Because of his primary positional duties, Nowell operated as a left flanker rather than staying on the blindside as other backs have done in the case of a scrummaging emergency. The 28-year-old is not an ordinary back, of course. Compare his appetite and technical prowess in set-piece situations to that of Jonny May against Argentina in 2016, after Elliot Daly had been red-carded and Cole sent to the sin bin. With England temporarily reduced to 13, May filled in at flanker. Hilarity, and a tidal wave of YouTube hits, ensued.
It was back in January 2019, ironically in the build-up to England’s exceptional win in Dublin, that Jones first publicly floated the notion a hybrid role for Nowell. A year previously, amid the chaos of Italy’s no-ruck ‘fox’ tactics, the Australian had unleashed Nowell as a second scrum-half to dart around the fringes. Jones has long admired Nowell’s cocktail of hustle, bustle and commitment.
“Jack could definitely play at seven because he is a great player and he is going to be the new breed of player,” Jones said three years ago. “The game has changed. The game used to be 80 minutes, now it is 100 minutes. The next change is you will have players who can play backs and forwards.
“Maybe one of the opportunities [to change the change] is nine forwards,” added England’s head coach. “There is no reason why you can’t play nine forwards. He could stand blindside wing.”
Nowell’s unfussy, spirited character lends itself to backs-to-the-wall efforts such as the one that England needed following Ewels’ dismissal. His scrummaging did not preclude him from more conventional contributions on the wing, either. In the 22nd minute, he stepped off his left foot and bumped away Andrew Conway. Just before half-time, he tore after Marcus Smith’s restart and regathered possession. Close to the hour-mark, Nowell helped Alex Dombrandt sling Hugo Keenan into touch.
His graft and gusto lifted England throughout, and they will need those traits now more than ever. Paris, and a France team hunting a Grand Slam, is their next assignment. This is no time for sulking, and that is not Nowell’s style – whatever position he finds himself in.
