England Rugby - January 2007

by Ed Budge

England Rugby as seen by our resident critic Ed.......

Time, they say, is something of which one never seems to have enough. The RFU will tell you this as soon as look at you, and if you mention that four-letter word to new England head-coach Brian Ashton, I'll be surprised if he has enough of it to respond. Frankly, even I don't have time to contemplate whether or not the former attack coach is the right man to lead England to the World Cup. But lead he must, and in 8 months and under a dozen games he needs to design and test a completely new team. He has my undying sympathy, and all the caffeine I can find to send to him.

Ashton's first act was a good one. Installing Phil Vickery as captain instantly evokes a passion for getting one's head down and winning some damned rugby matches. But it was an act, not a decision, since that is all for which England currently have the time. The moment has long since passed for deciding on a new direction for the Red Rose Army, a new focus. It is glaringly obvious that the team needs more fight, a better gameplan, more astute coaching and management, better basic skills and God knows what else. The moment has passed because if you ask in what direction the England team needs to progress, the shortest answer is, quite simply, every which way.

So, once the placards have been hung in changing rooms and boardrooms saying "DO BETTER" only one decision remains for Ashton: selection. And this is where it gets fun for me. England need to assemble their first choice team by the final game of the VI Nations against Wales and keep it for as much of the rest of the year as is possible/defensible and in order to do this, they need to have some idea what it is. This leaves a very strict timetable, which I believe should go something like this: Two games to look at thirty players; one game to assemble the best of the thirty; one game to tinker with the previous side; and finally, a first-choice team for the Millenium Stadium on 17th March. One thing that can not be overstated is that if a team doesn't work, we do not have enough matches available to close our eyes, cross our fingers and hope it comes good.

But I know what you're all thinking: "Who would you pick, Ed?" Well, I'm glad you asked. If, as is more likely the case, you couldn't care less then I'm going to tell you anyway.

Full-Back: Iain Balshaw, Josh Lewsey, Jason Robinson. It depends which way you look at it really. Either we have three exciting players with pace to burn and experience coming out of their ears; or we have three past-their-best operators who rode in on the backs of their reputations with a World Cup medal for ballast, none of whom can kick and all of whom would be better on the wing. Unfortunately, the latter description seems more familiar at present, and since it applies least to Lewsey, in he goes. Besides, we still owe him a packet for preventing what would now be a 9-game losing streak!

Wings: Mark Cueto, Paul Sackey, Iain Balshaw, Jason Robinson. Sackey was one of few bright sparks in the Autumn, and combined with Cueto could form a lethal finishing partnership. Wingers earn their crust at the try-line, and Robinson and Balshaw are lagging behind at present. The absence of James Simpson-Daniel still confounds me, but I'm sure the man will have a role to play at some point.

Outside Centre: Jamie Noon, Mathew Tait, Mike Tindall. Having already picked my back three, it would seem foolish to pick a centre that is absolutely, 100% guaranteed not to give them the ball. So it has to be Tait. Now just one of a whole crop of youngsters in the mix, maybe the spotlight can lift momentarily, and certain observers can stop expecting him to produce magic at every turn. Given time, the spark will burn brightly enough.

Inside Centre: Mike Catt, Andy Farrell, Toby Flood. Oh, where to start? Firstly, Noon and Tindall have not been included in this category because you're all going to hear plenty of that rubbish from Mr Guscott when the VI nations begins. Secondly, I'm no happier about picking a 400-year-old man than anyone else, but we have 8 months to a World Cup, and we do not have time to teach anybody what happens if there's a seventh tackle. Call me dismissive, narrow-minded and downright unfair; but try to tell me you'd pick Andy Farrell if his name was Gary Ford and he'd just been signed from Plymouth for a pittance. And don't even get me started on Anthony Allen.

Fly Half: Shane Geraghty, Toby Flood, (Jonny Wilkinson). With Charlie Hodgson and Wilkinson (inevitably) crocked, and the selection falling on a school-night rendering Ryan Lamb and Danny Cipriani unavailable, we're left with Flood and Geraghty. I'll be honest, this is not a balanced decision since I've never seen the latter play a moment of rugby. But I've seen Flood get a backline going like few others around, and if reports of him nailing 50yd penalties in the rain are to be believed, then I'm sold. At least for now.

Scrum Half: Harry Ellis, Shaun Perry, Peter Richards. Since Richards still hasn't found the time to work on his passing (even under the close tutelage of Brian Redpath), Perry is still my man, pending injury recovery. As said, 8 months is not long, and I haven't got the patience to be faffing around with Ellis anymore, potential or otherwise.

Loose-Head Prop: Perry Freshwater, Tim Payne. Has anyone seen Tim Payne scrummage? Enough said

Hooker: George Chuter, Lee Mears, Steve Thompson. Not what I'd call an embarrassment of riches here, but with the weaknesses elsewhere in the front row there is no way on Earth I'm letting Steve Thompson in the scrum. Lee Mears continues to sail all of his promise down the river, now getting beaten up on a regular basis with the Bath pack, and still yet to make his first line-out throw of a game for England. It's got to be Chuter, I fear.

Tight-Head Prop: Phil Vickery, Julian White. Thank God Ashton has made this one easy for himself. International rugby is hard enough with 15 men on the field, let alone 14 men for every phase except the scrum. All hail the new skipper!

Locks: Alex Brown, Louis Deacon, Danny Grewcock, Tom Palmer. Of course, had his nth disciplinary hearing been any less lenient this would be a moot point, but Grewcock should rightfully be scrapping for his place with Chris Jones, which would have proved a battle of Ashton's ethos over any sort of form. As it is, there is only one viable partnership to extract from this peculiar area of the squad.

Blind Side Flanker: Lewis Moody, Joe Worsley. Now, before I dive into this I must raise the issue of balance. The back row, as a unit, needs pace, it needs power, it needs somebody to do the work that nobody else wants to do, and it needs to scrap on the floor. Four jobs, three men. There are only two volunteers for the work than nobody else wants to do, and since the other one is going to be unceremoniously dethroned two paragraphs down, it necessitates the selection of Worsley at 6, ahead of the more frantic and nimble Moody.

Open Side Flanker: Magnus Lund, Tom Rees. If anyone says Lewis Moody you'll be sent to the back of the class! Finally, the choice of two actual opensides with a little bit of form has presented itself to England. Rees could amply provide the pace mentioned above, but that'll be covered shortly (he grins, in anticipation) so I've opted for Lund. Both men have been plying their trade at the top level for about the same time, but Lund's Premiership adventure has so far been untempered by serious injury and/or selection battles. This little extra experience and nous gets him the nod.

Number 8: Martin Corry, Dan Ward-Smith. Honestly? I'm a little excited. Ward-Smith tends to get off the mark quicker than a fireman down a pole, and is built rather like the engine into which said fireman then climbs. England may finally have reason to believe that "ball-carrying" does not mean picking up the pill and promptly falling over at the nearest opponent. I cannot over-emphasise how strongly I believe that Ward-Smith could be the single biggest difference to this England team by a west country mile. There is a wonderful Dylan Moran line that goes something like "Potential is a lot like your bank balance; you always have a lot less than you think." But in this case, don't you just want to have a look anyway?

So there it is. One line-up that I'm sure will never be selected for England. I've got to go now, since I believe the World Cup is starting in about 5 minutes!

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