England’s scrum-half problem: Does Eddie Jones have a plan for life after Ben Youngs? The dearth of options at No 9 is ‘really worrying’ according to two men who have worn the shirt for England in the past

Ben Youngs will not remember the 2019 Rugby World Cup final too fondly.

Billed as one of the key battles between England and South Africa, he was outplayed from start to finish by Faf de Klerk. Not an embarrassment in itself, but the Englishman would be the first to admit that he gave far from his finest performance.

To compound matters, England coach Eddie Jones found himself unable to put his team’s efforts into the hands of replacement Ben Spencer until the last five minutes, when Cheslin Kolbe’s try had already put the game beyond England’s reach.

A more conventional coach might have had the Saracens scrum-half in Japan already, sticking to the old wisdom that a Rugby World Cup squad must include three No 9s.

‘Sir Clive would always have taken three’

“Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if you ask Sir Clive Woodward, he would have always taken three No 9s,” Andy Gomersall, a man who went to Rugby World Cups in 2003 and 2007 as part of a trio of scrum-halves, tells i.

“Given the amount of rugby that some of the outside-backs played in the tournament and the consistency of selection of the starters, I would have taken three scrum-halves and at least got a younger player the experience.”

Experience is a key word in this conversation. Since Youngs came into the England team back in 2010, only six others have been handed debuts in the position for a total of 28 caps: Joe Simpson, Lee Dickson, Jack Maunder, Ben Spencer, Dan Robson, and Willi Heinz. Dickson, now 34, has 18 of them and only three of those men are still in their 20s.

‘When you look beyond Youngs, it is really worrying’

It begs the question why England have not prepared better for the departure of Youngs, who is the country’s most capped player in his position but is now the wrong side of 30. He has outgrown his surname and Jones must begin to think about life after he is gone.

“Youngs will not want to sit out. I did the same in 2007,” added Gomersall of the suggestion England could pick two new faces in the spring.

“I wanted to continue and I was barely 33 so I wanted to play the Six Nations and that ended up being the end for me after that. I believed I could keep going and he will want to.

“When you look beyond Youngs, it is really worrying – but there is enough talent there.”

The end for Youngs?

What Youngs wants and what Jones chooses may be two different things. Dylan Hartley was gradually phased out as Jamie George’s talents were repeatedly given the chance to shine off the bench, before the torch was eventually passed. George was a British and Irish Lion starter before an England one but he did have at least 17 caps to his name.

At scrum-half, Rugby World Cup winner in 2003 and 51-time England international at No 9 Kyran Bracken was left baffled by Jones’ refusal to start the process earlier.

“Youngs has had some cracking games for England and seems to score at the right times but his form for Leicester last year was awful,” Bracken tells i.

“There were opportunities in the last two Six Nations for other scrum-halves, Robson or Spencer, to get a chance.

“There were times when England were winning by 30 or 40 points, against Italy or whoever, and he wouldn’t bring someone else on.

“It was crying out for it. Why would you not do that? I think he got it completely wrong.”

Not much Care and attention

They even left Care behind, aged 32 with 84 caps and having played an outstanding season of rugby at Harlequins.

“The World Cup needed a bit of experience and he is a match-winner and a match-changer,” Bracken added.

“He had a fantastic year for Harlequins last year, played some of his best rugby, but this is Eddie Jones and he thinks he knows better than everyone else.

“He probably does in a lot of respects but I beg to differ when it comes to No 9.”

There is work to be done for England over the next four years, and it begins at the base of the scrum.