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'Well, I am hoping 20-plus. I want to see a record' - Eddie Jones sets the bar high for the number of England players on the Lions tour
Eddie Jones hopes England will emerge from one of the most demanding seasons in the game’s history by supplying a record number of players to next year’s Lions tour.
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With the Gallagher Premiership resuming earlier this month because of the five-month interruption caused by Covid-19, any personnel facing South Africa next summer will have endured a year of continuous rugby.
But Jones confronts the workload by outlining his determination to supply the bulk of Warren Gatland’s squad knowing it means England will have excelled.
Sir Clive Woodward’s bloated Lions touring party of 2005 saw 20 Red Rose stars embark for New Zealand – a record number supplied by one country in the professional era.
“The circumstances dictate that it’s a difficult season, we all acknowledge that,” said Jones, speaking on behalf of Umbro, the new Official Technical Kit Partner to England Rugby.
“But I think the planning between the clubs and us will result in our players being in as good a condition as they can be.
“And then, how many will go on the Lions tour? Well I am hoping 20-plus. I want to see a record. I think 100 per cent that’s possible.
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“I want our side to be by far the dominant force in the Lions. And that will be a consequence of them playing well for England.”
The path to South Africa begins on October 31 when England conclude their 2020 Six Nations with a re-arranged fixture against Italy and the trip to Rome is then followed by the autumn’s Eight Nations Tournament.
For the first time, Jones’ approach to selection could be significantly shaped by a statistical approach that he believes could be illuminating
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEgOavYhWVU/
“One of our sponsors is Red Bull and we’ve managed to speak to a number of people from them. They have obviously set-up quite an efficient football factory at the moment,” he said.
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“They have done really well and they’ve been quite innovative in how they recruit players based on the information they collect. So we are going down that track.
“One of the things that is important in that area is obviously being able to finance the research, so we are dealing with that at the moment.
“There are three sources of data for selection. There are live games, there is the video of games and then the metrics around performance.
“Metrics are one of the things that are missing and certainly football is way ahead of us in this area, which is one of the reasons we’ve spent some time looking at football.
“Take Mako Vunipola, who is probably one of the best looseheads in the world. He carries the ball 15 times a game.
“His longest carry is probably three seconds. So he has got the ball in his hand for 45 seconds. So for 79 minutes and 15 seconds he ‘s working off the ball – and we don’t really have any metrics to measure the effectiveness of his movement off the ball.
“It is quite a big project and it is something we are looking at the moment, investigating, and we will keep investigating.”
Eddie Jones is an Umbro ambassador. Umbro will be launching its new England Rugby kit on the 7th September. For more information visit: www.umbro.co.uk/rugby
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
4 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
4 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments