Eddie Jones will have the green light to select Brad Shields for England’s summer tour of South Africa despite the fact that the New Zealand-born flanker could play up to six Super Rugby matches for the Hurricanes after the three-Test series against the Springboks.
Shields, who joins Wasps next season, has been in excellent form in the opening seven rounds of Super Rugby, captaining the Hurricanes to the top of the standings. The 27‑year‑old flanker is eligible to play for Jones’s side because both his parents were born in England but he is not due at Wasps until finishing his commitments with the Hurricanes, which could end as late as August – and is not expected to be ready to start the Premiership season.
When Wasps confirmed the signing of Shields last November it was uncertain whether he would be available for the summer tour because the Rugby Football Union traditionally refuses to pick players based outside England.
It is understood, however, that if Jones wishes to select Shields he would have the blessing of his superiors in what represents a welcome boost for the head coach, considering his side’s back-row troubles during the Six Nations.
Jones is set to be without Courtney Lawes and Nathan Hughes in South Africa, where England will look to end a three-match losing run, while his injury problems – Anthony Watson is also missing and Jonathan Joseph is a serious doubt – will be compounded if the captain, Dylan Hartley, is ruled out with concussion.
While players such as the in-form Toulon wing Chris Ashton remain off limits to Jones, there were signs of increased flexibility last summer with England selecting Piers Francis in the squad to tour Argentina. At the time, Francis was contracted to the Blues in Super Rugby but had agreed a move to Northampton for this season. After the Argentina tour, Francis briefly returned to the Blues, who had one remaining Super Rugby match, and though he did not play in it because of injury, it is understood he is considered the precedent for Shields.
England begin their series against South Africa in Johannesburg on 9 June before games in Bloemfontein (16 June) and Cape Town (23 June). As all three matches fall in the official international Test window, the Hurricanes would be obliged to release Shields. He revealed in January that Jones had been in touch and while it is unclear if the Australian wishes to select Shields, who won the 2011 Junior World Cup with New Zealand, at the first available opportunity, the temptation is obvious considering his pedigree.
The Hurricanes have three regular Super Rugby games after England’s tour of South Africa but if they were to reach the final it would mean an extra three with the tournament decider scheduled for 4 August, less than a month before the Premiership season starts.
The Professional Game Board will on Thursday scrutinise Jones’s explanation for England’s fifth-place finish in the Six Nations, in a hugely significant meeting in determining the restructure of the domestic game, ring-fencing the Premiership and the length of the season will also be high on the agenda.
Yorkshire Carnegie’s South African flanker Brandon Staples has been banned for four years after testing positive for three different steroids, the RFU has announced. The 20-year-old is the first player to test positive for a performance-enhancing substance in English professional rugby since 2011.
