England wing options this Autumn

With injuries few and far between during Eddie Jones’ first season in charge of England, the Australian had the luxury of picking from an almost undiminished array of players.

That luck seems to have run out, however, with James Haskell, Sam Jones and Jack Clifford both set to miss the upcoming autumn internationals following toe and ankle surgeries respectively, and the wing duo of Jack Nowell and Jonny May in a race against time to return to action and prove their match fitness.

At this point, May is a long shot. He is coming in off the back of a season-ending knee injury, is yet to play this season and has already had injury cover named for him in Jones’ upcoming training squad.

With wingers living and dying by their ability to accelerate, their top-end speed and their proficiency at stepping - which puts considerable pressure on both knees - it will be a tall task for him to complete his rehabilitation and redevelop the confidence in his knee ahead of England taking on South Africa in November.

Nowell is a more likely proposition, despite having been allayed in the offseason by a thumb injury. He returned for Exeter this past weekend, albeit from the bench, and it’s an injury which should not have limited the versatile wing’s ability to move at all. Nowell’s biggest battle will be shaking the preseason rust off and getting up to game speed before the Springboks arrive in town.

If neither wing is ready or in form to lace up and head out with England on the 12^th November, there is no shortage of players in fine form in the Premiership ready to step up and fill the void. We take a look at the possible candidates below to line up alongside Anthony Watson and Mike Brown in the England back three.

Wings in the England training squad

Semesa Rokoduguni, Bath

The Fijian-born flyer has been in scintillating form for a rejuvenated Bath side this season, taking a clean sweep of offensive statistics through the first four rounds of the Premiership season, leading the league in tries scored, metres made, clean breaks and defenders beaten. Stats don’t always tell the full story but with Rokoduguni they paint a very accurate picture of a man who defenders around the Premiership have come to fear.

The footwork and leg power – it probably requires a fair bit of muscle to find the biting point on the clutch of a tank – he exhibits are unmatched in the Premiership and whilst he doesn’t offer the prototypical size that test coaches are now looking for on the wings, his defence and ability in the air see him ‘play bigger’.

Marland Yarde, Harlequins

Yarde’s form fluctuated last season, much as the Quins team’s did around him. Nevertheless, Jones clearly sees all the attributes he wants from a test wing in Yarde – size, speed and technical ability – and has previously backed him as the deputy to Watson and Nowell in the starting XV. He was given a start against Australia in the summer and did well, despite being replaced by Nowell for the last two tests of the series.

He is not in the same form as Rokoduguni at Premiership-level, partly due to the respective form of the two players’ clubs, but he has the natural abilities that Jones prizes, perhaps more so than the Fijian. It’s very New Zealand-like to recognise players who have the array of skills to step up and perform at test level despite not setting the world alight at domestic level and Yarde definitely falls into that category at time of writing.

Wings outside the EPS

Once you factor in Chris Ashton’s suspension, there aren’t too many candidates ready to step up and play test rugby from outside of the EPS.

Wasps’ Christian Wade would be the obvious one, having impressed consistently at Premiership level in recent years and long been touted as a player capable of replicating that form on the international stage. People will question his defence and aerial ability until he is given a shot in test rugby and has the opportunity to alleviate their concerns, but regardless of which side of the fence you sit on in regards to Wade’s selection, he is a player that undoubtedly offers more positives in attack than he potentially costs a side in defence.

Beyond Wade, the pickings are a little slim. Exeter’s Olly Woodburn has kicked on since moving to the Devon-based club, Nathan Earle has impressed on loan at Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup and is set to return to Saracens shortly, whilst Matt Banahan has looked dangerous this season, excelling as both a winger and a centre. Bristol’s Tom Varndell is a player who has been very unlucky at test level but who has abilities that would make him a potent attacking threat.

For one of these players to be called upon, it would likely require a set-back in Nowell’s recovery.

Non-wingers in the training squad

It seems unlikely that Jones would opt to move a centre or full-back to wing with two specialists – Rokoduguni and Yarde – already at his disposal within the squad, but stranger things have happened in test rugby.

England have dabbled with Manu Tuilagi on the wing before and it may be an experiment worth resuscitating, especially if the England midfield is looking fairly well-stocked without the bruising Leicester centre, but injury makes him a very unlikely sight during the Test window.

Fellow centres Elliot Daly and Joe Marchant have both filled in on the wing at club-level previously and certainly offer interesting physical abilities. Adding Daly’s boot to the back three would likely be welcomed by the tactically-savvy Jones.

Full-back Mike Brown could also be shuffled out to the wing, making room for Alex Goode in the 15 jersey. It’s not a long-term move that many would want to see but it could see England through the first match or two of the internationals, by which time Nowell should be up to speed and ready to go.