Eddie Jones faces enormous England fan backlash if he still ignores Alfie Barbeary after this
Wasps back row Alfie Barbeary put in a performance against Exeter Chiefs on Saturday of a player who had recently been dropped by England.
Many England fans were expecting the 21-year-old to make his England debut against Scotland in the Calcutta Cup on that day, but instead he was part of a heroic comeback by Wasps at Sandy Park.
Playing at No8, he scored his side’s penultimate try of the game on 78 minutes to make the score 26-22 before a last gasp try by Paolo Odogwu to secure the win. He showed his power for the try, forming a seemingly unstoppable maul with his teammates. Take a look:
However, if the try did not send a message to Eddie Jones, perhaps this stat did: he made the most carries in a match in the Gallagher Premiership this season with 24. The stat was shared by Opta this week, and pretty much sums up the form he is in. If Jones wanted a response from Barbeary, he certainly got it.
24 – Alfie Barbeary made 24 carries against Exeter, the most by any player in a @premrugby match this season and the most by a @WaspsRugby player in the league since September 2018 (Nathan Hughes, 26 v Worcester). Bulldozer.https://t.co/cqWzKyaCWi
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 8, 2022
The Wasps man is part of Jones’ 36-man England squad ahead of a trip to Rome on Sunday to take on Italy. With England’s blindside from the Calcutta Cup Lewis Ludlam out with a rib injury, the door has been opened all the more for Barbeary. Surely Jones can’t overlook him now.
England Squad
FORWARDS
Alfie Barbeary (Wasps, uncapped)
Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons, 5 caps)
Ollie Chessum, Leicester Tigers, uncapped)
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps)
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 37 caps)
Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 27 caps)
Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 32 caps)
Jamie George (Saracens, 62 caps)
Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 52 caps)
Nick Isiekwe (Saracens, 4 caps)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 69 caps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 90 caps)
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 75 caps)
Tom Pearson (London Irish, uncapped)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 48 caps)
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
BACKS
Mark Atkinson (Gloucester Rugby, 1 cap)
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 53 caps)
George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 78 caps)
George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 5 caps)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)
Louis Lynagh (Harlequins, uncapped)
Max Malins (Saracens, 11 caps)
Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 8 caps)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 34 caps)
Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks, 2 caps)
Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons, 2 caps)
Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 44 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 6 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 6 caps)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 113 caps)
