"Players need to decide how desperate they are to play for England."
The exact rights and wrongs of any particular player's passion is besides the point here. The point is that Jones is setting out very clear, very strong demands and either players will meet them or they'll be dumped. This is fantastic news to any right thinking England fan. Standards need to go up and this will cause them to do so. And if some players decide its not for them and leave, who cares? The beauty of having the biggest player pool in the world is no shortage of international prospects and, given the past four years, its incontrovertible that there's no England players who belong in a World XV and as such, no one is irreplaceable.
2. The other Eddie Jones buzzword of the moment is coachability, a virtue he brought up particularly in regard to Marland Yarde. The Yarde selection has taken a bit of flak with Ashton, Wade, and Rokoduguni all seen as superior options by various fans. Very few seem to think Yarde was the best choice there. Yet there is little reason to think of Yarde as a bad choice. His last real shot in an England shirt was the tour to New Zealand, where he picked up two tries and showed humongous attacking potential. Bar Rokoduguni, no other English winger in contention has the same blend of pace and power.
The Wales match will be his first start since then and no one knows when the next will come. He needs to seize this moment and show he has been listening hard to the gospel of Uncle Eddie - and also that of Paul Gustard, for Yarde's defence will definitely come under scrutiny. Play poorly, and he'll likely hold tackle bags all summer before sweating on whether he keeps his EPS place. A good match could push his claims immensely though, particularly if Jones feels like switching Watson to his club position of full-back.
3. Luther Burrell shouldn't really have been in the Six Nations squad, according to our favourite convict gnome. Wasn't good enough and 8kg overweight. Jones reckons he's improved and he must have done to be ahead of Ollie Devoto, one of the youngsters that edged him out back then. This is a thought that leaves many skeptical but then, so does the thought of Ollie Devoto, England centre. Both have the raw ingredients to be valuable players, particularly as Eddie looks to ramp up England's physicality, but they are notably flawed articles.
As such, the thought that one of these men will probably replace Tuilagi in the touring squad is a sobering one. Hopefully one of them will seize the moment tomorrow and build a more convincing case than "Well, it has to be someone". Devoto would be ideal, given his wider skill set and younger age, but Burrell seems more likely. Either way, being in Australia means nothing. Next season, Burrell will find himself increasingly duelling with Mallinder jnr for a place, while Devoto has moved to the great centre logjam in Exeter. They'll need to be at their peak just to stay in contention.
4. Competition for places is developing into a theme and for good reason; English rugby's depth is coming along quite nicely. Every player who misses a game, for whatever reason, must be uncomfortably aware that he might not be getting his place back. Chris Robshaw misses the game to attend a wedding; he's made his case well enough to make the next game anyway, but big games for the young back rowers and the time for transition will move forwards. At loosehead, Alex Corbisiero is taking a season out and Joe Marler is taking the tour out, largely as a result of the fierce attrition of the modern game. It was the body in Corbs' case; in Marler's, the mind. Its unknown seemingly unlikely whether Corbs will ever truly make it back. Marler is hopefully more certain. But in any case, opportunity finally beckons for Matt Mullan, a highly talented player who knows plenty about attrition. Who knows how well he takes it?
Then there's Ashton. His ban and the subsequent favouring of Yarde is a textbook example of losing a place. Still, he was probably 4th choice England wing going into this summer - missing out on the senior tour, yes, but who knows where the injury fairy will strike next? Then he decided not to go on the Saxons tour, willingly subjecting himself to another window of letting other people push him down the pecking order. Whether Jones will hold a grudge - and his comments indicate a fair probability, in which case its bye bye Christopher - is not yet known but even if he doesn't, it's still a classic example of ordering an artillery strike on your own foot.
Now, it is known that Ashton's wife is expecting, supposedly at the end of the month. It is completely understandable and admirable for a man to put his family ahead of his career. But it is very strange that a professional rugby player should decide that protecting being third choice for his country is worth putting his career first for, and protecting being fourth choice isn't. Some will tell you the Saxons tour is pointless, but when the margins on getting into the England squad are that thin, that doesn't seem to fit the situation ahead of us. Time will tell which absentees lose out and which don't (there's going to be an awful lot of them in this match) but Ashton's name looks pencilled in on the losers' list.
5. Matt Mullan will have to go some to put Marler's name on the losers' list too and while he's not short of talent, its difficult to see what his edge on Marler would be. This is not a problem Ellis Genge has. His scrummaging and experience look nowhere near the level to put himself in serious contention for ousting Marler yet, but when the day comes, Genge may well be the full package that Marler threatened to be but has failed to be; big scrummaging, big work rate, big impact in the loose. Marler only really fills out the first two and Vunipola the latter two. They shouldn't be given up yet but hope for a youngster to break through and fill all three feels more realistic.
In any case, Genge is part of a new wave of front row talent that could transform England. It's not like we're currently doing badly in this area, but players like Genge, Sinckler, Paul Hill and Luke Cowan-Dickie offer athleticism and skill of the type more usually seen in Kiwi front-rowers. Having even one of these players break the starting team would make us a significantly better ball carrying team. A front row entirely made up of these type of players would free up our back row to do so much more breakdown and linking work. This future may never even come but its beginning to feel more and more of a possibility.
6. Speaking of the benefits of ridiculously mobile and skilful forwards, Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes are probably England's most talented and important pack members today. Officially they're only covering for Kruis and Itoje, but if they had stayed fitter over the last 18 months, they might still be our first choice locks. There's absolutely no reason they couldn't be again (other than Krutoje) providing their fitness can hold and this provides the level of competition Jones wants. I feel sorry for guys like Graham Kitchener, a probably international standard lock who'll never get a chance due to an absurdly strong generation.
Of course, to usurp the Sarries pair, they need to play Eddieball. Lawes has never been short of desire to physically dominate opponents (hence his injury prone nature) but has been inconsistent with getting his body shape right for making the most of his power when carrying. Launchbury, who does come as a very quiet character, has never had difficulty carrying (although could do more) but doesn't put many big hits in defensively. Win more collisions, and they'll be putting pressure on Krutoje. Win more collisions, and today's match will at the least be close.
7. The back row will be the weakest part of England's starting effort and it is perhaps fortunate that Wales have neither Warburton or Tipuric; Dan Lydiate is as much an openside as, well, Haskell. Ironically the most natural openside of the lot will be Teimana Harrison (aka possibly the best thing Dylan Hartley's done for English rugby) making his debut. Its not often you say that of the English blindside. Of course, today, he's here to be a strong ball carrier with a big engine and a useful breakdown presence; a job that he can do well. Likewise, Clifford should relish his opportunity to spend an entire match carrying in an England shirt.
The problem is they're up against Lydiate, who's not an openside but is capable of making life very difficult for his opponent, and Faletau, who's probably more of an openside when not being an outstanding 8 and making his opponent look very stupid. I'm sure James Haskell has a tale to tell his young padawans there. Rugby is never truly about 1 on 1 battles but eventually those moments come. The big question is how well the youngsters will do and whether they can put pressure on Jones' closed shop as a result.
8. There's a stat going around that Matt Kvesic stole more ball than anyone in the AP this season. More than George Smith, more than Louw, certainly more than all his EPS rivals. That he is the best English player at what he does is pretty much incontestable except perhaps by a Will Fraser that can stay fit for more than 3 minutes, which sadly falls under the heading of "Yeah right". Yet he remains in the same place on the periphery of England he's occupied ever since his performances on tour in Argentina weren't rewarded. Everyone with their eyes switched on can work out why; power. And there's not a lot you can do about your genetics.
The question is why is he still in this place when his strengths and weaknesses are so obvious. The first possibility is inertia and that we are merely going through the motions before he joins the great heap of 'never-quite-made-it' English opensides in the sky. The second is that Jones reckons there's something that if he only can instil qualities of ferocity and desperation. After all, Kvesic is not much smaller than Harrison. Finally, the third possibility is that Jones is considering the possibility of a day when he can get enough power from his tight five that he starts to look at his back row in a different light. Time will tell - all Kvesic can do for now is play his heart out.
9. A lot has been said about the money-grabbing nature of this contest. A lot. Well, its true. This match is being played because the RFU needs muchos dineros to pay off PRL are congesting their season to play the World Cup in. There should be a yearly ritual cursing of the men who decided the RFU wouldn't be involved in funding professional rugby but this is where we are and the match is essential to keep everyone happy.
However, once we put that aside and consider what we have on our hands, there is no reason to be unhappy at all at the outset. Yes, this is not a full strength England team, although many of the replacements have been part of such outfits in the past. Its not a full strength Wales team either. It is impossible to imagine either going at less than a 100pc though and there are still Lions on both sides; we will not be short of quality. It is not often we get a chance to see a number of test match hopefuls in strong sides going at full intensity. If that is what unfolds then regardless of the reason why the match was arranged, it will be a very enjoyable one to watch. Here's hoping.
