ENGLAND AUTUMN SQUAD SELECTIONS ANNOUNCED

Is the rest of the world meant to feel sorry for England and Eddie Jones following the squad announcements this week for Autumn internationals? England have more registered adult rugby players than any other country and 12+ professional teams - there is no way they should be struggling for front or back row options just because of injuries. And with the RFU set to make some community coaching staff redundant in a cost cutting exercise, the situation may get worse not better. I guess as an Anglo Scot, being asked to empathise with England's position in rugby is a bit like being asked to shed a tear for Jose and Man Utd.

With the Vunipola brothers, Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury, Jonathan Joseph, Anthony Watson, Sam Simmonds and Dan Robson injured, Nathan Hughes banned and Joe Marler retired, Eddie Jones has been forced to name eight uncapped players in the 36-man England squad, including Joe Cokanasiga and Zach Mercer from Bath. Other new faces include Ben Moon, Nick Schonert, Val Rapava-Ruskin, Ted Hill, Mark Wilson and Michael Rhodes, who is the latest Southern hemisphere schooled player, selected for England along with Brad Shields and Ben Te'o. Winners include Dan Cole, Elliott Stooke,  Chris Ashton and Ben Morgan at the expense of Luke Cowan-Dickie, Dave Attwood, Alex Goode, Don Armand and the unluckiest man in the world, Danny Cipriani. Another leap of faith is that good players like Ashton, Te'o and Manu Tuilagi have not played much (or any) rugby this season, plus Alex Lozowski is banned for two weeks prior to the first game.

Alex Goode - one of the unlucky many

In Robert Kitson's excellent article in The Guardian, he sums up public frustration with Eddie Jones and his selection decisions - "...the English public badly want reassurance that key combinations in crucial areas of the team – front row, back row, half-back, midfield – will be settled before the World Cup in Japan next year. And above all they want to know if England will be reborn next month or are destined to under-perform, relative to their resources, for a third World Cup in a row".

Yes these internationals are a phoney war, as what counts is form in second half of 2019 in Japan, but no major international team wants to be tinkering with partnerships and units less than a year out. And with England's poor form in 2018, the pressure is on England to win at least 2, if not 3 out of the 4 matches in November. Eddie begs to differ and deserves the last word (as ever) - "But what I do know about World Cups, and this will be my fourth, is that the only time you need to be at your best is at the tournament itself. All the leading up to it is sparring. Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t tell you you’re moving forward.”

Game on!

HEINEKEN ROUND 1 REVIEW

The first weekend of the Champions Cup saw five teams secure that all important away win, and more importantly, five teams lose a game at home. The stand out performance was Newcastle turning over Toulon, a great achievement, but symbolic of the French team's decline. Cardiff at Lyon was almost as impressive, especially with only 40% possession, with Saracens (at Glasgow) and Racing (at Scarlets) also winning away in tight games, thanks to some inconsistent refereeing.

Toulon are being left behind in European rugby

Teams "kicking themselves" include Bath, who lost another tight game against Toulouse, courtesy of Freddie Burns inability to ground the ball, when Maxime Medard knocked the ball out of his (one) hand just as he went to dot down. Many have fallen foul of the decision to head for the posts once over the line to make the conversion easier, even I have been guilty, getting a haematoma in my stomach courtesy of not seeing the fullback in my blind spot, before he hit me hard forcing me to drop the ball - luckily my team won. Edinburgh will also be feeling that "one got away" by butchering a simple late try against Montpelier, but were clearly the better team, evidence of their dramatic improvement under Richard Cockerill. Gloucester and Ulster secured home victories over Castres and Leicester respectively, whilst Exeter and Munster neutralised one another in a 10 - 10 draw. The only mismatch was Leinster's 50 point drubbing of Wasps, ominous for other teams in their group.

Round 2 up this weekend, where those losing teams face must win games if they are to qualify for later stages. Ones to look out for are Wasps v Bath and Edinburgh v Toulon.

MARLER PUTS FAMILY (AND CLUB) AHEAD OF COUNTRY

Well done Joe Marler, having won 59 caps for his country, he has taken the brave decision to retire from England Rugby with immediate effect. This will allow him to spend more time with his young family going forward, especially this year, with World Cup looming, and also prolong his club career at Quins, where he can add to his 170 appearances. It appears he has been thinking about this for sometime, even going to the extremes in the past of getting sanctioned to avoid England duty.

This does not help Eddie Jones' prep for important Autumn Internationals, as whilst Marler has a disciplinary track record, when on the pitch, he has been an asset for his country in the front row, and was in form, having made the Lions Tour last year. This leaves Mako Vunipola as first pick loosehead, but with Ellis Genge injured, there is a gulf in experience as other options, Alec Hepburn and Ben Moon, are talented but raw. How Kieran Brookes doesn't get a shout is beyond me.

It highlights once again the age old club v country problem in the English Premiership, where, without central contracts, like in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, international players are constantly pulled between their employer and England. The inevitable outcome is player fatigue, injury, burn out and early retirements. If Joe Marler, like Sexton, had been allowed time off from his club post international matches, to fully rest and recover, he may have made a different decision.

ROUND ONE: PREM AND PRO14 REVIEW SEP 18

So here we go again for another rugby season, with the added spice of a World Cup in Japan right at the end of it. First up was a tight win for new boys Bristol over Bath in the West Country derby, which was high on entertainment, low on quality, and Bath will need to do better. The stand out player for Bristol was the Aussie, Luke Morahan, who meant the Bears did not miss Charles Piutau as expected. There were also wins for Gloucester, Quins and Wasps, who beat Worcester by a point, in a game that Worcester should have won, and may rue missing their chance, come the end of the season.

Matt O'Connor lasted just one game of new season as Leicester Tigers coach

Exeter thumped Leicester, resulting in the first managerial casualty of the season in Matt O'Connor, although reading into the reasons for his sacking, from dictatorship management style to losing the dressing room, it appears that Leicester's poor pre-season preparation seemed made the match result inevitable. Leicester is a proud club, once a heavyweight of European rugby, but they have no right to remain at the top table on reputation alone, and the players and management need to step up and support the temporary coach, Geordan Murphy, to ensure the club does not miss out on Champions Cup for a consecutive year.

In the Pro 14, the Irish teams were denied a clean sweep by Glasgow, who beat Connacht by one score, thanks to a late Stuart Hogg drop goal. There were also victories for Ospreys and, unusually, both the Italian teams. Benneton and Zebre will be more competitive this year, not sure the South African teams will be, as other clubs appear to have pinched some of their stars, having seen them in action last season. The favourites for play offs remain Leinster, Munster, Glasgow, Scarlets and the improving Ulster, Edinburgh or Ospreys.

OH DANNY BOY

Quelle surprise, Cips is in the news for non rugby reasons again, although not sure "rugby player misbehaves after a few pints" warranted the coverage it received. Blame the "quiet news" time of year, when sports reporters are kicking their heels. Danny has history, and he is obviously no saint, but then again, neither is Johan Ackermann, the Gloucester coach, who was involved in a fracas in a Cheltenham club at Xmas.

And does this latest incident mean he is less likely to perform for his new club this season, or deliver for England? No, certainly not. Cipriani, like Finn Russell, is a high risk player, who offers his club and country something different, especially the ability to unlock a well organised defence, invaluable in the over structured games we see in the Premiership. As a junior coach, I had to manage a few similar characters like Danny, although unfortunately, none with his ability, and always picked them to start, and withdrew them when we needed to close out a tight game. But their influence on every match was always considerable. So come on Danny, your club needs you, and so does England, especially in RWC year, so "let your rugby do the talking, not the Staropramen!".

WHERE DOES EDDIE GO FROM HERE?

Dust off the pen once more, a year before the next World Cup in Japan, and ahead of the Autumn Internationals, which see England take on the Big Southern Hemisphere 3 (including NZ) and Japan. Mike Tindall wrote in the Rugby Paper this week that England need to beat all four teams in 2018 at home before the RWC in Japan, a big ask, especially with New Zealand dominant once more plus South Africa and Australia improving as their stars return South in RWC year.

But, yes I hear you cry, if England cannot beat these teams at home, what chances do they have of overcoming them in Japan on neutral ground in 14 months time? England have put in some average performances this year, especially Scotland and France in Six Nations and in the First Test against SA, but they are not a bad side. Eddie's problem has been that he cannot protect his best players like the Celtic and Southern countries can through central contracting. The English Premiership clubs, awash with wealthy ego driven owners, unsurprisingly demand value for money from their international players, and with (very rich) Bristol now (finally) promoted this will not change. Eddie cannot even expect support from the clubs in ensuring key players like Elliot Daly play in England's favoured full back position, as Wasps need him to play 13 or wing.

Eddie, like many rugby coaches at this time of year, is scratching his head wondering what the new (extended) season will bring, one that could see him win the World Cup for England for only the second time ever. An achievement, which if he pulls it off, would be one off the greatest ever, considering the strength of NZ and the relatively poor form they are in versus their 2003 counterparts.

TACKLING CONCUSSION HEAD ON

With rugby introducing contact at U9 age group level onwards, there are valid concerns regards player welfare around injuries like concussion, especially for players of such a young age. I have many friends and family, who have been knocked out cold, or experienced a head injury, playing the beautiful game - one of which had to retire before he left school. As a captain or coach, I always made sure that a parent, friend or wife of any player experiencing a knock to the head was made aware of the incident, and that they were closely monitored that afternoon or evening (and in the morning once the hangover had worn off). The governance around such injuries is much better than 20 years ago, with mandatory return to play protocols in place to allow the brain to recover. This now takes the decision away from the coach or parent, who, under pressure from victim, were always faced with the awkward dilemma of rushing them back too quickly.

So where do I stand on banning contact from rugby at mini or youth level? It's quite straightforward really. Both my lads played football when they were young (not very well it has to be said) as they did not engage with tag rugby, preferring to start playing once contact was introduced from U9 onwards. This did mean their hand catch, passing and game understanding were behind their peers, but their tackling technique was ahead. This was because I had invested time in the lounge at home from a very young age showing them how to tackle properly (cheek on cheek), and having learnt young, it became a real strength of theirs on the field (and helped minimise injury). If players only learn how to tackle as an adult, I am not sure this would mitigate the risk, as most senior players are 90kg+, so the cost of getting your head in the wrong position could be severe. I do agree that the "body wrap" tackle, that has come in recently from rugby league to prevent the offload, could be reviewed. This just rewards the "gym monkeys" who don't have the flexibility or technique to get down to ankle level to "cut the tree" like Joe Worsley used to for Wasps and England.

Interesting and important issue to debate, and one that (like Forrest Gump) will run and run...