With four huge games coming up this month, Eddie Jones must get his selections right
England’s autumn campaign gets under way on Sunday against Argentina, who will provide stern opposition for Eddie Jones’ side.
Our experts have picked the 23-man squads they would like to see take on Los Pumas from the initial 36 players that were in the England squad this week.
Funnily enough, the very last two spots – numbers 22 and 23 – gave me the most trouble. I wanted to cover as many backline positions as possible while giving England the potential to shift Owen Farrell to fly-half. With this squad, we could see Farrell alongside Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade later in the game. Max Malins offers him familiarity as a second playmaker as well. Guy Porter and Joe Cokanasiga are the ones to be squeezed out, with the former especially unlucky. Cadan Murley wins a debut and Hugh Tizard, another rookie, intrigues me. He joins two more ball-playing forwards, Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler, on the bench.
Listeners to the new Telegraph Rugby Podcast will be familiar with this selection already, but I am a firm believer that Owen Farrell is a fly-half. And if he is a fly-half then he should play at fly-half. Marcus Smith may well be a more gifted rugby player – although that is debatable – but Farrell is a world-class competitor and a totemic leader. He has to play.