Ex-England scrum-half hits out at Eddie Jones' 'publicity stunt, nonsense' treatment of Ben Spencer
Former England scrum-half Kyran Bracken has slammed Eddie Jones’s treatment of Ben Spencer as a “publicity stunt” after the Bath No9 was left out of the latest national team training squad preparing for the autumn internationals.
Bracken likened Jones to Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho and his treatment of Dele Alli, claiming the louder the support for a Spencer call-up the more the England head coach will take the opposite view.
Jones opted to include 99-cap Ben Youngs (Leicester), fellow thirty-something Willi Heinz (Gloucester) and Alex Mitchell, the uncapped Northampton scrum-half, for this week's three-day camp in London despite Spencer’s outstanding form for Bath following his move from Saracens.
Spencer won the last of his four replacements caps in England’s World Cup final loss to South Africa last November, having been flown that week to Japan to take over from the injured Heinz.
With Wasps’ in-form Dan Robson available to Jones after the Gallagher Premiership final with Exeter on October 24, Spencer could find himself inexplicably No5 in the England scrum-half rankings despite a series of eye-catching displays for Bath.
Patently, he has failed to catch the eye of Jones and Bracken, who won 51 England, branded the decision to ignore the 28-year-old as “nonsense”. Bracken knows what it takes to claim the England half-back position. He was up against Dewi Morris, Austin Healey, Andy Gomarsall and Matt Dawson during his decade in the Test squad and cannot understand Jones’ current thinking.
He told RugbyPass: “Jones loves to go against public opinion and we have seen that in the past with Alex Goode, Danny Cipriani, Mike Brown and Chris Robshaw. Jones and Mourinho are in the same mould and they do things to surprise people and it is their trademark to do something controversial.
"The more people say a player is doing well the more Jones digs his heels. It is not a rugby reason and it's more to do with Jones’ relationship with the media and the public. He is making a statement as if he is a rugby genius – that is my opinion. It's part of his 'I know better' attitude. It's a publicity stunt and absolute nonsense.
“My question is where is Willi Heinz in all of this debate? Has he been scoring lots of tries for Gloucester? Why is he ahead of Ben Spencer? My top three scrum-halves for England at the moment would be Ben Spencer, Dan Robson and probably Ben Youngs because of his experience - although he has hardly been impressing in a struggling Leicester team this season.”
Dismissing the idea that Spencer was ignored because he is not vocal enough on the pitch, Bracken paid tribute to the man-management of World Cup-winning head coach Clive Woodward. "The reason Bath got to the Premiership semi-finals is Ben Spencer and he was on fire just like Dan Robson. Just think what those two could add to England.
“Clive Woodward was fair and if you were playing well he would pick you. It was all about form for your club and if you weren’t performing you would be out on your ear. When England play Italy at the end of this month I don’t see Ben Spencer being involved and I believe Jones will pick Youngs for his 100th cap.”
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Yeah I reckon Savea could show himself to be like McCaw in that respect, remodel himself to play how the team/game needed or changed. He started playing different when he moved into 8 I reckon, and I think he’s got a lot of those skills to shift back to 7 too. But you pretty much describe him as he is now, playing 8. Who’s going to be that dirty guy cleaning rucks and making tackles if Ardie is at 7? Sititi at 8? No, he’s basically doing what you describe of Ardie. Barrett? I think he’d be an excellent muscle man to replace and more importantly, improve on what Cane provided.\
Yeah I’m still wanting to give DP a shot, Super form is not everything, and maybe after a taste of playing against England, possible New Zealands toughest opponents last year, maybe his trying to hone a test game.
It’s not, but it’s terribly complicated for us part timers to discuss are few factors online when all the bigger picture can be taken into context (and which your reader my not be on the same track with). I really like to try and get somewhere succinctly when having a quick back and forth online, which is why I ask a specific question when really no one in that actual position is going to think about it like that, you’re right.
I asked it because I suspected you answer was just along those same lines indicating his strengths now as an 8. So were sorta coming around to your argument of wanting to put the bigger picture on it when I question how you’re going to fit “Cane” into the team.
I really agree with that, but would go even further in saying its improvement from much more than the “trio” that’s needed to be able to bust games open again like that. A lot of it was much better last year, with the props and second row getting involved in some nice breaks, but certainly there was still far too much one out rugby and they were always the worst at getting over the gainline. I’d actually say they need more of a team contributor than Ardiea Savea’s individual brilliance to improve in that area. Ardie is the toughest and most succesful at getting them on the front foot when they are really playing that one out simple hit up or pick and go structure, but I think they need, as I actually referred in the 7, someone running on the shoulder of another, willing to give the player that option and keep the defence guessing. Obviously players carrying need to be comfortable flicking the ball on last second etc, but I actually see Ardie as being someone with the least skills in either of those areas in the current squad. He is perhaps the two pass wide midfield carry man in place of Jordie and Rieko, enough ferocity to break tough midfield tackles and get an offload away if he wins that contact. Now that I think of it, having Ardie in the team may be a key factory in why the team is so poor in showing trickery and deception before the tackle happens, like where other teams prefer to work space. I’ve never really thought the ABs simply have the worst runners?
Sotutu is a key man in that area of the game for me, he is the one player in NZ that is so adept at passing to the right runner. Kirifi would be perfect for being that guy as far as a loosie option for me, as far as this article goes. Sititi as the alround runner and distribute from the bench, and Ardie being able to play in whatever role is missing, or needed more, are how I can see some of the other ‘trio’ facets working too.
To add, going back to you orginal post, and what you repeated;
I suspect you are talking about people being able to take it into the tackle and then recycle it sorta thing before going to ground. I’m pretty sure were doing this to the best of our ability right now, and only some selections like Sotutu are going to impact that area. Again, what I’ve been thinking is we actually need smarter people to provide better go forward, not better benders/breakers/offloaders (who are these people? Three Ardies?!). Were definitely still going to need that Sam Cane contribution as well, but can it come from the midfield instead? Timico? The wingers? And can Ardie be the guy whos adept enough to flick between that and being a good support runner or offload, as needed?
Go to commentsFrance using the 7-1, England using the 6-2, Ireland and Scotland have used it a few times as well and many nations are starting to adopt it. The reality is the game is changing. Administrators have made it faster and that is leading to more significant drop offs in the forwards. You have 2 options. Load your bench with forwards or alter your player conditioning which might mean more intense conditioning for forwards and a drop off in bulk. The game can still be played many ways. Every nation needs to adapt in their own way to suit their strengths. France have followed the Springbok model of tight forwards being preferred because it suits them. They have huge hunks of meat and the bench is as good as the starters so why not go for it? The Springboks have also used hybrids like Kwagga Smith, Schalk Britz, Deon Fourie, Franco Mostert and others. England are following that model instead and by putting 3 loosies there who can do damage in defence and make the breakdown a mess in the final quarter. It worked well against Wales but will be interested to see how it goes going forward against better opposition who can threaten their lineout and scrum. All the talk around bench limitations to stop the 7-1 and 6-2 for me is nonsense. Coaches who refuse to innovate want to keep the game the same and make it uniform and sameness is bad for fans. The bench composition adds jeopardy and is a huge debate point for fans who love it. Bench innovations have not made the game worse, they have made it better and more watchable. They challenge coaches and teams and that’s what fans want. What we need now is more coaches to innovate. There is still space for the 5-3 or even a 4-4 if a coach is willing to take it on and play expansive high tempo possession-based rugby with forwards who are lean and mean and backs who are good over the ball. The laws favour that style more than ever before. Ireland are too old to do it now. Every team needs to innovate to best suit their style and players so I hope coaches and pundits stop moaning about forwards and benches and start to find different ways to win.
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