PREVIEW…
London Irish v Worcester
Tuesday, May 17. Kick-off 7.45pm, Stadium
EDDIE Jones has been to London Irish to check on a number of their players, including full-back Henry Arundell whose length-of-thefield try against Toulon last weekend made made the 19-year-old the talk of the English game.
Arundell is in line to start for Irish against Worcester in Tuesday's Premiership Cup final against Worcester at the Brentford Community Stadium.
England head coach Jones, who announces a training squad this week ahead of the summer tour to Australia, has come under pressure to include Arundell, right, who has made five starts and six appearances from the bench in all competitions this season and scored six tries.
“Henry needs space to grow as a player and he will get that,” said Declan Kidney, London Irish's experienced director of rugby who knows what it takes for a player to get to the top and stay there.
“Attention can take you away on a cloud and it takes time to come back, but he is a hard working lad who appreciates how much he has to improve on.
“He scored an exceptional try against Toulon, but what impresses me about him is he calms down immediately and focuses on the next match. He was out for a year with a serious injury and a taste of adversity when you are young puts everything into perspective.
“Eddie was at the club last week and we went through a number of players together. Henry was one of them and we gave him some insights.
Having the England head coach come to your club to talk about your players can only be good. Should Eddie pick Henry for Australia? He is strong enough to make his own decision.”
“What I would say is that when a player first comes on the scene as Henry has done, they get a bit of latitude. People will now keep a closer eye on him, space will close and that will put pressure on him. I will not try and hold him back, but neither will I run him into the ground.”
Arundell has the pace of a wing but he gets more opportunities at full-back, especially on the counterattack. Kidney's task going forward, in a month when Irish have lost Phil Cokanasiga and Olly Cracknell to Leicester, will be persuading the likes of Arundell, Will Joseph, Tom Pearson, Chunya Munga and other emerging players that their international ambitions came be satisfied at Irish.
“We will lose some players, but in the past there has been a complete drain,” said Kidney. “We have had a few guys called into the England camp this season and they know they do not have to leave the club to gain recognition. Part of the reason we brought in some experienced players in recent seasons was for the effect they would have on the younger guys and the legacy the would leave.”
Irish have two games left this season: Worcester in the final and Bath away in the Premiership on Saturday, a match they need to win to keep alight their aim of qualifying for next season's Heineken Champions Cup.
“The final means a lot to us because it is 20 years since we won a trophy at this level. I want to give the young fellows a go, but when you look at the side Worcester fielded in their semi-final at Gloucester, you do not want to hand something over on your own patch.
“It will be mix and match because we have two big games in the week. I am not sure how many points we will need in the league. A tangible sign of progress would be qualifying for the Champions Cup, but it is out of our control a bit.
“The final comes first, and when there is a trophy on the line, everyone wants to win it.”
