Japan boss Eddie Jones is not convinced that Chandler Cunningham-South is the answer to fill England’s number eight jersey, particularly in the big Test matches.
The Harlequins back-rower earned his first start in the England number eight jumper against Fiji and put in a tidy shift, earning the Player of the Match award as voted for by fans, with Ben Earl claiming the official gong.
Cunningham-South made six carries in his 53-minute cameo against the Fijians, made one line break, beat four defenders and gained 61 running metres, but did concede a turnover. Defensively, he made nine tackles without missing, while he was a handy lineout option, winning four throws.
The 22-year-old has made waves in PREM Rugby since bursting on the scene with London Irish before joining Harlequins and attracting real interest from clubs across the league, before signing a contract extension with the Famous Quarters ahead of last weekend’s encounter.
Flat-track bully?
However, former England boss Jones has not yet bought into the hype as he feels that Cunningham-South is a flat-track bully of sorts, as he is a weapon when his team is going forward but not as much when they aren’t.
He alluded to as much when commenting on England’s victory over Fiji on the Rugby Unity podcast, saying that he still has plenty to work on and develop in his game.
“I’m not sure about him,” Jones remarked. “He’s a good front-foot player.
“When you’ve got the ball on the front foot, he’s charging.
“It might be a thing of his age, but if he can develop that when the games get a bit tougher and a bit tighter, then he’s going to be a good player. But he has to develop that into his game.”
While Jones was critical about the back-rower, he did praise England, who have now won their last nine matches on the bounce ahead of their crunch clash against the All Blacks.
He believes that much of their success has come from leaning into their traditional strengths, while new attack coach Lee Blackett has simplified their attack.
“They have very much gone back to their DNA. They’ve gone to a strong kicking game, strong defence, and the changes they made in their attack,” he said.
“I think they’ve simplified their attack. They attack a lot straighter than they used to play, and they’ve got some good athleticism.
“The boy from Exeter [Immanuel Feyi-Waboso] has got great feet; he’s hard to handle.”
Arundell’s return
Jones also hailed the return of Henry Arundell, who earned his first appearance for England since the 2023 Rugby World Cup Bronze Final.
The 23-year-old joined French Top 14 club Racing 92 before the tournament and remained in Paris afterwards, making him ineligible for international selection. He has since returned to England, signing for Bath, where he has made an immediate impact, scoring four tries in five appearances.
“Arundell has come back into the squad, and I saw he scored a super try from a kick chase that only he could score because he’s exceptionally quick and exceptionally powerful,” Jones said.
“He’s been in the wilderness for a while. So it’s great that he has come back and been added to the squad because again, I can’t emphasise how important it is to have depth in your squad, and they’re starting to build that.”
England started the game well at Allianz Stadium with Luke Cowan-Dickie powering over in the early knockings, but the Fijians responded in style with Tevita Ikanivere and Caleb Muntz crossing the whitewash.
While that will have given the Pacific Islanders some hope of back-to-back wins in Twickenham over England, it was not to be as Steve Borthwick rolled out his ‘Pom Squad’, which dominated the second half to secure a convincing victory.
Commenting on the match as a whole, Jones says that Borthwick will be happy with the overall performance, considering all the changes made after the win over Australia.
“It was a typical England-Fiji game,” he began.
“England played the power game early, a lot of kicking, and got off to a fast start. Fiji gets a couple of chances, scores a couple of tries, and then you’re thinking, ‘Well, this could be a repeat of two years ago.’
“But England have got a good power in their team and good depth in their squad. They brought on a strong bench, who were able to finish the game off, and it was a very good win by England – they’ll be pleased with that.
“Steve is getting him in the right place. They’re starting to get some stability about their squad and starting to build some nice depth.”