With him being dual-qualified to play for England and Wales it has sparked talk about whether Eddie Jones should cap him during the Six Nations – but I think that’s too early.
Last weekend was the first time people properly started talking about Randall. He had a very good game against a very good team, and it’s rare to see a No.9 scoring from a driving maul! The most important thing was his overall influence on proceedings.
He’s young – just turned 23 – and initially he didn’t seem that authoritative to me. His core skills are OK, but sometimes he box-kicks straight out or too long or short, which seems to be prevalent in the Premiership. Basics should be a given but are often overlooked and if he wants some help I think I could speed up his pass if I had a few sessions with him.
I like him as a player and he’s one for the future, but up to now his influence has been limited. Sometimes I wouldn’t have known he was playing as he hadn’t put his stamp on the game the way he did against Exeter. The big question for me is, if England were to play France in Paris now, would he perform and not be a shrinking violet? Can he be a Faf de Klerk-type influencer? At the moment he’s showing signs that he can but there’s some way to go.
This story is from the January 17, 2021 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the January 17, 2021 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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