England Autumn International squad: Eddie Jones must be wondering ‘where have all my players gone?’

Jones will be without at least 15 players for all four autumn internationals with an injury list that any team would dread, says Jack de Menezes

Eddie Jones has an injury crisis on his hands ahead of the autumn internationals (Getty)

In the past, Eddie Jones has often published three lists of players when revealing his latest England squad: forwards, backs, and unavailable/injured players. If he plans on doing the same on Thursday, the RFU would wise to bring a few hundred extra sheets of A4 to handle the last column.

England go into their most important autumn international campaign under Jones with no fewer than 20 players who could find themselves in the unavailable section. 16 of those names are set to stay there for the duration of the November tests, and one more is likely to be added this evening when Nathan Hughes discovers his disciplinary fate for punching Lewis Ludlow – and ill-advisedly tweeting about it during last week’s hearing.

The biggest concern right now for Jones will not be that extraordinary number of unavailable players, but rather the likelihood that it will be added to this weekend when another round of European rugby takes place. This week has already seen Mako Vunipola, his younger brother Billy, Joe Launchbury and Chris Robshaw added to the long-term absentee list, last week featured Marland Yarde and Dan Robson. Heaven knows whose turn it will be next week.

Opponents argue that England are able to draw on the largest player pool in the world, which is true, but when you compare, say, the top 50 players in England, Ireland, New Zealand and Wales, it won’t be the Red Rose that currently comes out on top. That’s why Jones’ selection needs to be on the money to give England any hope of making this autumn campaign a successful one, which would go a long way to erasing the painful memory that is 2018.

Jones has two big issues to address. The first, and perhaps most worrying, is who is left to play at loosehead prop. Wednesday’s news that Mako Vunipola will need six weeks to recover from a calf tear means he is almost certain to miss the autumn campaign, and it leaves Jones without his five best looseheads in the country. Ellis Genge, Beno Obano and Matt Mullan are all long-term absentees with knee injuries, while last month Joe Marler retired from international rugby due to the mental pressures that come with long spells away from his family.

That leaves Exeter’s inexperienced pair Ben Moon and Alex Hepburn as the leading candidates to start against South Africa, with Gloucester’a Val Rapava-Ruskin now firmly in the frame alongside Harlequins’ Lewis Boyce and Bath’s Nathan Catt to be named in Thursday’s squad. However, it would not be a surprise in the slightest if Jones spends his entire Wednesday night on the phone to Marler pleading for one last shift through the autumn.

Just as big a problem is the back-row crisis. Having spent the best part of three years desperately searching for a natural openside, the Australian will now have to plunder deep into the reserves just to find a No 8 that can play against the Springboks on 3 November. With Billy Vunipola out until January after breaking his left arm, Sam Simmonds sidelined for even longer after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament and Hughes set to be banned for most of what’s left of 2018, who’s next in line?

Alex Goode scored Saracens' second try against Bath (Getty)

The smart money would be on Zach Mercer, the former England Under-20s captain who joined Vunipola and Hughes at England’s last training camp and has finally moved into the No 8 shirt at Bath, albeit due to Taulupe Faletau’s broken arm. But the zero next to Mercer’s name where caps are normally located is a worry, and that inexperience would be brutally exposed against the southern hemisphere nous of the Springboks and All Blacks. That could lead to a Ben Morgan or James Haskell-shaped surprise, who have 108 international caps between them and at least have prior experience of what facing the world champions feels like.

Who Jones plays at No 8 will also heavily impact who plays on the blindside, and to a lesser extent the openside. Having 111kg Mercer instead of 130kg Vunipola removes a substantial chunk of England’s ball-carrying power, which then may necessitate the need for a Michael Rhodes or Dave Ewers in the back-row – or even both given Rhodes is currently wearing the No 7 shirt for Saracens. Jones could also move Maro Itoje to the back-row to accommodate the hulking figure of Dave Attwood, but then an openside able to work on the floor would be required in the form of a Tom Curry or Matt Kvesic – which is a scarily lightweight back-row.

Dave Attwood could find himself brought in from the international wilderness (AFP/Getty)

Away from the dark arts of the pack, the back line hardly picks itself these days. Does Jones pick Owen Farrell at 10 or 12? Does Manu Tuilagi play? Where does Elliot Daly start, because he has to start? And will the form Premiership player over the last 12 months receive a long-awaited recall or is there still no place for Alex Goode?

George Ford’s good, if non-spectacular, start to the season could well see the 10-12 axis with Farrell restored, leaving no room for Danny Cipriani and raising the prospect of either Tuilagi or Henry Slade filling the 13 shirt. But then good teams play their best players in their best positions, which would see Farrell at fly-half, Tuilagi or Ben Te’o outside him and almost certainly Slade at 13 to provide the second playmaker role, leaving no room for – you guessed it – Danny Cipriani. For what it’s worth, good things just seem to happen when Daly gets his hands on the ball, and by playing him in the centre his contribution would significantly increase while making room for Goode in the back three, but history shows this will not have even scratched the surface in Jones’ thinking.

James Haskell would prove England's most-experienced back row option (Getty)

At the top of all this will be the inevitable is he/isn’t he debate that follows Cipriani at each squad announcement. That will no doubt be the headline story once again on Thursday morning come 9.30am, but just this time, delve deeper into the squad in an attempt to decipher what’s really going on inside Jones’ mind.

Unavailable

Mako Vunipola (calf), Ellis Genge (knee), Beno Obano (knee), Matt Mullan (knee), Joe Launchbury (knee), Jonny Hill (hand), Nick Isiekwe (ankle), Chris Robshaw (knee), Sam Simmonds (knee), Jack Willis (knee), Billy Vunipola (arm), Dan Robson (ankle), Jonathan Joseph (ankle), Anthony Watson (Achilles), Marland Yarde (knee).

Doubts

Ben Te’o (thigh + calf), Jonny May (shoulder), Joe Cokanasiga (concussion).

Suspended

Nathan Hughes (unknown)

Retired

Joe Marler

36-man squad selected by Jack de Menezes

Front row: Ben Moon, Alec Hepburn, Val Rapava Ruskin, Dylan Hartley, Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Harry Williams, Kyle Sinckler, Nick Schonert.

Second row: Maro Itoje, Dave Attwood, Courtney Lawes, George Kruis

Back row: Brad Shields, Dave Ewers, Michael Rhodes, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Zach Mercer, Ben Morgan.

Scrum halves: Danny Care, Ben Spencer, Ben Youngs.

Fly halves: Owen Farrell, George Ford, Danny Cipriani.

Centres: Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly, Alex Lozowski, Henry Slade.

Back three: Jonny May, Chris Ashton, Jack Nowell, Joe Cokanasiga, Alex Goode, Mike Brown.