Guscott column: Eastmond can revive England hopes at Sale

By Jeremy Guscott
Kyle Eastmond is a very talented player with a skill set that really suits Rugby Union. When he is in the right environment, as he was the season before last at Bath, we have seen him fulfil that promise.
I don't know the reasons why he is leaving Bath for Sale Sharks – although no official announcement has been made yet – but any side in the game would benefit from Eastmond's ability.
He had a few settling-in challenges at Bath, but by the time he had recovered from injury and got his feet planted at inside-centre we soon saw what he could offer. Eastmond's contribution alongside George Ford and Jonathan Joseph when Bath reached the 2015 Premiership final was impressive, and I thought he was the main man in the backline in terms of his eye for the gap and smart distribution.
That came as no surprise because the formation the Bath backs adopted was similar to that in Rugby League, so he had plenty of familiarity with it from his formative years with St Helens. Although, at 5ft 7in and just under 13st (82kg), he is one of the smaller men in pro rugby union, Eastmond's defence has always been pretty sound.
That's a product of his rugby league background, because in the 13-man code if you have no defence the only position you can play is on the wing, whereas he was a half-back.
At international level the game appears to be moving away from the smaller, trickier attacking playmaker like Kyle, but in my view he has the capacity to influence a game in the same way that Matt Giteau, another small midfield play-maker, has done for Australia and Toulon.
Eastmond's kicking game has consistently been underestimated since his cross-over to Union, but what really sets him apart is that he reads the game incredibly well. He is one of those players who I describe as being able to ‘see into the future' by anticipating what will happen. The only problem for players with that sort of heightened perception is that his team-mates have to be on the same wavelength to see what he sees, otherwise it breaks down.
However, if you look at the Six Nations, most of the players wearing the 12 jersey are big, powerful runners like Jamie Roberts (Wales), Robbie Henshaw (Ireland) and Alex Dunbar (Scotland), and before Eddie Jones the likes of Brad Barritt and Luther Burrell were doing the same for England.
That's the way it seems to be going, and even Owen Farrell, who was at inside-centre for most of the series against Australia, is in many ways the opposite of what Eastmond offers. Put simply, Farrell is known more for his defensive qualities than his attacking game, and when big, tank-like runners are continuously coming down the 10-12 channel there will always be question marks over whether small inside-centres like Eastmond can stop them in their tracks.
I could see an England backline with, say, Farrell at 10, Kyle at 12, and Manu Tuilagi at 13, but I don't see a replication of the Ford-Eastmond-Joseph combination from Bath at international level.
This is because although they can come at you directly by playing hard, fast, and flat, they lack the option to bulldoze a defensive wall and nullify an attack with physicallity – and that has become an essential component at international level. New Zealand may like to run rings round people, but even they have centres like Ryan Crotty and Malakai Fekitoa, who are stocky enough to be brutish when they need to be.
Since Mike Ford's departure as Bath coach at the end of last season things have moved on, and if Eastmond returns to the north-west and joins Sale they have acquired a great player – and I believe that Steve Diamond is a clever, resourceful coach who can get the best out of him.
One of the bonuses for Eastmond is that, unlike Bath, the Sharks have qualified for the European Cup, and that gives him an ideal stage on which to prove that England cannot ignore him.
Diamond will have to make some changes to Sale's attacking shape, because they attack the gain-line less subtly than Eastmond does – so adaptation will be required on both sides.
Sale's signing of fly-half AJ McGinty, who was central to Connacht's breakthrough to become Pro12 champions last season, means that the gap left by Danny Cipriani's departure has been filled effectively by Diamond. McGinty should be excited about creating a partnership with Eastmond, and vice-versa.
I talk regularly about the need for peak fitness, and if Eastmond is to make the impact that he wants to at the AJ Bell stadium then he should aim to make those gains. I believe it's an area that he can improve on as, at the age of 26, he comes into a crucial part of his career.
Players like Eastmond have a gift, but the big question is how to release it consistently, and that is why he should look for a 10 to 15 per cent increase in his fitness levels.
He should also not be shy of making his voice heard. When League players come into Union they are usually on the quiet side because they have so much to learn. But Kyle has been around for long enough now to have his say, and I believe he has a lot to offer in terms of opening the eyes of the young and experienced players around him to attacking possibilities.
Promising Sale backs like outside-centre Sam James and full-back Michael Haley, who have just broken through into Saxons contention, ought to benefit – and it should also spark Eastmond.
For Kyle to get back into the international fold he's got to make people sit up and take notice – and that means Sale have to play sensational rugby. I have suggested in the past couple of seasons that they would struggle, and I've been wrong.
Sale are a quiet force, and while they are not seen as a marquee club, they are keeping the Rugby Union heartbeat strong in one of England's great cities. Manchester is massive, and if the club is successful our sport has that special chemistry in the interaction between teams and fans which could see it suddenly lift off.
I admire the way Sale go about their business, and if Kyle Eastmond gets truly fit and plays out of his skin, he is the sort of player who adds to that uplift.