"Leave out Maro Itoje" - Ben Kay names his England pack to start in the Autumn

Wednesday, 13 October 2021 at 16:57

when the refs getting cross cos he tossed alun wyn off its joe marler 7 1

byRugby Rucker

Ben Kay has called on Eddie Jones to start uncapped flanker Jack Kenningham at openside-flanker for England’s next test against Tonga at Twickenham.

Former England international Kay was speaking on BT Sport and argued that Eddie Jones should make some changes with Maro Itoje left out.

"He could just pick his strongest team to try and get some continuity as there always is a risk if you make some changes but lets buy into the fact to the fact that he has put a lot of people in that we have not seen before," said Kay.

"I think he will still try and keep spine of the team the same so that there is not too many changes for the Australia game.

"I think if you are going to leave Maro Itoje out, there are not many second row choices. I guess the area he can really experiment is in the back row and I will be really impressed with Ted Hill."

Fellow pundit Austin Healey labelled his co-workers forward selection as crazy, and that England should play their strongest team in every game.

Check out the full selection below.

Where to watch the Autumn Nations Series?

Prime members can watch the Autumn Nations Series live from 30^th October with the Prime Video app on TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire tablets, games consoles, on Virgin’s V6 TV Box, the Talk Talk TV set top box, Apple TV, Chromecast, BT TV or online.

For a list of all compatible devices visit amazon.co.uk/watchanywhere.

BT SPORT: ENGLAND XV TO FACE TONGA:

FORWARDS - PICKED BY BEN KAY

#FRONT-ROW

1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)

#SECOND-ROW

4. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs)
5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)

#BACK-ROW

6. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
7. Jack Kenningham (Harlequins)
8. Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)

BACKS - PICKED BY AUSTIN HEALEY

#HALFBACKS:

10. Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
9. Dan Robson (Wasps)

Healey said: “If you want to play high-tempo and you want to play at pace then you need a nine that will get the ball into Marcus Smith’s hands very quickly. That’s why I’ve gone for [Dan] Robson at nine,

“We’re all presuming that Marcus Smith is going to start. I’m always picking my backline for Tonga because its going to be the same against Australia. I don’t believe in giving players chances against sides that aren’t as competitive as others.

“So by picking Marcus Smith we’re saying that he’s not going to pick Owen Farrell. I think that’s the only player apart from maybe Maro [Itoje] that he hasn’t dropped in his entire tenure.

“So it’s a difficult one because that will really signify a change in his ethos and the way he’s going to play if Farrell doesn’t start.”