The Times - UK (2020-11-14)

The Scrum

2 1GG Saturday November 14 2020 | the times

Jones disagreed that his team have to
be entertaining on the playing field

OWEN

SLOT

Chief Rugby
Correspondent

Beware the Tier Two sides because
they may finish your career. Eddie
Jones has already made that
blatantly clear.
Apologies for the use of Tier Two,
which is becoming an increasingly
grubby description in the modern
game, but the fact is that this is still
the official terminology. More to the
point, when England play a Tier Two
team, we inevitably go through this
awkward exchange where everyone
outside the team talks of cricket
scores, entertainment and lashings of
tries and those inside respond with
perplexed looks and: “No mate, that’s
not how we see it.”
England do, of course, see it in a
very specific way. We know that
because the previous time they played
a Tier Two team at Twickenham was
Japan two years ago and they got it
so wrong that three careers were
finished there and then.
England, that day, did not do the
hard work first. They conceded
uncharacteristic penalties, were
behind at half-time and even
admitted that their attitude had been
wrong. Danny Care, Alex Lozowski
and Zach Mercer have not been on
an England teamsheet since that
autumn international.
Against Georgia, England are
unlikely to make the same mistakes.
The way they performed against Italy
in their final Six Nations match two
weeks ago suggested as much. They
have a means and a method and they
intend to stick to it.
Thus, when Jones was asked
yesterday about the “entertainment
narrative” for this game, he
responded curtly: “That’s your
narrative, not my narrative.”
We are, therefore, caught in this
dichotomy where, on the one hand,
England’s PR theme for the autumn
has been about putting smiles on
people’s faces but, on the other,
they kicked the life out of the
entertainment factor against Italy.
They then give you death stares if
you suggest that, against Georgia, it
would be nice if they let it rip a bit.
With maybe Ellis Genge purring
down the wing on a unicycle and
scoring a try while singing God Save
the Queen.
There are teams that see the value
— as in pounds and pence — in
“entertaining” rugby. Wasps’ move to
Coventry coincided with a succession
of big-name fancy-Dan overseas
signings, a clear bums-on-seats policy
that seemed to work.
Yet you can hardly imagine the
reception that Bill Sweeney, the RFU
chief executive, would get if he told
Jones that it was time to unleash the
shackles and treat Twickenham —
where you can’t, at the moment, get
bums on seats anyway — to a splash
of Fijian colour.
That said, it is totally wrong to see
Eddie Jones rugby and entertaining
rugby as polar opposites. If you do,
you forget how England looked
against Ireland and Wales in the Six
Nations at the start of the year, or
against New Zealand and Australia a
year ago.

Entertainment at all costs?

That is what Jones is aiming at,

something so blisteringly fast and

intense that the pressure piles so

unforgivingly on the opposition that

cracks eventually show and England

swarm through them. We know now

well enough what England want to do

and how good they look when they

pull it off. They did not look anything

like that against Italy and that can

perhaps be forgiven.

A similar performance, however,

would not be looked upon so

benevolently against Georgia, not

now that England have had a runout,

have had so much more time in camp

together and have been reminded

(again) that they are permitted to

loosen their tactical straitjackets

when required.

England will still probably play it

tight at the start. They will still look

to wear down the Georgians. And it

will probably rain. Nevertheless, a

good England performance should

mean that they are punching merry

holes and dancing through them,

probably not in the first quarter, but

certainly before half-time.

And, crucially here, Georgia have

not been prepared with the same

professionalism as that Japan side

two years ago. Nothing close.

The quality of the Georgians as a

scrummaging side is well established.

However, the plain truth is that half

of their starting XV still play a semi-

pro game back in Georgia, many of

them are short on game time since

lockdown and their captain does not

even have a club.

It would be great to report that this

is a Georgia team who are set to lay

on an exhibition of why they are

knocking on the door demanding

inclusion in the Six Nations. Yet

they were already going through a

rebuilding phase after some key

retirements post-World Cup and the

ravages of Covid have made that

process even harder.

It would be sensational to see them

rise up and cause England some

problems. Frankly, though, this seems

unlikely. This is a team who conceded

eight tries as they went down 48-7 to

Scotland three weeks ago.

So this may well be the day that

England cut loose. Unless Georgia

upset logic and the form book, it

certainly should be.

There has been more talk, this

week, of the ambition with which

England kicked off the year: to be

the greatest team the world has ever

seen. Again, against Georgia today,

they have a chance of looking

something like it.

They will, though, do it their way.

That will not change. The founding

philosophies of the team remain

the same and, as was evident

against Japan in 2018, woe

betide any player who feels

that, because it is a Tier Two

day, then a different frame

of mind applies.

Jonny May thus talked,

yesterday, of the “traps” that

come with this game against Georgia,

and he was not focusing on their

vaunted scrum but the pitfalls of

England getting it wrong.

“It would be a trap,” he said, “to

fall into thinking we could score a

few first-phase tries.” There was also

the danger “of forcing things or

going off script”.

Avoid those hazards and England

will go well today. There is a way to

play Tier Two sides and England

have been drilled to stick to it. It may

even be entertaining.

WHAT IS THE

AUTUMN NATIONS

CUP?

An eight-team

tournament between

England, Fiji, France,

Georgia, Ireland, Italy,

Scotland and Wales,

instead of the usual

autumn internationals,

when southern-

hemisphere teams

come to Europe.

WHAT IS THE

FORMAT?

England, Georgia,

Ireland and Wales are in

group A, and Fiji, France,

Italy and Scotland are in

group B. Each team

plays everyone in their

group once to determine

group standings. To

decide the final placings,

first in group A plays

first in group B, second

in group A plays second

in group B, and so on.

WHERE WILL THE

GAMES BE PLAYED?

England’s home games

are at Twickenham,

Ireland’s at the Aviva

Stadium and Scotland’s

at Murrayfield. Wales’s

home games are at Parc

y Scarlets in Llanelli.

France will play their

match against Italy at

Stade de France. Italy’s

home games will be in

Florence and Ancona.

HOW IT

WORKS

THIS

AUTUMN

— AND

WHAT’S

NEW

Ellis Genge shows

he’s fighting fit in

England training

this week

HOW THEY LINE UP

ENGLAND

E Daly

Saracens

J Joseph

Bath

O Lawrence

Worcester

H Slade

Exeter

J May

Gloucester

O Farrell

Saracens

B Youngs

Leicester

E Genge

Leicester

J George

Saracens

W Stuart

Bath

C Ewels

Bath

J Launchbury

Wasps

M Itoje

Saracens

J Willis

Wasps

B Vunipola

Saracens

GEORGIA

L Khmaladze

Batumi

A Tabutsadze

Lelo Saracens

G Kveseladze

Armazi Marneuli

M Sharikadze

Unattached

S Svanidze

RC Jiki

T Abzhandadze

Brive

G Aprasidze

Montpellier

M Nariashvili

Montpellier

S Mamukashvili

Leicester

B Gigashvili

Toulon

L Jaiani

Unattached

G Kerdikoshvili

Lelo Saracens

B Saginadze

Aurillac

G Tkhilaishvili

Tbilisi

B Gorgadze

Bordeaux

15

14

13

12

11

10

9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

REPLACEMENTS

T Dunn

Bath

M Vunipola

Saracens

K Sinckler

Bristol Bears

B Earl

Bristol Bears

T Curry

Sale Sharks

D Robson

Wasps

M Malins

Bristol Bears

J Marchant

Harlequins

REPLACEMENTS

J Bregvadze

Sunwolves

G Gogichashvili

Racing 92

L Kaulashvili

Bordeaux

O Giorgadze

Brive

T Jalagonia

Biarritz

V Lobzhanidze

Brive

D Tapladze

Lelo Saracens

S Todua

Lelo Saracens

Kick-off 3pm

Referee N Owens (Wales)

Assistants C Evans, D Jones (Wales)

TMO B Whitehouse (Wales)

2

Previous games.

England won both

— at the 2003 and

2011 World Cups.

25

Wins for England

in their past 28

home games, only

losing to Ireland

and New Zealand

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