Eddie Jones reveals what he wants to see from England's new uncapped props Alec Hepburn and Lewis Boyce

Alec Hepburn and Lewis Boyce have the chance to prove they can cut it at international level, but Jones believes that they must prove it mentally rather than physically during the Six Nations

Eddie Jones believes international players need the right mentality to step up from club rugby and be a success (Getty)

There will come a time during England’s Six Nations opener against Italy when Eddie Jones will have to gamble. The head coach will look to his bench, give the nod, and either Alec Hepburn and Lewis Boyce will replace Mako Vunipola.

Hepburn and Boyce have zero international caps between them.

Jones was forced to delve deep into the English reserves on Thursday as he named a 35-man squad for the trip to Rome on 4 February that did not feature the second, third, fourth or fifth-choice options at loosehead prop.

Having been included in the training camp in Brighton at the start of the year, Ben Obano was a surprise omission from the squad this time around, with confusion arising over why the Bath prop was absent. Jones claimed, after much thought, that a knee injury suffered in training prevented him from being selected, though Bath are yet to confirm this.

It means that Obano joins Ellis Genge [shoulder] and Matt Mullan [tricep] on the sidelines with injury, while Joe Marler was last week banned for four weeks, ruling him out of the opening games against Italy and Wales.

And so to Hepburn and Boyce – the latter being the most surprising inclusion in the squad. The Harlequins prop is just 21 years old and started for the England Under-20s in their successful 2016 world championship final. The former, who has represented the England Saxons two years ago after coming through the Under-20s himself, will hope that his form this season for the Exeter Chiefs will transfer into the Portuguese training camp that the team will embark on this Sunday where, Jones says, there will be a “straight shootout” between them for the chance to deputise for Vunipola in Rome.

“Whoever comes through the training week the best,” Jones said of who is currently ahead in the pecking order. “It’s a straight shoot-out between them.”

But with the pair so inexperienced and so far down the pecking order, there is the natural concern that they are either not ready for international rugby, or not good enough.

Jones though has no such fears. For him, the question is not whether the players are good enough – they are otherwise he wouldn’t select them – but whether they have the desire, the drive and the determination to reach the levels that international rugby requires.

“They’ve both got the potential,” he said. “100 per cent.

“You’ve got to remember, with international rugby, it’s like you have talent to come in the room and then once you get in the room it’s how hard you work and how much you want it and how much you’re prepared to put in. These boys have all got talent. There’s another 35 players in England who have got enough talent to play international rugby. It’s whether they’ve got the desire, that ability to dig deep when it hurts.

Hepburn has impressed with Exeter over the last 18 months (Getty)

“You just look at loosehead props now, what they’re required to do. It is amazing. You’ve got someone like Mako Vunipola, he’s 125kgs, that’s big enough to be a sumo wrestler. He makes 20 tackles a game, carries the ball 10 times, cleans out 20 times, scrums 15 times, lifts in the line-out 18 times. What those guys do now, compared to what a prop did 10 years ago, has increased at least two-fold.

“So because of that, they’re in pain the whole time. That’s hard work. It’s hard work to do. So the test is the mental part of it, whether they can keep doing that. Whether they can get off the floor quickly and get back in the defensive line. It’s not about talent.”

Boyce was a surprise inclusion in the squad in the absence of Beno Obano (Getty)

It is a stern lesson that Hepburn and Boyce should take note of. Jones is not known for giving players one chance and one chance only, but the Australian still maintains a ruthless persona that, should he see the signs that suggest the mentality is not there, could easily lead to a cut-throat decision. But with a chance to impress the boss that more often than not would never come the way of the sixth and seventh-choice options, it’s time for Hepburn and Boyce to seize the moment.