5 Players Eddie Jones Was Wrong to Omit from His England Squad

Eddie Jones named his first England squad on Wednesday with some big omissions from his 33-man party.

Jones was right to exclude Tom Wood from the Elite Player Squad for consistently average performances, and it was correct to leave out the one-dimensional Brad Barritt.

Jones, moreover, mistakenly left out the form scrum-half in England, one of its finest props and three others who seemingly perfectly fit the bill of Jones’ exciting brand of rugby. Here are those five Jones was wrong to omit from his England squad.

Joe Simpson

Joe Simpson is the form scrum-half in England right now so his omission from Eddie Jones’ England squad is staggering.

Simpson’s running, kicking and underrated distribution have been key to Wasps’ surge to the top of the devilish Pool 5 of the European Champions Cup.

Jones’ decision to do without the Wasps half-back is all the more astonishing given Jones’ desire, as quoted by the BBC that England players “increase the tempo.”

Over the past five years, no English scrum-half has done that as much as Simpson (see video above). If anything, he could be accused of over-doing it, playing too impulsively.

Jones has only picked two No. 9s, Ben Youngs and Danny Care, and that too is a mistake. Specialist positions like scrum-half and hooker require three players in the squad, especially given that he has 33 names in total to call up to the Elite Player Squad. Joe Simpson can feel very hard done by.

David Wilson

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Wilson had a good game against Toulon's formidable pack on Sunday

David Wilson was England’s best player in 2014 and only injury prevented him from being a big part of England’s pack in 2015. And what happened in 2015? For the first time in living memory, an England front row was demolished by two nations who only began to take scrummaging seriously that year: Fiji and Australia.

David Wilson was the missing cog then and Eddie Jones reiterated on Wednesday that he wants the bedrock of the team to be a strong set piece.

As per the Daily Telegraph, Jones stated: “We want a really good scrum, so we might bring some of the old blokes back”. Given this, Wilson’s omission is startling.

Tom Youngs

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Tom Youngs being left out of the England squad was something of a surprise, but it was more logical than omitting Simpson or Wilson.

The selected hookers, Dylan Hartley, Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie are all fine players, but Youngs is in good form for Leicester Tigers (as exhibited against Northampton on Saturday), while Hartley is struggling for form and fitness.

Danny Cipriani

Danny Cipriani is probably the standout omission from Jones’ squad because, as previously mentioned, Jones stated his preference for players who “expressive themselves.” Cipriani fits that mould, while also developing a strong all-round game with Sale for the past two seasons.

Cipriani, to take one example, slotted four penalties and a drop-goal in a pressure game in tough conditions against Wasps on January 2 (see video above). Responsible for all of Sale’s points, they won 15-9.

England do have good options in Owen Farrell and George Ford at fly-half, but now that Farrell is being earmarked as a possible inside-centre, and given that Cipriani can cover full-back, he is deserving of a place in the squad.

Christian Wade

Christian Wade must be wondering if he will ever get a chance with England. The Wasps flyer is not having his most productive season, with two tries from six matches. 

However, if his frightening pace and step (surely the best in England since Jason Robinson) are not sufficient evidence of a player expressing themselves, then what is? He is someone who would benefit from Jones’ expansive approach.

Wade is also developing his range of skills, especially his kicking and reading of play (see video above). But Jones has opted instead for Marland Yarde, who is not setting the Premiership ablaze with two scores in eight and doesn’t have the devastating weapons of Wade.