Jonathan Joseph can talk his way back into EPS

Jonathan Joseph reckons his X-factor with ball in hand will boost his chances of an England recall – a claim backed by coach Toby Booth, who says the centre is now ‘mentally rebooted’ after his unhappy ending at London Irish.
Overlooked by England since last summer’s tour of Argentina, Joseph worked his way back to his best, capping a fine finish to 2013 with a scintillating solo try against Harlequins that left full-back Mike Brown bamboozled.
But injury intervened, a broken foot sustained against Bordeaux-Begles ruling the talented 22-year-old out of Six Nations contention.
Luther Burrell took his opportunity and with Manu Tuilagi now back in the picture, Joseph’s chances of a recall look slim. But after helping Bath defeat Wasps last week to reach their first major cup final since 2008, Joseph is eager to make up for lost time and believes he offers something different in today’s increasingly congested midfield areas.
“It’s been three long months and I’m delighted to be back,” Joseph told The Rugby Paper. “Playing in big games is what you want and reaching the Amlin final is massive because as players and coaches, we feel we deserve to be on the big stage.
“My move to Bath has been good. It took me a month or so to get into it when I arrived, but after that I started playing some good rugby and I just wanted to keep it going, which is why the timing of my injury was so disappointing.
“But I’m back now and I’m focused on keeping my shirt and improving each week.
“England-wise, you can’t look at who else is out there, it’s just a case of working on your own stuff because that’s all you can really focus on.
“But I like a bit of space and feel I can bring people into the game a bit more. I’m not just your crash-ball merchant, which a lot of players are these days, and I feel like I offer a bit more in the wider channels to bring people into the game.”
Booth agrees, adding: “JJ’s very talented. He’s got a great outside break and finds kick-space in very narrow areas, so his decision-making is very good as well as his athletic ability to beat a defender, which is probably his No.1 talent.
“He’s a distributor, a good defender and talks really well. I can’t overstate how important it is to have good talkers in the back-line because opportunities are there briefly, but JJ’s very good at identifying spaces and taking them.”
Joseph believes he is in an infinitely better place now than this time last year, when the decision was made to quit Irish and head to the Rec.
He explains: “I’d hit a standstill career-wise and couldn’t see myself improving much more. It was nothing to do with the club, I just needed a fresh start.
“London was a big distraction and I have friends there. But Bath is great and I’m really knuckling down, as are the other guys who came down.
“The ambition here is massive. Bath want to go places and it’s great to be part of.”
Booth is confident the best of Joseph is yet to come. He said: “It took a long time to rebuild him mentally because he was disappointed about his last year at Irish and that had a huge psychological effect.
“He had injuries and went from having an England place to not being included, while Irish had a disappointing season, so he had a few ups and downs.
“He’s had a lot of mental rebooting to do, but he’s got better and better and prior to his injury he started reminding people of why he got an England shirt in the first place. He’s got that X-factor, which is really important.”
Let Joseph’s battle with Burrell and Tuilagi commence.
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