Stuart Barnes: Australia tour was typical Eddie Jones, including his scrumhalf selection misfire

The right man was on the field for the majority of the game. That was more a matter of ill luck for Care and poor judgment on Jones’s part. Care’s selection will be bracketed in English rugby history with those of Luther Burrell and Teimana Harrison. The centre and the back-row forward were infamous hunches that went wrong during England’s whitewash of Australia down under six years ago.

England had just won the Six Nations grand slam after the bitter disappointments of the 2015 World Cup. Bad selections by Jones – still new to the job – were trumped by what were heralded as decisive but brutal reactions to his own errors.

Like Care, neither Burrell nor Teimana made it to half-time. It was written up as the errant genius of the man, such was the feeling towards a coach who could not stop winning in those heady days.

These are different times. The lack of victories has become a problem, as has the quality of the performance. It would take a deluded English patriot not to see the victory against Australia in Sydney yesterday (Saturday) as the leftovers from the match in Wellington, where Ireland reached for and grabbed the stars. Still, for a side uncertain about winning, the result was all that mattered for England.

The admiration for Jones’s ruthless streak lingers after all these years but the worrying feeling is that he regards himself as too clever by half. That concern runs like a strong undercurrent through any valuation of this series win.

Van Poortvliet, of Leicester Tigers, closed the game out as Jones had wanted – but he did plenty more than that. He has pushed himself into a prominent position in the pecking order of scrumhalves as England search for a stable starting No.9.

Jones was right. England didn’t need a finisher to increase the tempo in the latter stages, so much as they needed to slow the game down.

Van Poortvliet kicked accurately and intelligently. He also wasted no time in passing Freddie Steward into a tight space for a crucial try. Throw in a fine cover tackle on Samu Kerevi and here was the performance for which Jones had hoped.

That’s the pro-Jones slant. Here’s an alternative take.

The opening seconds of the match; a ponderous Care box-kick is charged down by the Australian second row, Nick Frost. The man called in to shape the side was struggling. Twelve minutes later and Michael Hooper grabs his jersey as the scrum half seeks to move the ball away from the breakdown. The contact with the open-side is enough for him to lose control of the ball and send it forward. A knock-on and waste of possession.

There’s a pass over and behind the shoulder of the galloping lock, Jonny Hill (who enjoyed a fine performance). It wasn’t terrible and didn’t lead to another knock-on but at this level these are opportunities either to build or squander momentum.

In the 26th minute, Care was treated to some sloppy possession. Even the best in the world would have struggled to do much with it. All Care could do was come off second best as Hooper manhandled him.

I didn’t have anything positive in the notebook when Jones, obviously coming to an identical decision, substituted him with four minutes remaining in the first half. It was a brutal decision – much like those made by Jones back in 2016.

So credit to Jones for not hanging around, and for having the courage to come clean and admit that his game plan – of Care starting and Van Poortvliet finishing – was ridiculous in comparison with the age-old adage which insists that if one bloke is playing well and the other isn’t, pick the form guy.

Jones described the first Test, which England lost in Perth, as “good practice” for the World Cup. France 2023, is at the forefront of his mind. Fine, he is the boss. But if this is the case, then why has he spurned the opportunity to start men such as Van Poortvliet more often?

Being an international under the charge of Jones is, to use that word again, brutal. Care knows it as well as anyone. The veteran was recalled for this tour after nearly four years out of the international picture yet his Test career has surely ended in ignominy. And for what reason? All those minutes of World Cup practice spurned.

England will judge the tour a success. Australia were not great opposition but this is still a creditable effort. They have surely found their World Cup captain in the lean shape of Courtney Lawes. The wound-up Owen Farrell leads by example but has a questionable temperament. Lawes is every bit as much a leader of men, yet one who comes with the benefit of a cool temperament.

Ellis Genge continues to carry to ever greater effect and Steward is a rock in defence and an exciting work in progress going forward. Here is one position, at least, where Jones will not overcomplicate selection.

– The Sunday Times

Originally published as Stuart Barnes: Australia tour was typical Eddie Jones, including his scrumhalf selection misfire