New England move to include prop’s stunning basketball skills
Reports are emerging that Eddie Jones and England are desperately trying to find a way to incorporate loosehead prop Bevan Rodd’s incredible basketball skills into a move after the 21-year-old was caught on film pulling off a miracle shot this week.
England Rugby have shared a video this week of the team playing basketball, where the Sale Sharks man attempted an overhead shot and landed it, sending his teammates wild. Jones has since been hard at work to try and fit that into a new move.
So far, all the team have come up with is Rodd standing at fly-half at a lineout and pulling off the shot to his outside centre. Scouts looking in on the England squad training in Perth have reported that the move so far has a 100% interception rate, but Jones is not willing to give up on it.
Take a look at the shot:
Nailed it 🏀 ✅@O2 | #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/HYJ5Sgjisq
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 24, 2022
Meanwhile, England have encountered a roadblock in the preparations for the first Test against Australia next week with winger Jonny May testing positive for Covid. He will now have to isolate for a week, although Jones has not ruled him out of playing.
“We’re not going to rule Jonny May out at this stage. We’ll just see how he is,” Jones said.
“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 that he’s lacking game time and 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.”
England will be looking to bounce back from a humbling 52-21 loss to the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday, although they will welcome back a number of Leicester Tigers and Saracens players for their series against the Wallabies.
