The Times - UK (2022-01-19)

the times | Wednesday January 19 2022 65

Sport

BOB BRADFORD/CAMERASPORT/GETTY IMAGES

need to prove I’m idiot for omitting them, says coach

relegation for breaching the salary cap.
“We will make sure we are not like that,”
was his short retort.
Jones revealed that Tuilagi suffered a
setback on his return from the
hamstring injury he picked up in the
autumn win against South Africa. It is
understood that Tuilagi should feature
for Sale Sharks against Leicester Tigers
on January 30, then against Harlequins
the next week, and will join the national
squad if fit.
“You plan to run 90 per cent one
week and you don’t quite get there so
you’ve got to do an extra week,” Jones
said of Tuilagi. “The Sale staff are look-
ing after him really well and we’ll keep

monitoring his progress. We’ll just have

to wait and see where he’s up to.”

While opening the door for the new

players, Jones said he had not closed it

on Ford and the Vunipola brothers. “I

would term I’m in the third cycle of this

team,” he said.

“A number of the senior players, we

felt, were starting to tail off a little.

We needed some more energy, some

more drive.

“I feel like we are in a really good

position to use the next two years to

establish a team that can challenge and

win the World Cup in 2023.

“To me it is always about looking

after now, but you’ve always got to have

an eye to the future. I’ve got no doubt

there are some other players that can

come back into the squad when they’re

fit and ready to go, and we’re capable of

winning this year’s Six Nations.”

On his own ambitions, with two Six

Nations tournaments left before he

departs in 2023, Jones said: “If I wasn’t

hungry I would not be sitting in

this chair.”

Jones is pleased that the Wasps

starlet Barbeary has decided to be a

back-row forward, not a hooker, and

hailed his “extraordinary ability to

break tackles”. He also said that Bailey

“has done very well in a team that’s

been struggling”.

Jones welcomed the return, for the

first time since the 2019 World Cup, of

a slimmed-down and now teetotal Jack

Nowell. “He definitely looks more like a

rugby player and less like a bodybuild-

er,” Jones quipped when asked about

the Exeter Chiefs wing.

“Watching him play on Saturday

night against Glasgow [Warriors], he

was bouncing out of tackles, he had

huge work rate, huge appetite for

the ball. That’s the sort of player we

remember.

“It has been a long time between

drinks. Maybe him not drinking so

much will allow the times between

drinks not to be so long in the future.”

England’s Six Nations fixtures

Feb 5 Scotland v England

(4.45, BBC)

Feb 13 Italy v England (3.0, ITV)

Feb 26 England v Wales

(4.45, ITV)

March 12 England v Ireland

(4.45, ITV)

March 19 France v England

(8.0, ITV)

All games will be broadcast live

on BBC Radio 5 Live or 5 Live

Sports Extra

Orlando Bailey

Alfie Barbeary

Wasps, 21, back row

Perhaps the most likely

of the six uncapped

players selected by Jones

to feature in the Six

Nations. A centre in his

youth, he entered

professional rugby as a

hooker, but has

since opted to settle

in the back row,

where his ball-

carrying has

been hugely

effective

for

Wasps, both at No 6 and

No 8.

“He’s got an

extraordinary ability to

break tackles and to

carry the ball forward in

close contact,” Jones said.

“He feels his best

position is in the

back row and we

agree. We’re

looking forward to

seeing how quickly

he can move

forward into Test

rugby.”

Tommy Freeman

Northampton Saints, 20,

wing/full back

Picked in England’s

squad for the autumn

internationals but still

awaiting his debut,

Tommy Freeman is a

powerful runner with

ball in hand who has

scored five tries in nine

games for Saints this

season. At 6ft 2½in and

102kg, he is capable of

punching holes in

Leicester Tigers, 21,

lock/back row

At 6ft 7in and 118kg, he

is a physical presence,

equally comfortable in

the second row or at

blind-side flanker.

Chessum was a

Leicester fan in his

youth and spent time in

the academy before

joining the senior set-up

in the summer of 2020.

Nurtured at Welford

Road by Steve

Borthwick, Jones’s

former forwards coach,

he is viewed as a

successor to Courtney

Lawes. “We see him in

the same mould as

Courtney,” Jones said.

“He’s got good lineout

skills, he can carry, he

can hit, he’s got plenty

of energy and vigour.”

Ollie

Chessum

midfield, but also has

good pace.

A late developer, he

was released by

Leicester Tigers as a

teenager but a growth

spurt and weight-gain

programme helped him

to make the grade.

“We believe he can

play full back or wing,

possibly No 13,” Jones

said. “He’s got a natural

feel for the game.”

Bath, 20, fly half

Nobody could argue that

Orlando Bailey has had it

easy in his first full season in

the Premiership. He has been

starting at No 10 for a Bath

side who lost their first ten

games and remain anchored

to the bottom of the table.

But playing fly half at

international level is rarely an

armchair ride and Jones has

been impressed by Bailey’s

ability to stand firm when his

side have so frequently been

in retreat.

“He’s done very well in a

team that’s been struggling,”

Jones said. “He can take the

ball to the line, he’s a strong

defender and can play No 10,

No 12 or No 15.”

5.4

Defenders beaten per 80

minutes by Barbeary in the

Premiership this season —

more than any other

player who has played

at least 100

minutes