MARO ITOJE, CHRIS Robshaw and Jonathan Joseph have returned from injury to form part of England’s 31-man training squad for the Six Nations clash with Italy on Saturday.
Saracens lock Itoje sustained knee ligament damage in 32-20 win over Ireland on 2 February and sat out the victory over France and the 21-13 loss to Wales in Cardiff.
However, with Courtney Lawes ruled out for the remainder of the competition due to a calf injury, Itoje has been drafted in to prepare for the Azzurri’s visit to Twickenham.
Flanker Robshaw also returns to the fold on the back of a try-scoring display in Harlequins’ 31-29 victory at Bath on Saturday.
The former England skipper sat out the November internationals due to a knee injury and has played just four matches since returning in January.
Bath wing Joseph spent nine months out with an ankle issue and, having also made his comeback in January, has appeared just three times for his club this season.
- Omni
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Seems like a very irish thing, no self responsibility. The players didnt qualify and lost to teams with less resources, time and effort put into them. But no one is allowed question that?
@Chris Mc: at no point have any of them refused to accept responsibility for anything. You’re simply making up stuff to suit a narrative you want to peddle.
@John Molloy: i am not peddling anything. Just saying its not always someone elses fault.
@Chris Mc: which nobody has ever tried to say. You’re still talking in fiction.
@John Molloy: Eddy was accused of slurry spreading by Murphy, the players were accused of playing badly by Eddy, if that’s not players trying to deflect responsibility I don’t know what is.
@Patrick Breen: Eddy tried to suggest that there weren’t issues with how the women’s game was being run. He tried to suggest that the 7s programme wasn’t taking away from the 15s (despite the fact that we’ve seen players be taken out of 6Ns camp for 7s). He effectively tried to suggest that there was nothing more he could have done to help the women’s game grow, develop and succeed. The failure to qualify for the RWC was just one small part of the interview. But again, you’re interpreting what you’re seeing to suit your predefined narrative.
@John Molloy: right, so to take this step by step, as Eddy has alluded to, the Irish women had better preperations provided to them than the teams they lost to. Obviously the preperations could have been better, even if they’d won that would be the case, but it wouldn’t be the focus. My main point is the primary reason they lost was because they failed to perform, and definitely some people don’t want to accept that, and I’m sure for him it’s difficult to listen to players slating him, and he’s not allowed a rebuttle of any kind, while being thrown under the bus. One question posed to him was why can’t we have a league like the RFU have, how can that be a serious question, we don’t have it in the men’s game, how on earth could we achieve that in the Women’s game.
@Patrick Breen: who doesn’t want to accept that? Where has anyone said anything of the sort?
@John Molloy: Right throughout the whole thing, by deflecting and pointing out other issues it’s been to negate the blame coming at their feet. You said Eddy has not acknowledged issues in the women’s game, he’s said they’re trying to improve and fix the shortcomings, surely that’s acknowledging issues, but there’s issues everywhere, to complain about external factors is to deflect responsibility for failure in my eyes. If you feel that the team would have raised the same ruckus about lack or preparation if they’d gotten through to the world Cup then okay, but I feel they complained to deflect blame falling at their own feet.
@Patrick Breen: when have the players done that? Or has that been the media?
@John Molloy: Fiona Hayes, admittedly a former player, said that the IRFU had failed the women’s team, several players liked her statements, indicating that they agreed with it. While some took some personal blame, others have allowed the narrative that it’s the irfu’s fault to fester by not refuting it when asked. Even Cliodhna Moloney taking exception to Eddy’s comments for me points to this. He has, albeit harshly, simply pointed out that the team didn’t perform, while being put on the stand by the media, to accept responsibility for why the team didn’t qualify. While the media want to absolve the players completely. So it’s both, but it’s not a helpful narrative, imo. The level of facilities and failure of the team are two unrelated things, but the media have deemed it cause and effect
@Patrick Breen: all any of that stuff says is that people believe there are issues in the way in which Irish women’s rugby has been run. Can you admit that this is the case? Or are you insistent on turning that into something that it isn’t?
@John Molloy: I fundamentally don’t believe that what’s provided to them is less than they deserve, that’s my big issue. That’s not to say there aren’t issues, but it’s unreasonable to expect issues to be solved just because there’s a solution in theory. Things aren’t perfect, and that is the case with every sports team up and down the country. The fact that it’s become an argument around what’s been provided to them, rather than merely a reflection on poor performance is my main issue. The team underperformed, are you insistent on turning that into something that it isn’t?
@Patrick Breen: he decided the players weren’t allowed play in the interpros, so they had no games before the qualifiers
@Chris Tobin: ya, and there’s no evidence to suggest that was definitely the wrong call, there could have been injuries or covid issues that could have further hampered the team. Personally I think they should have played everyone in the interpros, especially as it was finally being televised, it would have been good to have the best players playing. It’s been suggested that Eddy placed sole responsibility for the losses at the feet of the players, I read the interview, he acknowledged the shortcomings within the game, but when asked specifically what went wrong in the qualifying campaign I don’t think it’s unreasonable or unjustified to say it was the performances on the field, while some people are insinuating that he shouldn’t have mentioned the poor on-field showings at all.
I’m sorry, but the woman’s poor mouth in this is OTT. Eddy failed, 100%. However a lot of the players are not putting their hands up or recognising much fault. Some of them seem allergic or lack the humility to criticism. All of the issues they highlight are valid, and coming up against England, France, NZ, etc, i get it. But how does it excuse consistently losing to teams with LESS resources. You have more resources than Spain but blame the lack of resources for losing to them?
And again, Eddy didn’t throw overhead passes, he didn’t drop off one on one tackles, etc.
@Cathal Carr: they’re still on about the changing facilities in donnybrook? Got themselves on a pedestal after that, eh? Now they can scream from the rooftops when people rightly criticise their performances, hilarious really
@Michael Oats: I seen the team training last night in what I would class as world class facilities.
Remember when Rory Best came out and laid some of the blame for the RWC failure at the feet of the coaching ticket and the reaction he was greeted with by everyone, well there’s a very different narrative here. The team seem very entitled and unwilling to accept any responsibility for their own failure. If they’d performed better they’d be going to the world Cup, irrespective of every other factor. The IRFU invested money in the hosting of the women’s world Cup only for them to totally underperform, and they’ve since then, with better funding than they’ve ever had previously, underperformed also. They have to acknowledge and accept that, that’s the primary reason they’ve lost games, not because they didn’t play in the interpros, I doubt many Scottish or Spanish players featured in those.
‘He apologised in case people took offence to his comments.’ The perfect summation of the times we live in. I wonder, if Mr Nucifora said something similar following the last World Cup implosion, would the players have thrown a public tantrum? And would they have received an apology to soothe any hurt feelings?
It seems like those calling for equality, whatever that is supposed to mean, aren’t interested in taking responsibility for their own failures. Something that is generally demanded of elite athletes.
I don’t remember hearing these gripes when Lynn Cantwell et al were winning a Grand Slam. Funny that. And bear in mind, it wasn’t France or England who defeated them in the qualifiers. They lost to minnows who don’t have nearly the same resources at their disposal. Grow up, ladies.
Anthony Eddy apologising to the Irish women for them not being able to close a game out
Both my teen daughters play rugby. When they lose a game I tell them they have to learn from their loss, dust yourself off, focus on what went wrong and fix it.
No use whinging and blaming anyone else.
Play as a team, lose as a team.
The women were atrocious vs Spain & Scotland in that qualifying tournament. Eddy can’t play the game for them…has to be some personal responsibility there
@Sam Murray: there can be that and systemic problems at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.
The comments here are incredibly poor form. But sadly I’m not surprised. Things made up and/or exaggerated to suit a narrative designed to demean and belittle. Far be it from me to attribute motive, but I couldn’t blame some for assuming gender is playing a big role in these reactions.
@John Molloy: so if i think a rugby player should accept personal responsibility when they’ve underperformed i’m now sexist.
@Chris Mc: first off, nobody has refused to accept responsibility for anything. That’s just something you have made up. Secondly I never said you were a sexist. I just said I could understand why people might think you are. Given that you are here making stuff up in an effort to have a go at the players.
@John Molloy: Stop your talk. The men’s team get rinsed when they lose AND put their hands up. Like the team, you are deflecting. Yourself onto a gender issue. It’s simple: they are blaming a lack of resources for losing to teams with less resources. With very little, it seems, self reflection being done. My club has an extraordinary amount of Irish Internationals and i have been around many, in fact i spoke in the past 3 days to a player on it. A player who made one of the twitter comments. Almost zero responsibility taken, all someone else’s fault. Now i am not speaking for the team of course, but it seems to be very much part of the narrative. All of this is beyond the point that you’ve added nothing of susbstance to counter point.
@John Molloy: I think gender is key, because if it were the men’s team they wouldn’t be given any sympathy for their lack of performance on the field. I don’t know what your motive is, but I don’t think to patronise is progressive. The whole narrative is shocking, it’s not enough for them to simply show up and get a big pat on the back for it, they have to play well to warrant being lauded. Nobody said well done to Kellie Harrington for flying out to Tokyo, they said well done to her for performing and bringing back gold to Ireland. So I think to throw the gender card is just a cop out. People want to appear as if they value equality, and if they have to compromise on applying equal standards to achieve that so be it, virtue signalling is more important than rationality.
@John Molloy: to stress the narrative being pushed is we lost to teams with less resources than us because we need more resources. I’m not saying they are not understanding of their responsibility in the loss, just that the narrative being WIDELY spun is the loss is not on the players, but the lack of support. It has been the almost all encompassing narrative and comments from the players, with only the odd throw away comment on “ya, i suppose we could’ve done better.” added in.
@Patrick Breen: ah the whole “you’re just making excuses” lark. Yes the men’s team would be held to different standards. Not because they are men, but because they are professionals. They have some of the best facilities going. They have access to specialists on a daily basis that amateurs don’t. This is their full time job. The women’s game is utterly different and so different standards have to apply by default.
The refusal to attempt to understand the issues at the heart of the women’s game & try & play the “I’m only treating them the same” card is nonsense. You can’t treat them the same because they are not the same.
The women’s team haven’t refused to accept responsibility for their performances. That’s a complete red herring. But it suits the narrative some have already settled on.
@John Molloy: so you’ve changed your point again now. Before it was the men wouldn’t get this kind of grief. Now it’s the men do receive criticism, but they can as professionals, but the woman can’t.
The woman’s team are putting the principle reason for their losses on a lack of support or resources, not their performances. That’s a fact, there is minute amount of comments taking responsibility compared to those blaming elsewhere. That’s a fact. Which is fine. . . if we were talking about losses to better resourced teams, which we are not.
@Cathal Carr: I never said men wouldn’t get this kind of grief. At no point. Never.
@Cathal Carr: also, the women’s team absolutely are not pinning responsibility for their losses on anything at all. I’d love to see where any of them have done anything even remotely close to what you are claiming. Even reading the above, Griffin is saying that they’ll feed into the review process and see what comes of it. She has actively avoided placing blame anywhere at all. Exactly what Eddy should have done if he were behaving in even a vaguely professional manner.
@John Molloy: I’ll apologise for my first comment. Hands up, i confused you with another poster.
However, if you haven’t heard one of the players putting the losses on resources that’s on you. A number, albeit it many recent former team mates, are on TG4, Examiner, Newstalk, etc. One back three player was quoted on the early last month saying money was the primary factor, the playing pool wasn’t big enough. I don’t disagree, but she didn’t once put up her hand about performance on what went wrong. The playing pool didn’t make her get passed on the outside of her wing.
Look, we’re not going to see the same view point on this. Call sexism in a comment section but I’ve talked with 4 of the players on the pitch that day. And only 1 of them really put the hand up. Make of that what you will.
@John Molloy: so now its my fault as well as everyone but the players. Did i make up the results? Did i make up not qualifily for the WC?
@Patrick Breen: the mens team are professionals
@IAmSCozzie: Right so, will we treat them the same as other men’s amateur teams, coz Galwegians don’t get this much attention, and access to a high performance gym. They’re supposed to be elite sportspeople, but should also be immune from criticism for some reason. Aidan O’Shea is an amateur, but him and the Mayo team aren’t protected from being called out for poor performances, and rightly so. Part of high-level sport is that there’s gonna be criticism from the likes of me who hasn’t a clue what I’m talking about it.
I rarely see any comments in the comment section on articles relating to Women’s sport. But if it has a negative narrative……..
@rugbyanbeer: there’s always more comments on negative articles, regardless of whether it’s the men’s or women’s teams, it’s just a type of journalism that riles people up more.
@Patrick Breen: so true
If Adam Griggs is being replaced then so should Anthony Eddy. The buck rests with him. He’s the man in charge and he has to accept some responsibility for the unrest. He has let this team down by his comments and so should move aside…immediately.
@Bernie Kenny: lol
It’s really bad form for any boss to publicly put down his team only days before a match. OK they performed below expectations but the emphasis must be on why that happened and certainly not on throwing it back in the faces of the players who are naturally more disappointed than anyone.
@Matt Rogers: Exactly. And that right there is a good enough reason for the players to be pissed off. Yet somehow people here have turned it into something completely different.
Yes the team under preformed, they won’t be going to the RWC, they put their hands up and admitted that ! Some commenters here seem to have forgotten the these girls are NOT professionals, they get up early in the morning or train late into the evening all the while holding down a job. Weekends with friends and family are a distant memory and all for the love of the game ! Anthony Eddy is a professional, he is the Director of 7s and womens rugby and under his tenure we have gone from winning grand slams and playing in WC semi finals to not even qualifying for a WC. He is so committed to improving the game that Adam Griggs is in charge for the November series instead of the new coach. And you guys are slagging off the amateur girls not the professional director of rugby!! #EddyOut