How Eddie Jones raises his game for the big occasion

When the big games come around, Eddie Jones tends to delve into his bag of tactical tricks. It has been a hallmark of his seven years in charge, with the selection of Sam Simmonds at blindside flanker - his first appearance at senior level wearing No 6 - being the latest intriguing call.

Below, Telegraph Sport revisits some of Jones' other notable decisions.

Danny Care's fast start for the 2016 Grand Slam - v France, March 2016

England had started Ben Youngs in the previous three wins over Italy, Ireland and Wales before opting to bring back Care as they went for a first Grand Slam since 2013.

Jones explained his thinking behind the move with a message which has been familiar before England's biggest games: start fast, then bring on your 'finishers'.

“We think Danny can add some real zest at the start of the match, which is where we believe France will be at their best,” Jones said. "We have to find a way of stopping them getting into the game. Then Ben, who was outstanding against Wales, can come on and finish it for us.”

Care certainly delivered, sniping through a gap around a ruck for the opening try after 11 minutes with the kind of instinctive break that has become his trademark throughout his career. England then opened up a 17-6 lead after Dan Cole's try 20 minutes in before holding on in the second half to win in Paris.

The Harlequins scrum-half remained in the squad until 2018 before being exiled by Jones until this year's summer tour against Australia, with England trying out several scrum-halves to partner Youngs during his time in charge.

The long lineout to Tuilagi - v Ireland, February 2019

Jones loves a fast start and 2019 in Dublin was no exception, with England scoring after just over 90 seconds. The spark however was a long lineout to Manu Tuilagi which caught Ireland napping after Conor Murray had clear to touch from a box-kick. Ireland's surprise is even captured on Murray's face as Jamie George acts quickly to hit a charging Tuilagi.

While that play is smart enough to already throw off Ireland's defensive shape, the subsequent phase with switches in direction first from Owen Farrell and then Elliot Daly add to the confusion. England worked through the phases before Billy Vunipola's late offload left Ireland too narrow in defence, with a brilliant flat pass from Farrell finding Daly and creating a two-on-one which England finished by putting May over in the corner with 91 seconds on the clock.

The credit for the lineout move, George later revealed, went to Steve Borthwick.

“It was good analysis,” said George. “We saw that if you get Manu into that crease it would potentially get us good go-forward to go off the back. It was clever. Steve [Borthwick] spends all that time on a laptop looking at footage, we just have to execute it."

Turning to Ford - v New Zealand, October 2019 (RWC semi-final)

You could have understood ahead of the semi-final against the All Blacks if Jones had felt the best option was to stick with the midfield combination which had played so well in the quarter-final win over Australia. But Henry Slade dropped to the bench and in came George Ford at fly-half, with Farrell moving to inside centre and Tuilagi shifting out to wear No 13.

The reason behind the selection, Jones revealed, came down to Ford's work-rate off the ball.

"Every game we have a look at the conditions, the opposition, what we think we need to do, what we need to take away from the opposition and this is the best fit for us,” Jones said. "They like to move the ball around, they are very good on transition and George's work-rate off the ball has been absolutely exceptional.”

Ford proved to be pivotal, taking over goalkicking duties after Farrell suffered a dead leg, and he was heavily involved the Tuilagi's quick try in the first 90 seconds too with several touches at first receiver. And in terms of the work-rate, Ford finished the game having made 13 tackles (missing two) while also winning a turnover, delivering on Jones' brief.

Tuilagi 'the winger' - v Australia, November 2021

Selecting Tuilagi on the right wing to face Australia last November raised a few eyebrows given the England centre had not played on the wing for his country since the 2014 summer tour of New Zealand. The selection arguably didn't even go that well, with Tuilagi struggling to get his hands on the ball aside from one breakaway run which took a tackle from a chasing Ben Smith to stop him from scoring.

Those eyebrows however returned to their natural positions a few minutes into the game over seven years later against Australia when it became clear that Tuilagi was a '14' only in number.

Jones has pointed regularly in this World Cup cycle that the numbers on the back of the shirt don't often mean that much, and this was a good example. Effectively, Slade was the full-back, young Freddie Steward was on the wing and Tuilagi was the outside centre. This reshaped backline nearly came up with a try for Jonny May after 25 minutes, with Tuilagi acting as the decoy and Slade delivering a final pass which, if slightly more accurate, should have led to a May score in the corner. The disruption kept Australia guessing.

Simmonds and Vunipola together - v New Zealand, November 2022

Which brings us to Saturday at Twickenham. Pairing Tom Curry with a flanker called Sam worked well for England the last time they faced New Zealand, except this time it is Exeter's Sam Simmonds, who has never started at blindside flanker for club or country, paired with Curry and joined by Billy Vunipola at No 8.

Simmonds and Vunipola had a few minutes together in the second half against Japan, each getting a go as the No 8 from a scrum - Simmonds on England's feed, Vunipola for Japan's - and the prospect of both back-rows carrying to full effect is certainly intriguing.

Last Saturday was one of Simmonds' most productive games for England in that regard, making 83 metres from eight carries (even if it was against disappointing opposition). Look out for both Simmonds and Vunipola returning kicks in the backfield, and for England to potentially use one or both as runners off first-phase moves while potentially only using five forwards in the lineout.

Where England need Simmonds to thrive however is at the breakdown. Sacrificing a lineout jumper to try and dominate that area can be viewed as a gamble, but England were so effective around the ruck in 2019 that Scott Barrett was subbed off at half-time for Sam Cane.

Underhill and Curry accounted for three turnovers in that semi-final while Underhill was England's top tackler with 16. That sets a high bar for Simmonds to clear.