The pair could be starting together, this weekend.
Although he will always cherish the England jersey he made a try-scoring debut in, Henry Arundell absolutely loved the post-match gesture from Owen Farrell.
It was a strange day out for Eddie Jones’ men in Perth, last Saturday. They squandered a 14-6 lead against 14-man Australia to lose their first Test match against them in eight outings. And yet, there was a hugely positive end-game.
Arundell was given seven minutes to make his debut and, while he was out there, an impact. He did just that, torching the Wallabies backline on his first carry in Test rugby to get over for a brilliant try:
As first touches in Test rugby go… 🤩pic.twitter.com/vkC9XG2B63
— House of Rugby (@HouseOfRugby) July 2, 2022
The 19-year-old then made another carry that almost got him over the tryline and sucked in a bundle of gold jerseys, opening a gap for fellow ‘finisher’ Jack van Poortlviet to snipe over and score. England still lost 30-28, but a marker had been laid down for the Second Test.
Following that game, Owen Farrell approached Henry Arundell in the ‘away’ changing room and presented him with his extra jersey. Most Test players get an additional jersey to swap with the opposition, but Farrell wanted to give the London Irish youngster an extra memento.
“It’s great to score a try,” Arundell said, “but guys like Owen Farrell have almost played 100 Tests and that’s the goal for me, to be at that sort of level.
“Owen gave me one of his shirts after the game to say well done. There’s a mutual understanding that great, that’s happened, but the Test series is the main thing – and winning the World Cup next year.”
Possible changes to England team for Second Test
Heading into Saturday’s Second Test in Brisbane, Eddie Jones has some selection questions to mull over, before Thursday’s team announcement.
Tom Curry [concussion] and Charlie Ewels [knee] are already heading home, and winger Jonny May is still recovering from a recent positive test for Covid-19. Lewis Ludlam is a straight-swap option for Curry, but we would go with Bath’s Sam Underhill. Michael Hooper made hay, last weekend, but Underhill would give the Wallabies a lot to cope with, particularly at the breakdown.
We would also start Henry Arundell. Not only because it is well worth rewarding a hot, young player after a promising debut, but because he is the last person Australia would want to see pelting at them. As the years go on, the footage of Arundell’s every move will be available to dissect.
He only has 314 minutes over 10 big games [two starts] for London Irish and three starts for England U20s. He is a relatively unknown prospect and he has blazed in 12 tries in his debut season. He prefers to play at fullback, but Freddie Steward stays there and Arundell gets a big bite at the cherry on the left wing.
That is how we would play it, anyway. As we all know, though, Eddie Jones marches to the beat of his own drum.
OUR ENGLAND TEAM TO FACE AUSTRALIA
15. Freddie Steward
14. Jack Nowell
13. Joe Marchant
12. Owen Farrell
11. Henry Arundell
10. Marcus Smith
9. Danny Care1. Ellis Genge
2. Jamie George
3. Will Stuart
4. Maro Itoje
5. Jonny Hill
6. Courtney Lawes (C)
7. Sam Underhill
8. Billy Vunipola
REPLACEMENTS Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, Lewis Ludlam, Jack van Poortlviet, Guy Porter, Joe Cokanasiga
