From Tom Curry and Sam Underhill to Maro Itoje and Ellis Genge – Eddie Jones has been pretty good at calling up the perfect players all over the pitch since taking over as England boss in 2015.
But not all of them came off…
We take a look at some of those players Jones called up since taking over in December 2015, and using the Aussies own words we try to understand why they never established themselves as fans once hoped.
5. Denny Solomona
His England career began with the definition of a ‘bang’ – a dream first run out in the England shirt, he came off the bench to score a last-minute winner in a dramatic 38-34 win against Argentina in San Juan on June 10, 2017.
Jones said: “There’s something about him, he finds the [try] line and you like wingers who find the line. I think he’s got that X factor, whatever you want to call it.”
However, two months later, Solomona was sent home from England’s training camp in disgrace after returning drunk to the team hotel. The winger would win just three more caps, failing to score in any of them with Jones questioning the speedster’s character.
Not what we all expected after a stunning debut.
4. Gary Graham
The powerhouse back-rower had represented the Scotland U20s during the 2012 Six Nations Under-20s Championship and during the 2012 IRB Junior World Championship.
Initially overlooked by the senior Scotland side, Graham received a shock England call up in December 2017, for their Six Nations training squad. He was subsequently named in the English squad for the 2018 Six Nations Championship.
After not winning a cap, the flanker had a change of heart in November 2018 and was called up to the Scotland squad. He was subsequently named in the squad for the 2019 Six Nations Championship and has since won two caps.