JEREMY GUSCOTT
OUTSPOKEN AND UNMISSABLE… EVERY WEEK
HENRY Arundell played junior rugby for Bradford-on-Avon, and all I can say after seeing his brilliant try for London Irish against Toulon in the European Challenge Cup last weekend is that I wish he'd stayed local and was playing for Bath!
It's just great to see attacking rugby like that because, even though there's been plenty of chat about attacking style with the number of tries scored in the Premiership, I still believe that individual flair is often drowned by the number of subs in the modern game, and the way it helps defences.
Harlequins broke the mould by deciding that they wanted to play attacking rugby last season, but most of the clubs in the Premiership are not really that ambitious.
That's why Arundell's breakthrough is even more refreshing – and it is why there are strong rumours that the 19-year-old fullback/wing will be on the England tour to Australia later this summer.
And why not?
Players of Arundell's ability deserve the chance to show what they can do, and I hope that he gets the platform and England are not tempted to rest too many and put out an experimental side against the Wallabies.
However, you have to remember that we had Freddie Steward coming into the England side as a young full-back with a similar fanfare in the Autumn Internationals, and he lived up to expectations with the impact he made.
Then Steward's form dipped a bit at the start of the Six Nations, and it was noticeable that his leg was heavily strapped, so he might not have done himself any favours if he was playing with a niggling injury.
But Steward rallied towards the end of the tournament, and started taking the high balls again, although I would still like to see more attack and tries from him.
So, although Arundell has lit up Europe and the Premiership with his ambition – and you want to say to him, ‘you have arrived, now please give us more and more' –I don't think you can just throw him into the England team at 15 ahead of Steward.
My feeling is that it would be good to take Arundell to Australia with a view to bringing him off the bench and seeing how he adapts to the increased demands at international level. However, we will not really know how good he is until Christmas, because by then he will be more of a name, and every time he plays he will be of particular interest to opposition defences.
We don't know yet how good Arundell is under the high ball, but judging by the clips I've seen he looks to have good footballing skills and real counter-attacking talent.
He does not look as if he has a Phil Bennett sidestep – who does? – but he changes direction very smoothly when he sees a gap, and has great acceleration. It means that defenders think they'll just push him to the outside, and then a split-second later they are left thinking, ‘Oh no, he's gone'.
“He can change direction smoothly when he sees a gap, and has great acceleration”
That's what happened with Arundell's 114-metre try against Toulon, when he used a sort of start-stop stutter to check a couple of defenders, stymieing them before going again and racing clear to score in the corner. You see him score one spectacular try and think, okay, but then you see him do it again – and again – and you know it's no accident.
We should get another chance to see Arundell in action when London Irish play in the Premiership Cup final against Worcester on Tuesday evening. That should provide a bit of a boost to a tournament which is not high on the radar of most Premiership clubs, a lot of whom use it to give their academy players a run. However, winning a cup at any time is a great feeling for a young player, and I expect Arundell will be no different.
The real trick about Arundell getting into England contention is to recognise that it's not so much about Eddie Jones doing the choosing as it is about a player giving Jones no option but to select him.
We've only just seen the kid emerge, but we should remember that Jones does not develop young players, because it is not his role. His job is to set a game plan in which the whole emphasis is on England winning, and then selecting a team to do that.
If you have got two wingers who are very close in standard it's often about how well their skill-set is ingrained, and then how they adapt to the step-up in environment.
Young players like Arundell have established their skill-set by about the age of 16, and that's your foundation. Then their main development will happen at clubs, like Irish, who they spend most of their time with, rather than at England U20 or senior international training camps.
It's possible that Jonny May, Anthony Watson, and Jack Nowell will return from injury to be back in contention for the wing jerseys against the Wallabies, while Max Malins could be recalled, and Joe Cokanasiga has also re-emerged.
There is also Adam Radwan to consider. Radwan is brilliant ball in hand, and a great attacking player, but there are also factors like how many times a winger loses the ball in contact, or misses tackles. I'm not sure about those aspects of Radwan's game, but what I am sure about is that at international level if you have any weaknesses they are exposed.
So, with Arundell also bursting through, there will be no lack of wingers for Jones to choose from.
The skill of an international head coach is selection, and being able to see how to utilise best the talent of the players in the team.
Jones will have to see how Arundell adapts to having less space around him – we have seen what he can do off loose kicks at club level, now we have to see if he can make the same impact in the international arena.
Arundell looks quite strong, but the nature of Premiership clubs is that they tend to look at players and want to put a bit of beef on them. I'd like to see them try to keep him as normal as possible, because he needs speed, agility and endurance more than bulk.
You only have to look at backs like South Africa's Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi to realise that natural ability matters more than size, and Henry Arundell looks like he's got what it takes, so why not break him in on the Australia tour.
