England stars will be rested as Eddie Jones tries to counter overplaying concerns

Jones named 10 British and Irish Lions tourists in his 34-man squad for the autumn internationals on Thursday, but expressed a grave concern for the condition that a number of them will be in

Maro Itoje is one of a number of high profile names who could be rested this autumn (Getty)

Eddie Jones has admitted that the rigorous demands put on England’s best players this year means that a number of them could not play a minute of rugby in next month’s autumn internationals, such is the impact on their bodies that the last 13 months has taken.

The England head coach named 10 British and Irish Lions tourists in his 34-man squad for the autumn internationals on Thursday, but expressed a grave concern for the condition that a number of them will be in when the team fly out to Portugal this Sunday for a six-day training camp, such has been the toll of international and domestic commitments.

The likes of Saracens lock Maro Itoje have barely had a rest since returning from New Zealand in the summer, with both he and fellow lock George Kruis starting the first Premiership game of the season little more than seven weeks after touching down in Britain.

Both players, along with the rest of England’s Lions contingent, will be put through a specific training routine on the beaches of the Algarve in order to manage their conditioning as best as possible, and Jones confirmed that the situation is likely to arise where some of them are rested for the entire autumn programme.

“There will be different sorts of activities for three or four days – hard training but different training,” Jones said after announcing his 34-man squad. “We just feel that physically and mentally a number of the players need to be freshened up – some more than others. We have a pretty good idea who is going to be where but we haven’t finalised that as yet.”

Admitting that “some are definitely off the pace”, Jones offered his thoughts on Itoje specifically, with the Saracens forward having already played eight times this season just weeks after appearing in all three Tests for the Lions, along with three warm-up appearances.

“We have ongoing discussions about the players,” Jones added. “We want to work with the clubs to get the players to the World Cup in their best condition.” Asked specifically if Itoje will be rested for the entire autumn internationals, Jones answered: “I don’t know about him but there’s definitely a chance you won’t see some of them.”

Itoje could be rested this autumn (Getty)

Should Itoje see playing time against Argentina, Australia and Samoa, he could find himself competing for the No 6 shirt with two other players in Chris Robshaw and Courtney Lawes. The latter has made an impressive start to the season, picking up where he left off in New Zealand after a strong showing for the Lions, and like Itoje he has been deployed by his club at blindside flanker over the last two months despite being a natural second-row.

Jones is not convinced, though, and used his squad announcement to warn Lawes that he wants to see the same levels of performance throughout the season that he showed in the opening six weeks of this campaign.

“[He] started the season well, but has fallen off a bit lately,” Jones said. “Hasn’t been great the last couple of games. He started the season like a house on fire, but someone has put some water on the fire. We’re going to try to reignite the fire again.”

The selection decisions for Jones will be particularly tricky in the back-row, given the competition at blindside and openside flanker and the relative lack of options at No 8. Nathan Hughes was named in the squad despite being banned for two weeks for his dangerous tackle on Harlequins fly-half Marcus Smith, and while he will be available for the opening internationals against Argentina on 11 November, he will not have played a match in three weeks. His competition will come from Exeter Chiefs’ Sam Simmonds, who has been handed his first call-up to the squad, but Jones has reservations about his physique on the international stage and believes he might be more suited to a cover role as a replacement, due to his ability to play all three positions in the back-row.

Jones has decisions to make ahead of the autumn Tests (Getty)

With Tom Curry set to battle Sam Underhill for the No 7 shirt, that leaves Itoje, Lawes and Robshaw potentially battling for the other spot, and Jones stressed that former captain Robshaw remains the man in possession of the shirt due to his performances over the last two years, explain “ne is our first choice six”.

However, all of this means there is no room for James Haskell, and after 75 appearances for his country, the 32-year-old could well be facing the end of his international career – even if Jones says talk of that is premature – given the options rising through the ranks.

“He’s smart enough to know,” Jones said, having informed Haskell that he was not selected last Saturday. “We have continuous conversations about where the players are at. He knows he’s a bit off the pace at the moment.

“I think it is [injury related], but he’s definitely improving with every game. Every game he plays he’s a little bit better. The door is certainly not closed on him.”