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Eddie Jones 'wrong man for the job' and Farrell 'shouldn't be involved' says former Lions back row
Eddie Jones is not the right man for the job and captain Owen Farrell should be dropped is the advice that former British and Irish Lion Andy Powell is giving England ahead of their Six Nations showdown with Wales.
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Powell, who coaches Brecon RFC in Wales, took to Twitter to call for change at the top for England. The 39-year-old also had a few words for Jones’ continued omission of in-form back rowers Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds.
A Lions tourist in 2009, Powell appears to suggest a recall for Harlequins fullback Mike Brown into the bargain.
“Looking at the players Eddie Jones is leaving out the England squad Sam Simmons, Dombrandt, Marcus Smith and Brown going forward I think Eddie Jones is the wrong man for the job! I don’t think Farell should be involved Smith should be starting at 10 and playing around him.”
Looking at the players Eddie Jones is leaving out the England squad Sam Simmons donbrandt marcus smith and brown going forward I think Eddie Jones is the wrong man for the job !! I don’t think farell should be involved smith should be starting at 10 and playing around him
— Andy Powell (@andypowell8) February 22, 2021
Last week Powell had advice for Ireland selectors, tipping London Irish flyhalf Paddy Jackson as the form pick at 10 in the wake the latest injury layoff for star playmaker Jonny Sexton.
Jackson has been off Ireland’s radar since Ulster terminated his IRFU contract after he was acquitted of rape and is yet to return to Ireland in a playing capacity and remains unlikely to do so.
Looking at Ireland’s problem at 10 I’d be fair to say that paddy Jackson is a class act for London Irish it be good to see him back in the Ireland set up
— Andy Powell (@andypowell8) February 14, 2021
Wales head coach Wayne Pivac appears to be the only one listening to the Brecon coach’s advice. Earlier this month, the former Wales No.8 has suggested that Pivac opts for a trio of Dan Lydiate, Josh Navidi and Taulupe Faletau to combat Ireland’s back row.
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Powell, who featured last year in a RugbyPass documentary, wrote: “Let’s hope Pivac picks players on form not on what they have done in the past!! Back row I’d go for Faletau, Lydiate and Navidi. And pick Sheedy at 10 we got nothing to lose. ”
Let’s hope pivac picks players on form not on what they haven done in the past !! Back row I’d go for faletau lydiate and navidi And pick sheedy at 10 we got nothing to lose
— Andy Powell (@andypowell8) February 2, 2021
Pivac followed his advice and it proved successful against Ireland. It however remains to be seen whether the RFU will heed Powell’s advice and sack Jones prior to the Wales match.
Comments on RugbyPass
Andy Goode cant kick to 12
161 Go to commentsDoxed himself. Great work Johnny. You are well suited to the Saders
1 Go to comments_Best game players _
1 Go to commentsWho's Jarrad Hohepa?
1 Go to commentsSo let me get this straight. Say you have the dominant scrum. You are 99% sure you can go for a scrum pushover try on the line to win the game. The opposition knows it too. They give away a silly tap kick instead. You are now not allowed to scrum. This is ridiculous! *%@ing the game up as usual! The fact that the attacking teams are not allowed to scrum from a held up over the line is just as ridiculous. Really world rugby? Careful people might start a rebel league called True Rugby or Real Rugby.
76 Go to comments12 subs during a game? How has that been allowed to happen NB? I hate when the game goes in this monopolistic direction closing up shop, it just becomes non sport. Btw have you seen anything of how Liam Coltman was tracking for Lyon? He has just signed to return to Otago though we have a couple of young hookers developing here. He was a popular gentle natured character down here and I’m glad to see him back but maybe he will be a mentor primarily?
4 Go to commentsGreat breakdown and the global politics always confuses me a little. The southern hemisphere seems to be left out a bit but I wouldn’t even know where to start with fixing it. Club challenge could be a step in the right direction
4 Go to commentsSince he coached Free state, from that time onwards, I maintained he was the coach for the Boks. A nice, no nonsense guy with an excellent brain, who gets results.
11 Go to commentswell - they only played against 14 men and had the TMO team on their side - and still should have lost… so actually that makes sense.
33 Go to commentsSouthern hemisphere Rugby is exactly that, boring. Northern Hemisphere Rugby is soooo much more entertaining and better with better players.
2 Go to commentsIf he was to be cited for a dangerous behavior, then it’s natural that he should be. Then NTamack too, yes? And I’ll add a good whataboutism - Yeandle eye-gouging on Richie Arnold: not cited. Eye-gouging. Not high tackle. Eye-gouging. It was on French TV, with French TV directors.
5 Go to commentsReally poorly written rambling piece ..
4 Go to commentsIt was so boring
2 Go to commentspersonally I’d go with : 1. France 2. NZ 3. England 4. Ireland 5. Scotland
33 Go to commentsAndy everything becomes easier with experience therefor counting etc straight after a match becomes easier when you have 100+ caps vs 17 which is the experience you speak from.
161 Go to commentsGetting rid of the Dupont Law is a good thing and ought to have been done months ago! Officially getting rid of the croc roll is a good thing. The law about no scrums from a short arm is well intended in terms of speeding the game up but it’s an overreaction to a clever yet calculated gamble that could have blow up in South Africa’s face if they conceded a penalty from the scrum that was set after Willemse took claimed the mark in the World Cup QF.
76 Go to commentsRassie The GOAT
11 Go to commentsOf their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
33 Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
11 Go to commentsWhat Rassie does for SA is big. It has helped people to unite and see we can win with the right people in place.
11 Go to comments