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Former captain claims England are 'spoilt for choice'

11 Jul 2022

England's Jack Nowell /PA

Former England captain Dylan Hartley believes that England are ‘spoilt for choice’ when it comes to squad depth.

An England side including two debutants – centre Guy Porter and wing Tommy Freeman – claimed an impressive 25-17 over the Wallabies in Brisbane.

Hartley, who served under Jones for several years before retiring in 2018 – said the win was evidence of the strength in depth of this current England team.

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“He’s spoilt for choice, right? Alex Mitchell is not on tour for example, you could play him at nine,” Hartley told Sky Sports after the match.

“He handed out debuts today [in the second Test] and debuts last week, and he won a Test match against a good Australian side. If he’s got that luxury, I suppose that’s what he’s doing, if he’s confident his team can win.

“He picks a side to win the game, that’s what he always says.”

England will be forced to reshuffle again ahead of the decider in Sydney – with Maro Itoje and Sam Underhill now both ruled out.

“Whilst you want your out and out 15, you also have to explore options because injuries are inevitable,” he said.

“Two or three guys from that World Cup starting XV in Eddie’s mind will not be there at the time. There will be a bolter that comes through [too]. He’s spoilt for choice, there are so many good players.”

The second Test win has given Jones a reprieve after the question over his future was raised after first Test loss in Perth. The victory brought to an end a run of four losses in a row for the Australian.

Jones has remained defiant amid calls for his resignation, with his mother even asking was he getting the boot.

“I like it. I think it is fantastic. I love my mother ringing me up in the morning saying ‘are you going to get sacked? When do you have to move? Are you going to come back to Australia? Come back and live in Randwick’,” Jones said.

“I love that. My poor mother. But I don’t mind it because I have made the choice to take the job and that’s always going to happen because there’s infatuation with sacking coaches now isn’t there?”

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Comments on RugbyPass

Hellhound 16 minutes ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

Everything you say I agree with except that the SA sides are underdogs. The Bulls are Leinster's bogey team. They have beaten a full Irish team parading as a club team twice. They have beaten their second string team, the future of Leinster. Leinster end top each season, and it's an SA side that axe them every year. The log is purely for weeding out weaker teams. Top of the log doesn't give you a title, only advantage and Leinster just like the Irish international team is chokers in knock out rugby these days. The reason for the choking is unknown because they have some excellent players, but my suspicion is arrogance. They think they are the best in the world. They can't win a club competition, not a world cup. Coaches can only do so much. It's up to the players to perform and they just don't. That is why they are a laughing stock, and they shouldn't be. Not with the quality they have. In short, Leinster is overrated. Their biggest fear is to face the Bulls before the Finals of the URC. This is the 4th season of the URC. Bulls knocked out Leinster in 2 semi finals and a quarter final.

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Timmyboy 35 minutes ago

'Rugby is kind of at a junction here': Henry Pollock on rugby values

So many miserable people out there just wanting to criticise or judge.

He’s a young sportsman having a bit of fun , full of enthusiasm for the game he loves.

Heaven forbid!!

Cheer up you depressing grumps !

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GV 45 minutes ago

How France injected new life into women's rugby at Twickenham

I can't believe people actually watch this sh!te.

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Derek Murray 1 hour ago

How France injected new life into women's rugby at Twickenham

Hi Nick. Thanks for this. The wide tackling wasn’t up to snuff at all. The offloading and straight carrying from the two big French locks and the 7, was damn impressive though. England showed heart though - kept scoring to stay ahead when under fire.

I was part of a large crew at the game with 15 girls from Barnes u14’s and another 30 adults. Beautiful weather, great atmosphere and a terrific match - what more could you ask for as a precursor for the last game of the season the next day where we played off in 3v4 Surrey final (lost, sadly)?

One thing Twickenham needs to do is add more permanent female toilet facilities. Not one adult women in the party failed to mention the massive time required for a break.

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IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

Damian McKenzie remains sidelined for Chiefs' Wellington visit

Wallace sells tickets! He is BOX OFFICE!

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IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

Damian McKenzie remains sidelined for Chiefs' Wellington visit

D’Mac, when are you coming back? My little D’Mac, when are you coming back?

Get rested up and get the kicking boots back on for the knock-outs!

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IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

That’s very interesting, by the cut of your jib I just assumed you’re a Munster man. Fair dues.

Got a lot of time for Connacht and their fans. I’ve spent many a night getting chinned with them in M Fitzgerald’s.

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Connor Nicolas 2 hours ago

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SC 2 hours ago

Hurricanes' backs in All Black contention because of what 'Rieko is not getting' at the Blues

Ioane has been the starting 13 for the All Blacks since 2020. That is 5 test seasons to demonstrate he has the distribution skills required to feed his outside backs. However, Ioane has proven he cannot.

4 Go to comments

PR 2 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

Yes, I agree. For me, the Bulls have been the only SA team over last few weeks to show the necessary consistency to suggest they could go really deep in the URC. Their victories over Munster and Glasgow were tactically very impressive. Didn’t play too much rugby in their own half, kicked well and then pinned their opponents back, stopping them behind the gain line. If you combine that with a pack that’s always going to win you scrum and maul penalties and an accurate kicker like Goosen you have a recipe for success, especially in the NH conditions. They need more of a cutting edge on attack, which Willie should bring.

The best thing you could say about the Sharks is that they’ve been gutsy of late. Defensively the first half against Ulster was an absolute horror show. Huge gaps and doglegs in the defensive line with players slow to react and slow to get into position. They did well to fight back but it seems that it’s more down to individual brilliance than team cohesion that they are high on the log.

The Stormers continue to have moments of utter flakiness - both in attack and on defence. Having SFM and Willemse back has made a huge difference but against the likes of Leinster you can’t afford soft moments and the Stormers always seem to switch off for parts of games.

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Flankly 2 hours ago

'Rugby is kind of at a junction here': Henry Pollock on rugby values

Try celebrations are fun, within certain limits. But there is the potential for players to get carried away and do things that are inappropriate or unacceptable.

The NFL had a problem with this and eventually laid out some rules on touchdown celebrations, banning things like sexual references, taunting, and anything dangerous. Refs apply a know-it-when-you-see-it standard.

Rules like that should not be necessary, but if players can’t limit their behaviors then I guess that’s what Rugby will be doing too.

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SC 2 hours ago

Damian McKenzie remains sidelined for Chiefs' Wellington visit

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IkeaBoy 2 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

It’s possible Leinster are becoming - or already are - victims of their own success. They do deserve huge credit for seeing where the game was going. The schools pathways that feed their academies have been well planned and financed. It’s now a case of their groundwork paying off.

Historically, Ireland’s single greatest problem at test level was it’s small pool of players. That’s now been recalibrated to be it’s single greatest strength. A strong and capable pool of 40 players to broadly allow them to be 3 deep in every position including a handful of hybrids.

I‘m worried the central contracts are beginning to erode that. How many times was Sexton or Murray picked in the last few years not on form but because they were 80% fit and essentially costing the IRFU 50 grand a match?

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SC 3 hours ago

Hurricanes name physical team to contend with top dog Chiefs

I’m also fascinated at which 10 will outperform his opposite- Josh Jacombs who has been solid, not spectacular, this season when playing 10 versus Ruben Love in only his third start at 10 in Super Rugby.

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SC 3 hours ago

Hurricanes name physical team to contend with top dog Chiefs

Should be a fantastic battle between two outstanding loose forward trios. Chiefs’ trio is larger but the Canes’ back row is more athletic.

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Connor Nicolas 3 hours ago

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IkeaBoy 3 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

That’s fair and I think it’s a fantastic league with all teams adding something.

If I supported any of the other 3 Irish provinces I wouldn’t actually be too upset roaming around 6th or 5th place in a competitive league. The standards are improving for sure.

The other 3 seem to have an awkward blend of youth and players in their last season or two. A bit more stability with their coaching set ups and backing the younger lads should be the way forward. They only have 3 of the 14 central contracts between them so they shouldn’t have to worry about test players.

18 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 3 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

Yeah, big step backwards and they no longer have the dying embers of a handful of senior test players, either.

With Ulster too, I think it’s time for their supporters to get a little more realistic about where their teams are at.

18 Go to comments

Flankly 3 hours ago

Irish provinces in danger of being left further behind, in their own country

A lot depends on which teams peak in the next 6 weeks. I have been critical of the Sharks not performing to potential, but their error-strewn (and tackle-missing) behaviors have reduced, and they were starting to look a bit more like what is promised on paper. It’s not awesome, but the precision seems to be emerging, and that’s without Etzebeth. Stormers have legit game-breakers all over the park and a pretty good pack, but their tight-head problem is currently a fatal weakness. If they had Malherbe and Fouché they would be a real challenge in the play offs. What worries me about all of the SA teams, including the Bulls, is that the best championship teams keep their opponents from scoring more than about 15 points, but these teams not are not getting that right. When you let your opponents score much more than 15 points you start depending on moments of brilliance, and those are hard to bet on.

18 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 3 hours ago

'If he performs in this game, he's in the Lions'