Daily Mail - 03.03.2020

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Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020^

Rugby Union

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a European tournament and we

play South Africa every year.’

As far as matters go on the pitch,

Johnson believes England must

find more consistency if they want

to knock South Africa off their

perch as the world’s No 1 team.

‘England can play very, very well

to beat anyone but they’re also

capable of poor performances,’

said Johnson.

‘God knows why. That’s the key

question, isn’t it? You don’t play

five Test matches a year any more,

so you’ve got to be able to get

u p t h ere 1 0 , 1 1, 12 t i m es a

season. You’ve got to be able to

p r o d u c e p e r f o r m a n c e s w h e n

you’re mentally or physically a bit

jaded. That’s the deal.’

Questions have been raised over

whether Eddie Jones is the right

man to lead England into another

World Cup, but Johnson does not

believe there are any suitable

candidates to replace him.

‘Eddie is a seasoned interna-

tional coach,’ he said. ‘He got them

to a World Cup final. Like him or

not, ultimately he’ll get judged by

winning or losing games.

‘If he wins games, I’m a fan. I’ve

done his job and it’s difficult. If

you win games, great. If they can

play near their best every game,

then they’ll take some beating.

It’s just that inconsistency.

‘Who else would you have? There

could be someone out there who is

fantastic, but we don’t know. I

don’t know if there is anyone out

there who could do it. If we get rid

and go for the next guy, there’s a

risk. It’s a tough call.

‘By the nature of him, there will

be criticism and I’m sure he

doesn’t care either way. That’s

Eddie being Eddie.

‘He always splits opinion and

likes to play around in the press.

I’m sure some of it can annoy

players a little bit but

Clive could be like that,

too. When you lose, you cop

it and when you win you get

some plaudits.

‘He said some things before

the France game that came

back to haunt him, but there

are a million boring interviews

out there. I should know —

I gave half of them!’

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ON ENGLAND

They can play very,

very well to beat

anyone, but they’re

also capable of poor

performances.

God knows why.

ON EDDIE

He got them to a

World Cup final.

Who else would you

have? If we get rid

and go for the next

guy, there’s a risk.

Mako and watson return for wales clash

Rallying cry: Root still
eyes Test final GETTY iMaGEs

Champion:

Johnson

lifts the Six

Nations

trophy

in 2003

GETTY i MaGEs/

flick diGiTal

By Will Kelleher

and chris F oY

MAKO VUNIPOLA and Anthony

Watson are back in contention for

England’s Six Nations match

against Wales at Twickenham.

Prop Vunipola has returned from

Tonga, where he went with injured

brother Billy two weeks ago for

family reasons. After the win

against Ireland, Eddie Jones said

he did not expect Mako to be

ready for the Wales match on

Saturday, but the 29-year-old is

included in a 34-man squad.

Watson is fit again after a calf

injury to boost England’s

back-three options, but Jack

Nowell is still not ready to play.

In a departure from his previous

squads, Jones has called in a third

scrum-half. Exeter Chiefs’ Jack

Maunder will train with England

alongside Ben Youngs and Willi

Heinz. Maunder, 22, won his only

England cap off the bench in

Argentina in 2017.

Maunder is behind Australian No 9

Nic White in the pecking order at

Exeter and has not started a

league game since December.

Meanwhile, Chris Ashton has been

linked with a mid-season move to

Harlequins after Sale announced

yesterday that he had been

released with immediate effect.

The 32-year-old wing had become

unsettled and a decision was made

at the end of last week to

terminate his contract.

Ashton’s close friend Danny Care

hinted on social media that the

prolific finisher would be joining

him at Quins.

The Saracens exodus continues

with Australia lock Will Skelton

agreeing to join La Rochelle at the

end of the season. England second

row George Kruis is understood to

be on the verge of a deal with

Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan.

Saracens’ England hooker Jack

Singleton is set for a loan move to

Gloucester, while Springbok prop

Vincent Koch is likely to switch to

Sale. New Wales centre Nick

Tompkins will follow Liam Williams

to the Scarlets, Ben Spencer is

understood to have signed for

Bath and Max Malins is expected

to head to Bristol on loan.

Leicester confirmed yesterday

England scrum-half Youngs has

signed a deal to stay at Welford

Road — as reported by Sportsmail

— along with brother Tom.