Former Wallabies captain James Horwill is tipping Eddie Jones to fight fire with fire and field a supersized forward pack in the Rugby Championship opener against South Africa.
With only 77 days left before the Rugby World Cup kicks off, Horwill said it was crucial that Jones found out quickly whether or not giant locks Will Skelton and Richie Arnold could transfer their fine form in French club rugby into the Test arena.
With Rob Valetini an obvious pick at No.8 for the July 9 (AEST) clash with the Springboks in Pretoria, Horwill thought Jones could then bolster his lineout options with Pete Samu and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto as his flankers.
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“Richie – we need to see what he can do at Test level,” Horwill said on Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven.
“He’s obviously been playing really well for Toulouse. He was excellent against Will Skelton’s La Rochelle on the weekend and he’s been great, you talk to anyone over there, he’s been a big part of their success. But does that transfer to Test rugby?
“We all know it’s different, particularly the northern hemisphere rugby, is different to what is going to go on in The Rugby Championship. So I think Eddie’s got to find out and he’s only got about four games to do it. I’m expecting those two to get selected, Will and Richie against South Africa.”
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Jones will name a squad of 33 on Sunday after running his eyes over selection hopefuls in a training camp in Coogee this week.
“I think Eddie might go a big jumping seven as well,” Horwill said.
“He’ll go that South African, French method of two backrowers on the side that are genuine jumping options. Your Pete Samus, Tom Hooper’s a smokey that you could throw in there that played really well on the weekend…
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“Maybe Lukhan comes into that mix as well. He’s been playing a lot of six for Northampton, he’s a big body... I probably would, just purely for the physicality that he brings to the game against South Africa.”
Jones told reporters on Friday that he was aiming to develop a “simple” style of play that ”allows the players to use their strengths.”
He described Salakaia-Loto as “a big, strong jumping No.6 who can play four, which is a great option for us.”
Jones added that playing a non-traditional openside flanker, such as Samu, was “always an option” which could spell bad news for Michael Hooper and Fraser McReight.
“But it’s a balance of 4-5-6-7-8 we’re looking for. Size is a factor, we need to have a ball carrier, we need to have defence and we need to have workrate, so we’re always looking to get the balance there…
“To beat South Africa, physically you have to meet the challenge, that’s the first thing you have to do. Then after that there’s the set piece contest, there’s the aerial contest and there’s the contest on the ground. It is a huge contest game against them, so we have to be able to win the contest.”
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