By accident or design, it is rare that Eddie Jones is not the story in English rugby union, but out slipped the first selection of his final year in charge on Monday morning almost under the radar. These have been difficult days for a sport with a tendency to lurch from crisis to crisis. Bad news loomed at Sixways where Worcester’s sad plight reached an unfortunate terminus with their suspension from all competitions, while Wasps look on nervously as they bid to halt their own slide into the financial mire.
Quietly, though, it is now less than a year to go until the next men’s World Cup, and an intriguing training squad was named to begin Jones’ last 12 months in office. There is refining to be done before an important autumn – a final group to be named in mid-October can look forward to more team-bonding in the Jersey swell with a return to the Channel Island planned after a popular trip last year – but there are clues to be taken from an initial 36-player selection that will assemble in Richmond on Sunday to begin the charge up the home straight.
