You can always quibble about one or two of England’s squad selections but overall, this is our most talented group of players since the class of 2003.
For the first time since England and I parted company, I must confess to being a little bit envious. If England get it right they won’t just be getting the Twickenham faithful on their feet going nuts but the whole rugby world will be on their feet, too.
That should be their aim over the coming weeks. Forget about World Cups — in fact, forget about the Six Nations title or at least park it at the back of your minds. Just concentrate on producing 80 minutes of incredible rugby against Scotland. Do it away from home — that is how you judge great teams.
Marcus Smith leads an exciting crop of players picked in Eddie Jones' England squad
This is the most talented group England have had since winning the 2003 World Cup
Don’t look any further ahead. That is the mindset they must take into their gathering down in Brighton next week.
This is one of the more important pre-tournament gatherings. This is all about the starting XV. Forget the bench or ‘finishers’ as Eddie Jones likes to call them, this is about a gameplan based on the talent in that starting team.
So first, well done Jones for recognising it’s the time for a new wave of players and backing those older stagers who are willing to buy into what is hopefully a new, high-tempo, more adventurous and positive approach. It must become England’s default setting. It is the sort of rugby which is making the Premiership brilliant to watch at the moment and anything else sells their talent short.
Ideally, the process should have started straight after the 2019 World Cup final but the relatively young age of the team that performed so poorly against South Africa created a bit of a smokescreen and confusion and England seemed to have the mentality that they would kick on together pretty much en masse for the 2023 tournament.
Jones knows he needs to uncover some gems he can rely on for the next World Cup
Sometimes that can be the case but England’s failure in Tokyo was nothing to do with age profile, it was all to do with the wrong approach and mindset. That was what needed changing and this has to lie squarely on Jones’ shoulders.
The most significant stat I saw out there when this squad was announced is that 10 of the England matchday 23 that lost pretty tamely to Ireland in England’s last Six Nations game are gone — in many cases I suspect, permanently. That really is an admission of just how badly England got things wrong 12 months ago.
Selecting a starting XV from this squad will be a challenge but I wouldn’t get too stressed about it. It doesn’t matter who England pick if they play like they did last season, they will finish fifth again and Jones will be asked to consider his position once again.
What is needed is for every individual to play the new way that we see in so many great games in the Premiership. Do that and England have so many good players that whichever XV take the field they will be formidable, and successful.
There are the makings of a back division that could cause serious damage. To that end, I am delighted to
