Eddie Jones's latest whacky experiment sees Ben Earl playing in the backs.
The young Sarries back-rower has been training at outside-centre and wing. amid a prediction from Jones that forwards will become full-time backs
“It will never happen that a back plays in the forwards full-time,” Jones said, “but a forward could play in the backs full-time.
“That's the way the game is going at the moment. Ben Earls could be potentially someone like that, like (Levani) Botia, the Fijian who plays at six and 12 for La Rochelle.
"I think those sort of players are going to become massively invaluable as the game keeps going down the track it is at the moment where there's not much space, you need pace, you need dynamism, and if you can get a bit of that either in the back row or in your centres through different sorts of players, I think it is definitely something that could happen.”
Line-ups
England: 15-Elliot Daly, 14-Jonny May, 13-Manu Tuilagi, 12-Owen Farrell (captain), 11-Jonathan Joseph, 10-George Ford, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Joe Marler, 2-Jamie George, 3-Kyle Sinckler, 4-Maro Itoje, 5-George Kruis, 6-Courtney Lawes, 7-Sam Underhill, 8-Tom Curry
16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Dave Kilcoyne, 18-Andrew Porter, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Caelan Doris, 21-John Cooney, 22-Ross Byrne, 23-Keith Earls
Replacements: 16-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17-Ellis Genge, 18-Will Stuart, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Charlie Ewels, 21-Ben Earl, 22-Willi Heinz, 23-Henry Slade
Ireland: 15-Jordan Larmour, 14-Andrew Conway, 13-Robbie Henshaw, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-Jacob Stockdale, 10-Johnny Sexton, 9-Conor Murray; 1-Cian Healy, 2-Rob Herring, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 4-Devin Toner, 5-James Ryan, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 7-Josh van der Flier, 8-CJ Stander,
Replacements:
SIX NATIONS WAGS
1. Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) - Dr Anwen Jones
Wife of Welsh stalwart Alun Wyn-Jones and mum to their beautiful daughter, Anwen is a lecturer at Cardiff's Metropolitan University, where she’s a Welsh medium physiology and health lecturer. Clever and sporty, she is a former 400m hurdler and was Welsh champion from 2000-2007.
2. Tommaso Allan (Italy) – Benan Demir
The fly-half made the choice to represent Italy despite his uncle John earning nine caps for Scotland. He chose Italian for his girlfriend too with brunette bombshell Benan Demir. She is doing her PhD in Computer Science at the University of Padova. The pair recently got hitched.
3. Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) - Jess Tumely
The couple, who have been together six years, became a family last year when they welcomed their adorable daughter Lily, who is the apple of her father's eye.
4. Taulupe Faletau (Wales) - Charlotte Rhys-Jones
She is the sister of Emma Rhys-Jones, who lives with Gareth Bale, one of the most famous footballers in the world.
5. George Ford (England) - Jessica Portman
Michelle Keegan lookalike Jessica Portman is a fashion promotion student and has been with the England fly-half for over three years.
6. Rob Kearney (Ireland) - Jess Redden
Jess is Rob Kearney’s longterm girlfriend, with the pair being in a relationship since 2013. She has an impressive portfolio under her belt, as she is currently studying to become a pharmacist, has a degree in psychology, is a self-confessed health and fitness addict, and is also a model, having modelled lingerie for Brown Thomas.
7. Huw Jones (Scotland) - Annabel Field
The couple are thought to have met in Glasgow but spend their time criss-crossing the globe - racking up visits to Monaco, Barcelona and the Bahamas in 2019 alone.
8. George North (Wales) - Becky North
The track cyclist was a double silver medalist at last year’s Olympic games after overcoming a long-term knee injury. A proper Lioness, the pair got married last year and are expecting their first child in the Spring.
9. Conor Murray (Ireland) - Jo Coops
The blonde beauty is a model with an international career and is signed to agencies in Paris, Los Angeles, Manchester and London. She has over 130k followers on Instagram.
10. Hugo Bonneval (France) – Tatiana Golovin
Hugo Bonneval, 27, is a top full-back for club and country and has already scored two Six Nations tries. His wife Tatiana Golovin, 30, used to be a successful tennis player and reached number 12 in the world.
11. CJ Stander (Ireland) - Jean-Marie Stander
Jean-Marie is no stranger to sport – she’s a competitive swimmer but was forced to pull out of consideration for Rio due to a shoulder injury. The South African law graduate has been married to the Munster player for the last four years. She welcomed adorable daughter Everlie in August 2019 and calls herself a 'dog mom' to sweet spaniels George and Abby
12. Sam Warburton (Wales) - Rachel Kennedy-Warburton
Rachel married her childhood sweetheart Sam Warburton in 2014 after he proposed in a West Wales beauty spot. The pair grew up on the same street in Rhiwbina and both attended Whitchurch High School in Cardiff. She's sporty too and played badminton for Wales up until she was 21 before turning to accountancy.
13. Stuart Hogg (Scotland) - Gillian Hogg
14. Liam Williams (Wales) - Sophie Harries
She describes herself as a small town Welsh girl living in London. We think we'll add totally gorgeous to the list.
15. Richie Gray (Scotland) – Ellie Gray
Huge 28-year-old Richie Gray towers above all at 6ft 10in but he doesn't leave his fiancée Ellie McKeating in the shade. She is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty queen who represented Scotland in Miss World 2014. Born and raised in Glasgow, Ellie will be cheering on Gray from the sidelines.
