Eddie Jones hits the road to find fresh talent for Down Under

England head coach to run the rule over Slade and Underhill ahead of summer’s Australia tour

Henry Slade (Exeter) - Underused member of the World Cup squad, capable of performing all three midfield roles (Getty)

If there is a long tradition of union folk getting the hell out of Leicester at the speed of sound – one sight of the Tigers pack in full warpaint usually sends opponents fleeing for the hills – it rarely works the other way round.

Only a character as contrary as Eddie Jones would race up the motorway for an audience with the abrasive Welford Road rugby director Richard Cockerill within hours of celebrating a first red-rose Grand Slam in 16 years.

But there was method in the madness. The England head coach is already deep in the planning stage for the three-Test series against the Wallabies this summer – a match-up made all the more significant by the Six Nations champions’ rise to fourth place in the global rankings, two behind the World Cup runners-up. Between now and the end of the domestic campaign, Jones will watch everything that moves on the club front before selecting a squad of 32 or 33 players that may well contain a handful of new faces.

“Yeah, I had a cup of tea with my best mate Cockers,” he said on returning to the national team’s country hotel base in Surrey, where he has been living since arriving in the country before Christmas. “All the players came in for meetings with us and the strength and conditioning guys, so they know what they have to do from now on. It’s all about working with the clubs to make the players better. I’ll be going to Bath, Saracens and Northampton later in the week.”


 Matt Kvesic (Gloucester) - The “nearly man” of the England pack, now playing his best rugby and closing in on his rivals 
 (Getty)

One obvious contender for the trip Down Under is Henry Slade, the young Exeter midfielder who might well have started the Six Nations at inside centre had he not suffered a serious injury in December. “He’s a guy we’re interested in,” confirmed the coach. “He brings the option of playing at 10, 12 or 13. If George Ford and Owen Farrell [the current first-choice inside backs] are fit, they will definitely go on tour. If Slade is fit, he’s a definite possibility. But I have to see him play first. I have to meet the kid to see what he’s like.”

Summer schedule

29 May: Friendly v Wales  (Twickenham)

11 June: First Test v Australia (Brisbane)

18 June: Second Test v Australia (Melbourne)

25 June: Third Test v Australia (Sydney)

Last time out...

England last toured Australia six years ago, Martin Johnson’s side going down 27-17 in Perth before levelling the two-Test series with a 21-20 victory in Sydney – only the third time England had beaten the hosts on their own patch. 

Jones is also known to be keeping close tabs on the uncapped flanker Sam Underhill, whose move into Welsh rugby with Ospreys may or may not complicate matters on the selection front. Theoretically, he is unavailable to Jones because of the governing body’s “England places for England-based players” policy, but moves are afoot to shift the rugby posts.

If the Gloucester openside specialist Matt Kvesic continues to make progress and the Leicester blindside operator Mike Williams makes strides over the next couple of months, England could arrive in Wallaby country with a reshaped back-row contingent. Jones suspects Williams has the heavy tackling game and line-out potency to add up to something at Test level and is also aware of Kvesic’s hot run of form, not least because the much-decorated Wallaby flanker George Smith, now at Wasps, has been burnt by it more than once this season.


 Sam Underhill (Ospreys) - Exciting back-row prospect, currently playing in Wales while being mentored by former England flanker Richard Hill 
 (Getty)

Smith, a loose forward of the highest quality, was loosely connected to the England coaching team during the Six Nations, putting the back-rowers through their paces in an effort to sharpen up the red-rose act at the tackle area. It is unlikely that he will be a part of the Australia-bound party, however. “He’s been fantastic for us, but he’s still a player,” Jones said. “He’s going back to Japan to play.”

It is also unlikely that Jonny Wilkinson will be offered an expanded role. “Jonny’s had a very positive influence on George and Owen, and Mike Brown [the full-back] has done a lot of work with him as well,” the coach said. “But I see Jonny as a kicking specialist, although he brings other things with him. Will he come on tour? I’ll catch up with him over the next couple of weeks and then we’ll see.”

Should there be a move to extend the back-room staff, which currently consists of the forwards expert Steve Borthwick and the defence strategist Paul Gustard, it will involve the hiring of a backs coach. Jones has been organising the attacking side of things with considerable success, but he feels in need of a little support.

“I’ll probably bring in someone on a casual basis for the tour, then look further down the track for a permanent solution,” he said. “I’ll meet a number of people over the next few weeks and have a chat.” As for a scrum technician, the former French hooker Marc Dal Maso is not in contention, despite working with Jones in Japan in the build-up to last year’s World Cup. “Marc’s English is terrible,” the boss commented, “and we don’t want an interpreter.”

This being England, with clubs moving towards the business end of Premiership and European competition, the coach will not see his players as a group until shortly before the one-off Test with Wales at Twickenham in late May – a replacement for the annual fixture with the Barbarians. As things stand, there will be no agreement between the countries on whether to field full-strength or understrength teams.

“I haven’t spoken to Warren Gatland [the Wales coach],” said Jones, “and the last time I looked, the game was a full Test match, so I won’t be speaking to him. We’ll put out our strongest side because we’ll want to win the game and do some tactical things that will be of use in Australia.”