Raffi Quirke, Max Malins and Louis Lynagh are out so ‘new England’ against Tonga could look a lot like the old one
Either Eddie Jones has walked under a whole row of ladders or his
England selection plans are falling victim to some other mystery curse. How else to account for the latest injury flurry which has removed a raft of backline options from contention before this weekend’s game with Tonga, a fixture earmarked as a springboard to another potentially exciting new Twickenham era?
In theory this was meant to be among the more upbeat weeks of Jones’s tenure, with some promising youngsters being expertly blended into a team with a licence to sparkle like a Bonfire Night firework show. Instead, having jettisoned plenty of familiar faces for players such as Marcus Smith, Freddie Steward, Raffi Quirke and Louis Lynagh, several of the fresh-faced pretenders are struggling to make it out of the treatment room.