England coach Eddie Jones: ‘Make me look an idiot’
Eddie Jones yesterday told his dropped England stars to “play at a level that makes me an idiot if I don’t pick them” as he announced his wider squad for the upcoming Six Nations.
Notable absentees from the training group, who will meet in Brighton next week, include Saracens back-three player Elliot Daly and Bath back-row Sam Underhill.
Also excluded are the likes of Leicester Tigers star fly-half George Ford and the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy.
“They’ve all got areas in their games to come back into the team,” Jones said. “They’ve got to play at a level that makes me an idiot if I don’t pick them.”
Jones confirmed that Owen Farrell, who has not played a game since the autumn, will return as captain while individual decisions will be made on vice-captain roles throughout the tournament.
England start their campaign away to Scotland, a team who beat them in last year’s record equalling worst Six Nations, on 5 February.
“We’ve picked the players who we think can give us the strongest team,” Jones added.
“The Six Nations has always been a tournament where the set piece has been significantly more important than other forms of rugby.
“We were disappointed with our set piece in autumn, particularly the way we finished against South Africa, so we want to make sure we get off on the front foot against Scotland in that area.”
Jones will be looking to see improvements in an England side that finished fifth in last year’s Six Nations. That said, the squad has evolved and changed in the 12 months since.
“I am excited about this tournament,” said Jones. “If I wasn’t hungry I wouldn’t be sitting in this chair [at Twickenham].”
Elsewhere, there are five uncapped players included in the squad. In-form versatile Wasps forward Alfie Barbeary makes the cut, as do Bath fly-half Orlando Bailey, London Irish winger Ollie Hassell-Collins, Harlequins centre Luke Northmore, Leicester Tigers forward Ollie Chessum and Northampton Saints full-back Tommy Freeman – though Freeman has previously been included in wider squads.
Jones praised Hassell-Collins’ ball-carrying skills while highlighting the importance of players such as Bailey and Freeman being able to play in multiple positions.
Returning to the squad after a two-year absence is Jack Nowell. The slimmed-down Exeter Chiefs back-three player hasn’t featured for England since the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
“He definitely looks more like a rugby player than a bodybuilder,” Jones added. “As you get older you’ve got to train differently and for our experienced players that’s the challenge.
“They’ve had habits of a young player and sometimes those habits don’t suit you as you get older.
“I think he’s made a really good adjustment, he’s got the bounce back in his step. Watching him play on Saturday he was bouncing out of tackles, he had a huge work rate, a huge appetite for the ball and that’s the sort of player we remember.
“We haven’t seen him since 2019, it’s been a long time between drinks and maybe him not drinking so much will allow him the time between the drinks not to be so long in the future.”
England will train in Brighton next week before a squad is announced in the match week ahead of their opening game in Edinburgh.
Eddie Jones’ England squad
FORWARDS
Alfie Barbeary, Jamie Blamire, Ollie Chessum, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Alex Dombrandt, Charlie Ewels, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Joe Heyes, Jonny Hill, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Joe Marler, Bevan Rodd, Sam Simmonds, Kyle Sinckler, Will Stuart
BACKS
Mark Atkinson, Orlando Bailey, Owen Farrell, Tommy Freeman, George Furbank, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Max Malins, Joe Marchant, Jonny May, Luke Northmore, Jack Nowell, Raffi Quirke, Harry Randall, Henry Slade, Marcus Smith,Freddie Steward, Ben Youngs