we share the same definition of hard man. In any event, Kruis is a better pick than Ewells, who I'd rate fifth choice at best as an English lock right now.
Highlander
Guest
Really like the Kruis selection, Itoje is so much better with a hard man next to him. Curry at 8 looks like pure stubbornness but his thinking that specialist back rows are disappearing the way breakdowns are currently being non-refereed is correct. The issue at halfback is of his own making over recent years.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
6/2 bench split? Wonder where he got that idea from?
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Ditto Harry. It's fair to say there is a bit of a generation gap in English rugby at 9, with young U20 talent struggling to break through to respective Prem sides, in part due to imports like Faf, Hougard, White, Reinach etc starting for their clubs, and only players like Robson and Spencer (both 27) being given minimal opportunity to stake an International claim. Seems Jones has looked at the latter two and decided he likes the 30 year olds better. Not many agree. He's a stubborn man. It's not healthy. Even when Care was pushing Youngs, he pretty much knew he'd start, and that lack of competition is never a good thing. Forget who said it, but a seasoned International pro observed you should always train as if you're second choice. Youngs too often plays like he knows he's starting. There's a rumour that Eddie would have bloodied Northampton's Alex Mitchel (22), one of the few academy and U20 players to breakthrough, but for a serious injury keeping him out. That remains a rumour unfortunately.
Harry Jones
Expert
I don’t understand what Eddie is doing with 9s. At all.
Neil Back
Roar Rookie
Crappy weather forecast for E'boro so a 6/2 bench makes sense - likely to be a dour forwards battle with plenty of boot. It's going to be a scrap and not very pretty. Two proper jacklers in Richie and Watson means Ludlam makes sense over Lawes, as Jones seeks his new nirvana and balance with Curry at 8 again. Saracens locking pair restored, so Lawes covers flank and lock, while Ben Earl allows Curry to move back to flank if required. Mako's return and Genge's greater bench impact means Marler goes home. With 96 caps, Youngs is a big part of the failed on-field leadership group. The 9 vacuum Jones has created has allowed too many average to poor performances from him. He's a lucky boy to be on the bench. Heinz is a lucky boy to be starting. Finn Russell's time in the naughty boy corner continues, but there's a growing feeling in Scotland that Adam Hastings brings more players into play. Probably not a day for Finn in any case. Wales in Ireland looks tasty too. Hopefully the weather doesn't interfere too much with either game. C'mon Italy ....
Ben
Guest
Gee i thought Lawes was their best forward last week, so i reckon he would be right to feel a bit miffed. Heinz was terribly slow in his distribution when he subbed in and i thought played a poor game. So again, Youngs, whos distribution was far better would be right to feel a bit miffed also. Youngs, however, didnt have a great all round game, but then his forwards didnt provide much of a platform. If Jones is talking about picking on form, then Farrell surely must be counting his lucky stars after last week. I would hazard a guess that a rocket up the backsides of a few of his forwards will have already been fired this week. Intensity and physicality, promised pre game, were noticeably absent last week, particularly so in Sinckler and Itoje. I guess Sinckler, Itoje and Farrell have runs on the board so are retained. Looking forward to this one. Cmon Scotland....