England suffer setback to Australia tour as Jonny May tests positive for Covid

England have suffered a setback to start their tour of Australia with Jonny May testing positive for Covid to put the wing’s involvement in the first Test against the Wallabies in doubt.

May reported symptoms and will now undertake a seven-day period of isolation, in accordance with Western Australian government guidelines.

There have been no further positive tests among the England party and, while some members of the touring squad from Leicester Tigers and Saracens have not taken part in England’s two light sessions since arriving Down Under, Eddie Jones reported a clean bill of health otherwise.

Although May missed the Six Nations due to injury, and only had a single appearance off the bench for Gloucester between January and last Sunday’s 52-21 defeat to the Barbarians, the 32-year-old was singled out for praise by Jones at the weekend.

Speaking from Fremantle on Friday, Jones refused to rule out May and said he would continue to be monitored ahead of his potential return to training next Thursday.

It was suggested that May’s experience could allow him to slot straight in but Jack Nowell and Joe Cokanasiga, two more players to have featured against the Barbarians, would now appear to be in a strong position to start in Perth a week on Saturday.

'We're not going to rule May out at this stage'

That said, Jones could retain the same back-three formation that faced France in the last game of the Six Nations when George Furbank started at full-back with Freddie Steward on the wing.

“We're not going to rule Jonny May out at this stage," said Jones. "We'll just see how he is. Potentially he'll be available next Thursday to train, so we'll have a look to see what he's like because he's experienced and he's showed in his first game back against the Barbarians where he's lacking game time that he's got his best rugby ahead of him. We'll just monitor his situation and make an assessment closer to the day when he gets out.

"We've got a couple of others from the finals who haven't been able to get on the paddock yet, but we're hopeful that everyone will be able to train by Monday."

Western Australia government guidelines require all close contacts even with no Covid-19 symptoms to "wear a mask at all times outside of the home", while also providing negative test results on a daily basis in order to leave isolation.

May's potential absence could see Jones turn to Steward/Freeman double-act

by Charlie Morgan

Eddie Jones has said that he will give Jonny May every chance to recover for the series-opener against Australia, but the England head coach will have contingencies ready. The veteran wing was not guaranteed to be a front-line starter, anyway.

Do not forget that May had played precisely 25 minutes, courtesy of a replacement appearance for Gloucester against Saracens, between January and last Sunday’s outing against the Barbarians. Jones publicly praised May’s performance at the weekend, yet it was understandably rusty.

During his press call from Fremantle on Friday, the England head coach spoke about what will be a pivotal battleground over this series. Since the arrival of Dave Rennie, the Wallabies have gradually prioritised territory.

At the 2019 World Cup, according to Opta, they kicked just 13.2 times per 80 minutes. That figure has grown to beyond 19 over the past two years and Jones has clearly noticed.

Asked about Freddie Steward’s potential impact on the series, he suggested that long passages of unbroken play could punctuate the upcoming weeks.

“I’m sure Australia won’t be encouraging too many line-outs in the game,” Jones said.

“Their general tactic against us is not to kick out but to kick in. With Nic White potentially at nine and Quade [Cooper] at 10, they might continually play that long kicking game, which will bring Freddie [Steward] into the game, and I’ve never seen a young guy develop as much as he has.

“This will be a really good opportunity for him on flat, hard tracks to experience a different sort of rugby and grow his game.”

Tellingly, there was no confirmation that Steward would be at full-back. Could the 21-year-old Leicester Tigers star, a newly-minted Premiership champion, shift to the wing again? It would make some sense.

At the end of the Six Nations, faced with the patient kicking game of France, Jones started George Furbank at full-back to instigate counters from deep with the help of Ellis Genge. Although the Northampton Saint endured shaky moments, Steward was exceptional. He scored a powerful try and regathered a number of high balls.

That should not have come as a surprise. Steward had already been picked on the wing earlier in the season by Steve Borthwick, the Leicester Tigers head coach, for a crucial Champions Cup game in Connacht. Prior to that, Steward wore 15 yet operated as a right wing – with Henry Slade as a full-back and Manu Tuilagi as a covert centre wearing the 14 shirt – against Australia at Twickenham.

Steward’s influence, either in the air or over the ground, does not seem to be mitigated by the move. In the Premiership semi-final, for instance, he shifted to the wing within two minutes after Dan Kelly suffered an injury.

Modern back-threes have to be fluid in their positioning

Freddie Burns came on at full-back and Guy Porter slipped from wing to centre. Steward posed problems for Saints and scored a try, as he did with a scything run through Australia eight months ago.

Modern back-threes have to be fluid in their positioning. All of them must contribute in kicking exchanges, either when rising to gather opposition kicks or tilting the lance from deep when given slightly more space.

If Jones combines Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell as a 10-12 combination, they can pack the rest of their backline with pace and power. That could see Furbank overlooked and a Test debut handed to Tommy Freeman, another who was praised by Jones following the Barbarians debacle.

Freeman was at full-back that day, as he was for his intrepid Premiership semi performance in Furbank’s absence. Another tall 21-year-old, he is pacey and possesses poise on the ball. Over the last few rounds of the Premiership season, he began carving angles in midfield, too.

With that in mind, it may be that Joe Cokansiga and Jack Nowell are competing for one starting spot. A trio of Steward, Freeman and one of those two would appear to cover all bases. “Guts, gas and pace” are the traits coveted by Jones, who has promised to be “aggressive”.

Of course, a real curveball would be to let loose Henry Arundell irrespective of the apprentice tag. That might be a step too far, however.

As ever with Jones, just do not get worked up about the shirt numbers.