“The dunderhead
approach is over”
Stephen Jones turns selector to pick the 31 players
he thinks should travel to Japan to represent England
at the World Cup – but will Eddie Jones agree?
T THE start of July,
Eddie Jones named
an England training
squad to continue
preparations for
the World Cup. I may be wrong
but it seemed to be the 500th
squad he has announced.Since
he arrived as coach, he has
astonishingly called up 128
players for England training,
including fi ve players in a bizarre
category he calls ‘apprentices’.
The offi cial squad for the big
one in Japan has to be announced
by 6 September. There is plenty
of time for other players to be
drafted, so any able-bodied males
between the ages of 18 and 38
should stay optimistic. At least
Eddie could not accuse we
amateur selectors of incoherence,
without inviting a retort about
the pot and the kettle.
He may have discarded some of
the old contemptibles to whom he
insisted on staying loyal to and he
may even have chosen a great
player or two he had studiously
ignored, in eff ect to spike public
opinion. Master selection or sheer
incoherence – who knows?
We are not naming 128 players
here. Oh no. Here are our 31 for
the World Cup, with a dozen
additional bolters...FULL-BACK
Alex Goode (Saracens)
The non-selection of Goode has
gone from a puzzle to a dogma to
a disgrace during the course ofWHAT DO
YOU THINK?STEPHEN JONES
Rugby’s most outspoken and influential journalist
the last year. Goode was superb
throughout the last campaign and
absolutely brilliant in the home
stretch after Christmas – some
of the defensive plays that he
pulled off almost defi ed belief.
Unlike other contenders for
full-back, he has never tried to
big himself up in the press and
it will be a sporting tragedy if,
as expected, he is not on the
plane. He is the fi nest all-round
footballer in Europe. So Eddie
Jones insists he will only take two
fl y-halves? Fine, Goode was told
he would play for Saracens at ten
against Glasgow in that European
quarter-fi nal only shortly before
kick-off – and he was masterly.
Why only one full-back? Easy.
Jack Nowell, Elliot Daly and AlexA
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