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'He is a different person' - Sanderson calls on Eddie Jones to end Yarde's four year England exile
By Chris Jones
Sale boss Alex Sanderson believes wing Marland Yarde is “playing the rugby of his life” and deserves to end a four-year exile from the England team to boost the attacking threats Eddie Jones could unleash on the Six Nations.
Head coach Jones is under pressure after the 11-6 loss to Scotland which exposed the paucity of attacking play from his back division and Yarde has been delivering eye-catching performance and tries for Sale in the Premiership having battled back from a horrendous knee injury in 2018.
Sanderson pinpoints Yarde’s changes to his life off the pitch as being key to helping the wing regain his best form. While Sanderson, the newly appointed Sale director of rugby, expects Jones to avoid major changes heading into Saturday’s clash with Italy, he is confident that Yarde would make a real impact if given a chance to add to the 13 caps he has already won.
Yarde, 28, last played for England in Argentina in 2017 and is preparing to help third place Sale take on struggling Bath at home on Friday night and Sanderson said: “Marland is playing the rugby of his life at the moment and I would like think the powers to be, if they are watching the games, will see that as well. The injury was a big turning point and he has changed a lot of his approach to life with a lot of charity work with us and is a great example to young players who could and would have gone down some of the paths he had gone down that led to him not having potentially the best reputation during the first part of his career.
“He is a different person for me and I have sat down with him and talked about extending his contract because of how he is training and living his life away from rugby. As a result he is playing some of the best rugby of his life and it is all inter-linked and he is the best example of that at this club. Marland has two years left on his contract and we are talking about a third which we have agreed on and is his choice.
“I thought England would go better and you have to give credit to Scotland who made it an arm wrestle. Without a shadow of doubt England will be better in their second game and knowing the boys in the team they will be.”
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Latest Comments
John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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