Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Come on England... | |
Posted by: | Francis Rowe | |
Date/Time: | 05/10/15 10:09:00 |
The non-selection of Armitage was not Lancaster's decision. The non-selection of Cipriani was harsh but he would have just been a bench-warmer and it made sense to pick Slade to give him tournament experience for next time. Burgess is an immense talent but in retrospect Luther Burrell may have been a better option. It was a marginal call. Most people would have gone for Farrell to start rather than Ford given the expectation of a tight game and Farrell's better record at kicking under the highest pressure and better defensive capabilities. We can all quibble at details. I am at a loss to understand why Haskell wasn't at least given a place on the bench as he at least would have put up some resistance to Pocock and Hooper but all these decisions are complex ones and it is hard to be totally sure unless you have all the information about why they were taken. The cold hard fact is that we are emerging from a relatively fallow period for English rugby talent. Unlike Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland we don't have a squad packed with players at their absolute peak with bags of experience. They field teams with an average cap rate of over 40 whereas we field teams around half that. Is there any English player between 27 and 32 that you would describe as world class? The good news for England, and the main reason why Lancaster should be kept on, is that this is changing. Ask anyone involved in youth rugby and they will tell you that there is a 'pig in a python' effect due to England's world cup win in 2003 when lots of boys were inspired to take up rugby. England have dominated junior World Cups in recent years and this generation aged 19-22 at the moment is just starting to make an impact at club level. Henry Slade is not the only extraordinary talent coming through. You will be hearing a great deal about players like Jack Clifford and Maro Itoje in coming years. They are all already World Cup winners at age group level and I advise you to put money on them now to win in Japan in 2019. Unlike the current crop of younger talent they will be joining some top quality seasoned internationals with whom they will combine to make a much more formidable team - Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Jonathan Joseph, Luther Burrell, Owen Farrell, George Ford, Anthony Watson and even Sam Burgess will still be around. As Jonny Wilkinson has made clear what this team needs is continuity and that includes keeping Lancaster on - of course the RFU will take the easy way out and sack him. |