Sam Simmonds set for position switch when he comes off the bench for England this weekend

Sam Simmonds will win his first England cap since March 2018, but could find himself in an unusual position after Eddie Jones opted for a six-two forwards/backs split on his Twickenham bench for this Saturday’s Autumn Nations Series clash with the Wallabies.

“We think it is going to be a pretty high volume game, which it usually is against Australia,” explained the England coach.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RUCK.co.uk (@ruck.co.uk)

“A lot of work in the forwards and with Sam Simmonds and Dombrandt, they give us flexibility and variety in terms of their skills and we believe they will add to the mix in the last 20 minutes of the game. Simmond’s is someone who could fill in almost anywhere, even in the backline.

“I have been involved in I don’t know how many Australia-England at Twickenham, but they always seem to fall in the last 20 minutes and I don’t think this game will be any different.

“This Australian game is always one of the most awaited games of the season. I know as an Australian it is probably hard for the English to understand what an important game this is for Australia. It doesn’t matter whether it is Olympics, Test cricket, rugby league, this is the game that defines their season.

England’s autumn fixtures

England 69-3 Tonga, 3.15pm on Sat 6 Nov
England vs Australia, 5.30pm on Sat 13 Nov
England vs South Africa, 3.15pm on Sat 20 Nov

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.

Worst Ever: Fans pick an XV of the Biggest Flops to Have Played for England

England fans have endured some miserable campaigns and some horrific performances – here’s who they picked as the best of the worst.

There was plenty of competition for places.

BACK-THREE

Fullback: Mark Van Gisbergen: Yes, he has a cap – only a fleeting one, as a late replacement for Mark Cueto against Australia in 2005 – but he does boast a 100% winning ratio in international colours, so you can’t knock that. His main strengths were dropping the high ball under limited pressure and getting gassed on the outside.

Winger: Barrie-Jon Mather: He became the first player to represent Great Britain in Rugby League and England in Union. His move to union was part funded by the RFU, who were embarking on a strategy of converting some of leagues best talent. However, Mather struggled to make an impact with Sale and moved back to Castleford in 2000. In spite of his poor form with Sale, Clive Woodward gave Mather his debut against Wales in the famous Grand Slam decider in 1999. However, Mather never played for England again after Wales won the game 32-31, following Scott Gibbs’ superb try.

Winger: Lesley Vanikolo: The Volcano’ stormed onto the scene for Gloucester, doing something ridiculous like scoring five tries on his debut against Leeds, before qualifying for England on residency grounds. International honours followed, with Vainikolo making his England debut against Wales in 2008. However, he failed to bring his try-scoring form to the international scene and was quickly dropped from Martin Johnston’s squad after winning five caps.

CENTRES:

Centre: Joel Tomkins – He began his League career with Wigan in 2005 and outside of a short stint with the Widnes Vikings in 2007, played with the Warriors until moving to Saracens in 2011. While Tomkins initially struggled to adapt to union, but his form during the beginning of the 2013/14 season saw him earn an England cap against Australia in November 2013. Although he went on to make two further international appearances, he looked completely out of his depth and returned to league soon after.

Centre: Sam Burgess: England, who fast-tracked Burgess into their World Cup squad in defiance of logic, Bath and the player himself each shoulder varying degrees of blame for arguably the greatest cross-code flop in history. We’re not saying he was an awful player, but the whole thing was a complete disaster.

CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO

The post Sam Simmonds set for position switch when he comes off the bench for England this weekend appeared first on Ruck.