Will Greenwood says England could rotate squad in November Tests

Will Greenwood says Eddie Jones could rest some star names during England’s November Tests as he continues to build for the 2019 World Cup.

England face Argentina, Australia and Samoa next month, live on Sky Sports, and Greenwood expects them to win all three Tests.

However, the World Cup winner says Jones could be tempted to rest players like Maro Itoje for some games and hand another chance to the up-and-coming stars who helped England to a 2-0 series win in Argentina in June.

"If the All Blacks aren’t on the card then you’ve got to win all three," Greenwood told Sky Sports News.

"England are the second-best team in the world and are unbeaten at home under Eddie Jones, so you’d expect them to pick up three wins.

"There was an interesting quote from Eddie though where he said everything is about 2019. Clearly he’ll want the short-term wins but that suggests something he has intimated before.

"Some of the Lions players have put in a big shift over the past 18 months, not just physically but emotionally as well.

"Perhaps for the Argentina and Samoa games Jones might say to Maro Itoje, ‘have a little rest as we’ve got a spectacularly strong squad at the moment’, and then roll him out for Australia."

‘Players union is brassed off’

Greenwood was part of the England squad who went on strike in 2000 in a row over pay, and current stars such as Billy Vunipola have warned of similar action due to concerns over player welfare.

The umbrella organisation for the 12 Aviva Premiership clubs is seeking to establish a structure running from September to June as part of negotiations for the new global calendar, which is to take effect from August 2020.

With summer tours moved to July it means international players will face an 11-month season, prompting Vunipola, Ben Youngs and Joe Marler to declare that they regard strike action as a viable option if their voices are not heard.

"Once player power builds momentum it can often be an unstoppable force," said Greenwood. "There’s an element of the players union being slightly brassed off.

"Premiership Rugby delivered an edict and said they were going to extend the season, front and back. The fact the players weren’t involved in those discussions took them a little bit by surprise.

"A lot of young players are worried about injuries and the longevity of their careers. You break down into the smaller detail of where the devil hides and you find the number of games these players will play won’t go up.

"It will impact a little bit on their holiday time and break away from the game but actually player welfare is at the top of the chart for Premiership and English Rugby, to make sure as many of these players are available for their clubs as often as possible, and of course for England so we can mount a realistic charge for 2019 and 2023.

"I think a lot of the talk about this initially came about by the fact the players felt they weren’t consulted."

(c) Sky News 2017: Will Greenwood says England could rotate squad in November Tests