Eddie can’t ignore Chiefs stars as they hit new heights

There were some terrific performances in the second round of the Champions Cup this weekend but Exeter’s win in Montpellier tops the lot and their stars picked the perfect week to shine brighter than ever ahead of Eddie Jones’ England squad announcement on Thursday.

The Chiefs have talked about the fact that they haven’t really imposed themselves on Europe in the past few years but they have certainly made an impression already this season and look like they really mean business.

They have built gradually in the past few campaigns, reaching the domestic pinnacle of winning the Premiership in May, and now they are taking that form into European competition.

At the start of the tournament, everyone looked at Montpellier as a team right up there towards the top of the Top 14 table that has really strengthened with their recent recruitment and put them down as serious contenders for the Champions Cup.

They had lost just one of their last 20 home games in all competitions stretching back over a year and have players like Nemani Nadolo, who is a physical freak and whose offloading game is just ridiculous. His finish in the corner was as good as you’ll see from a winger.

Exeter would have been licking their lips a bit when they saw a few of the names missing from the Montpellier team sheet yesterday, especially Aaron Cruden and the du Plessis brothers, but the Altrad Stadium is still up there as one of the toughest places to play in France and it was a hell of a win.

The Chiefs know their strengths so well and play to them and they’ve really laid down a marker in Pool 3 now. Rob Baxter, Ali Hepher and the rest of the coaching staff have done an amazing job of building a culture and getting the team playing a certain way and now the players are making a mark on the European stage, which is the closest thing there is to international rugby.

Don Armand was a man mountain and I think he is the best number six in England at the moment.

There is a lot of competition there with Courtney Lawes and Maro Itoje both playing blindside quite a bit and in outstanding form but he has got to be in the squad and he deserves a chance to show that he can do for England what he does for the Chiefs week in, week out.

I would expect Chris Robshaw to be in the squad as well but, on form, he’s not in the 23-man squad for me. Nobody can tell me that he’s playing better than Armand and Lawes as a number six and Jones has said he doesn’t see him as a number seven.

I think he’ll pick his strongest available team for the first two games because you can’t underestimate Argentina and Australia beat the All Blacks at the weekend.

As English people, we’re brought up with the desire to see Australia to fall flat on their faces in the sporting arena ingrained deep inside us but I was delighted that they beat New Zealand because you want a competitive international game and they’re great to watch when they’re in form.

They could have been 15 or 20 points ahead at half-time against England at Twickenham last December before fading away and Michael Cheika has a nice bit of history with Jones, so they will be competitive and it’s a real banana skin for England as they’ll be expected to win.

There will then be a chance to mix things up against Samoa, though, and play some of the younger players, such as the Curry brothers and Sam Simmonds.

Henry Slade put in another outstanding performance at the weekend and he is doing things now that haven’t really been part of his game before. We all now he’s a brilliant footballer with a great passing game, good footwork and a good boot but he’s now running hard lines as well and doing the tough, nitty-gritty stuff that people have said he was lacking in the past.

That means he’s analysed his own game and worked on what he needed to improve in order to make that next step up to international level and I think it’s impossible to ignore him now.

Jonathan Joseph has been the man at outside centre during England’s long unbeaten run and he will have some credit in the bank with Eddie Jones but Slade is the form man and deserves his chance.

If I’d have been asked this time last year, I would’ve said that Slade couldn’t play in midfield together with George Ford and Owen Farrell at the top level but certain facets of his game have improved so much, especially his physicality and his defence, that I would love to see that combination now.

Joseph has been brilliant in an England shirt in the past couple of years but he has been found wanting in defence for Bath a couple of times in the Premiership this season already and that is an area where Slade has excelled, so I don’t think that should count against him.

Harry Williams will be in with a shout of international selection again this week, as well as the likes of Armand, Slade and Simmonds.

There are only so many times that they can all perform at the very top level without getting international recognition and the autumn internationals is the time to see them all make that step up.