Eddie Jones goes back to the future with selection out of his 2018 playbook

It is not just rampant inflation, Kate Bush and train strikes that are currently causing a sense of deja vu, particularly for England rugby supporters who may feel overwhelmed by the parallels of four years ago

An awful two-win Six Nations campaign followed by a humiliating defeat by the Barbarians with doubts swirling around the identity of the captain leading into a treacherous tour: 2022 feels an awful lot like 2018.

The throwback feel intensified when Eddie Jones included both Vunipola brothers, Billy and Mako, and scrum-half Danny Care in his 36-man squad to tour Australia. International obituaries had been written for all three men after being purged from past squads by Jones, but the England head coach is nothing if not a pragmatist.

Unlike his predecessor Stuart Lancaster, Jones’ principles are not cast in iron. Go back to 2018 again when Jones selected Danny Cipriani, the cause celebre of that particular day, for the tour to South Africa. The media circus and celebrity trappings associated with Cipriani are anathema to Jones, but he held his nose to pick the fly-half. Cipriani’s performance in the final Test, a 25-10 victory that bookended a series defeat arguably saved Jones’ job. His role was served and that was the last time Cipriani would play for England.

The “line in the sand” that Jones said he was drawing after the Lions tour last summer when the Vunipolas, fly-half George Ford and hooker Jamie George were dropped in one fell swoop have been washed away by the tides of convenience. George was recalled the moment Luke Cowan-Dickie’s fitness faltered, Ford returned during this year’s Six Nations and finally the Vunipolas returned after a storming end to the season with Saracens.

Jones billed last year’s