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Eddie releasing only one England player for club duty can mean only one thing - Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
With Beno Obano the only player released by Eddie Jones to play for his club this weekend, we can only assume there’ll be changes to the England team to face France next week.
There have been mixed messages coming out of camp with a statement on Wednesday indicating that “some of the squad members who have received less playing time during the tournament will be given the opportunity to play for their clubs.”
Some has turned into one with Obano starting for Bath against Exeter on Saturday but the likes of Paolo Odogwu, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Alex Mitchell, Ben Earl, George Martin, Charlie Ewels and Will Stuart all unavailable for Premiership action.
You have to hope that Odogwu and Lawrence in particular are going to feature and hopefully play a prominent part against France because there’s no point keeping them there to hold tackle bags if they aren’t.
Odogwu was absolutely flying for Wasps, and is still their top try scorer this season such has been their dip in form, but he hasn’t played a game of rugby for eight weeks now.
Lawrence started for England against Scotland in Round 1 of the Six Nations but hasn’t been seen since and he’s made just one Premiership appearance this season, so surely he should be starting for Worcester against Bristol if he isn’t going to play next week.
Meanwhile, Max Malins and Ben Earl have come off the bench in all three of England’s Six Nations games so far but for just 26 and 46 minutes respectively. If they aren’t in line to start against France, they should be playing for their clubs.
The likes of Craig Casey, Ed Byrne, Ross Byrne, Rhys Ruddock, Josh van der Flier, Stuart McCloskey and Tom O'Toole have all been released by Ireland to play for Munster, Leinster and Ulster in big games this weekend as a point of comparison.
Movement in and out of squads is different this year because of COVID-19 protocols and tournament regulations but players are allowed to go back and play for their clubs and the RFU said that’d be an “individual decision for each player from a performance perspective” this week.
We’ve seen Kyle Sinckler come into the England squad during the tournament after serving his ban and players have been at home for short periods during fallow weeks so some more changes in the squad would probably be possible if it were needed.
Regardless, it’s hard to fathom how it is deemed that Obano is the only player who should be playing in the Premiership this weekend from a performance perspective.
The Six Nations title has gone for England now and it’s difficult to see how much is going to be gained by just picking the same players in the final two rounds so surely we should see some new faces starting next week.
We’ll have to wait until Thursday to find out officially but hopefully the fact that only one player has been released back to his club this weekend is an indication that we’re going to see a fresh England line-up to face France. We live in hope.
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Latest Comments
And Scott Robertson not going so well is he.
Not a bad effort but a correction. McKenzie was not born in NSW so is not a Tah. He was born in Victoria. Played for the Brumbies and coached Qld and also played and then later coached NSW, until the self entitled Tah players decided to stab him in the back. And who was the captain of the Tahs at the time leading the back stabbing. Well, well it was none other than Phil Waugh, current Rugby Australia CEO. Who recently tried to deny he had met Suallii at Hamish McLennan's house pre signing, until McLennan outed him recently as a bald faced liar as he was in fact there.
I doubt very much if McKenzie, who was also assistant coach to Eddie Jones in Jones first stint coaching Australia, would appreciate being labelled a Tah, given it was the Tahs Hooper and Beale and Cheika who stabbed him in the back again when he walked away thru lack of support from Hooper and Rugby Australia.
Schmidt might have theoretically better credentials, even tho he dumped Ireland in the brink but he had to start somewhere. You can't argue if you think he is great that Schmidt should never have been given an opportunity.
Schmidt lacks a crucial ingredient. He's not Australian. It does matter, which as a Bokke you would well know.
Go to commentsBecause the two guys primarily in charge of hiring a new coach for Rugby Australia Peter Horne and Phil Waugh, are Tahs. The Chairman of Rugby Australia Daaniel Herbert is from Qld but he's not that bright and weak.
Horne was good friends with Schmidt and they knew if they hired him on a million dollars a year they would own him and he would select Tah players who shouldn't be there . Like Jake Gordon (4th or 5th best halfback in Australia) and similarly for Donaldson). The Tahs are all about being able to brag how many Wallabies they have, even if the Wallabies keep losing because of it. Michael Hooper, the worst Wallaby captain in decades a prime example. He made Taine Randall look great.
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