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England coach Eddie Jones is taking inspiration from the Navy SEALs team that took down Osama bin Laden in order to teach his side adaptability ahead of next year’s World Cup.
England will stage a ‘hell week’ on the island of Jersey in preparation for the Autumn Internationals and Jones used the operation that killed the former terrorist leader as a metaphor for what his team had to do.
“You know the Osama thing, they practised that whole project for 12 months for 38 minutes of work,” said the coach after attending meetings with SEALs in San Diego, California.
“And the first thing they did was wrong. The helicopter hit the wall [of the Bin Laden compound]. They had 12 months to prepare, went through it religiously and they still got something wrong, but then they were able to cope with it and get it done within 38 minutes.
“You look at the analogy between us now. Twelve months to the World Cup, we’re playing for a game that’s got 35 minutes of ball in play, so the ability to dress-rehearse, prepare the players for what’s coming up, whether it’s the first round, second round, third round, whatever it is, that is the opportunity going forward. Exciting isn’t it?”
Jones’ emphasis on adaptability was, he said, a result of the ‘uncontrollable’ aspects of the modern game.
“We need to be able to adapt to a different game,” he said. “Probably 25 per cent of the game now is uncontrollable, through sin-bins, HIAs (head injury assessments) and uneven numbers in the game.
“The match then becomes completely different. We need to be able to adapt from our game to the game that’s going to be played in that time. That’s hard to do and I can’t name one team who can do it at the moment.
“We basically can’t get messages on the field anymore so the players have become even more important in terms of decision-making.”
Worcester Warriors have been suspended from all RFU competitions after missing a deadline set by the governing body regarding insurance cover and player wages.
The club is now in administration with debts of $41m, the biggest slice of which is owed to the British tax authorities.
Club staff were told to collect their belongings from the club’s Sixways Stadium with no date for a return. Players, including former Western Force lock Fergus Lee-Warner, are also in limbo.
Lee-Warner only joined as recently as April and has played all three games for Worcester in the 2022/23 Premiership, but his future is now up in the air.
Worcester are not the only club struggling. Wasps, one of the most storied names in English club rugby union, are also set to go into administration with major debts to the UK taxpayer. They have 20 days to find £2m (3.3m AUD) to avoid a winding up order over unpaid tax.
Two All Black legends have thrown their weight behind Jordie Barrett’s move to the 12 jumper, with Sir John Kirwan saying the utility was “on fire’ in the position.
“Yes, he should be our 12 moving forward,” said Kirwan, a veteran of 63 Tests for the ABs, on Sky NZ’s The Breakdown.
“You should play him there on the northern tour, because if Richie Mo’unga is going to stay at 10 and Beaudy (Barrett) at fullback, I think Richie would love to have someone like Jordie outside him, so he can do a bit of dancing, but if it’s not on he can unload it to Jordie.”
He was backed up by Mils Muliaina, who added that the success of Barrett’s move in the recent Bledisloe Cup win was “going to give Ian Foster a big headache”.
“I would [pick him at 12],” said Muliaina. “He hasn’t shied away from it. I think now you’ve got a complete package in terms of the second five role. He kicks, his passing ability and those carries, when you need someone just to run it straight. Why not?”
Last week’s demolition at the hands of the All Blacks was another nightmare night at Eden Park for Australia, the Wallabies’ 23rd consecutive defeat at the fortress of Kiwi rugby union.
The silver lining is that, for next year’s Bledisloe Cup, they won’t have to play there. The FIFA Women’s World Cup is set to use the stadium in the same time period and thus, the New Zealand leg has been moved to Dunedin.
That’s the good news: the bad news is that the Wallabies haven’t won in Dunedin since 2001 either.
The Australian leg is set for the MCG after Suncorp Stadium and the new Sydney Football Stadium were also taken offline by the women’s football tournament, but no venue is yet decided for the Wallabies’ clash with Argentina.
“We’ve got limited availability in Australia as well,” said Rugby Australia CEO Andy Marinos.
“We will play our Bledisloe at the MCG and we’re just working through the venues around NSW for the Argentinian Test.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.