England's answer at 8?

With Zach Mercer joining Glaws next season and Billy rediscovering his form could Sam Simmonds find himself even further away from more England caps. Might he go to play in France if EJ ignores him before the World Cup?

Before he moved to Montpellier last year, Zach Mercer outlined why he felt the time was right to leave Bath behind and test himself overseas, having not been capped by England for almost three years.

"I want to go and develop myself. Everyone says rugby’s a short career and for me I can’t sit and wait, I want to go chase the dream, really. If I get an opportunity to come back to England I will do, and will try and get back into that England squad," Mercer told Telegraph Sport at the time.

Even Mercer surely could not have envisaged his first season in France being such a resounding success. Not only did he play a pivotal role as Montpellier won their first-ever Top 14 title, but he was so successful that he finished the campaign by being named as the best player in the whole of France. Whatever the previous definition for "putting your hand up" was, feel free to replace it with a picture of Mercer lifting the Bouclier de Brennus shield.

Now, Mercer is about to come home. Telegraph Sport understands he will join Gloucester in July on a four-year contract, on a salary of around £450,000 per season. By the time he pitches up at the age of 26, he will be returning to stake a claim for the England No 8 shirt having been previously overlooked - until Eddie Jones picked up the phone again once Mercer was tearing it up in the Top 14.

Crucially, with his contract beginning in July 2023, he will also be eligible for selection for the Rugby World Cup, which gives Jones frankly a bounty of No 8s to pick from for his squad. 

Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds both missed the summer tour of Australia through injury but have been prominent recently under Jones, while Billy Vunipola was recalled this summer after being omitted for the autumn Tests and Six Nations. Factor in the return of Mercer and from it all being about Vunipola's influence on the side in Japan four years ago, now Jones has enough No 8 options to give himself a headache.

Jones only picked five back-rows in 2019 - Tom Curry, Lewis Ludlam, Sam Underhill, Mark Wilson and Vunipola - with Maro Itoje and Courtney Lawes offering blindside cover. 

Squads for 2023 will increase from 31 to 33 as part of improved player welfare measures, potentially opening up a slot for another back-row. But, realistically, Jones is not going to be able to take all four of those No 8 options to France, even if Lawes is technically a lock but now primarily a blindside for England.

Simmonds only played nine domestic games for Exeter before suffering a season-ending hip injury, which means highlighting where each player's strengths lie is best done using averages over 80 minutes.

Examining each of Dombrandt, Mercer, Simmonds and Vunipola's domestic form last season, Dombrandt produced the most try involvements, averaging a try every two games and an assist every three, while Mercer was comfortably the best ball-carrier out of the quartet, leading the way for carries, metres gained and defenders beaten. His combination of footwork, power and pace is why Jones decided it was a good idea to get back in touch.

Back to Dombrandt, who started in the Six Nations against Italy and Wales but was otherwise an impact option from the bench, he produced the best return domestically in terms of line breaks, turnovers won - usually a strong area for Simmonds but less so last season - and also in terms of total ruck arrivals for clearouts.

Mercer outperformed Dombrandt at the lineout - tied with Simmonds for the most takes, a rare leading category for the Exeter No 8 - but was also the best offloader as well.

Regarding Simmonds and Vunipola, again, it's difficult to judge Simmonds on a smaller sample size, not forgetting Exeter's collective struggles either last season. He did however record the best tackle success rate out of the four contenders.

As for Vunipola, so good in the Gallagher Premiership final defeat to Leicester, he still shows up well here, second to Mercer for defenders beaten, offloads and turnovers won, while leading the way when it came to tackles and dominant tackles. 

He did also miss around two tackles per game, and was the most penalised, although that should not take away from a stellar season in which Vunipola made more overall metres than any other Premiership forward and the most offloads in the whole league. Off his game by the time he was dropped after the 2021 Six Nations, Vunipola returned a better player.

His effectiveness over the ball was clear in Australia, where after a yellow card in the first Test he had a good tour, carrying powerfully again while threatening as a jackaller and adding to his already vast amounts of experience in Test rugby.

Dombrandt's combination with Marcus Smith is invaluable and he's incredibly creative for England in attack and at the ruck. Simmonds' breakdown work and ability to make defenders miss is why he was called up by the British and Irish Lions last year. Mercer meanwhile has been an attacking force and key lineout component who inspired Montpellier to a historic title.

Not easy to choose, is it? Although there are worse problems for Jones to have. Expect Mercer on his return to England to be right in the thick of selection discussions next summer.