Wilkinson: Dropped by England?

Jonny Wilkinson is at the heart of the problem regarding the sterility of the back play.

Stuart Barnes
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England has been subjected to the deepest disparagement and Wales have been lauded to the heavens.

Having not won at Twickenham for 20 years the high running emotions are understandable although not necessarily a fair reflection of where each team is; England, as Brian Ashton rightly pointed out post-match, played 30 powerful minutes of international rugby whilst Wales themselves were almost overpowered in that self same period.

Had England been possessed of subtlety behind the scrum, the match would have been theirs for the taking but they did not and what they lacked, Wales possessed, and when the few chances arose, Wales took them.

In the process of this wildly fluctuating 80 minutes a few old adages that have become English clichés were put to the sword by the skills of James Hook, Gavin Henson and company; forwards DO NOT always win matches and experience IS NOT the be all and end of international selection.

Both are clearly vital functions but England has become too concerned with them and lost its way. Ashton needs freshness and invention. The likes of Mark Regan have no role in a post-World Cup England while Jonny Wilkinson is at the heart of the problem regarding the sterility of the back play.

Whether the manager has the strength to make the right decisions this week will be critical to England's ability to bounce back. They are not that far from being a decent team but changes are required.

Wales was anything but excessive themselves in victory but with Scotland's bitterly disappointing performance thrown into the equation, expectations will be running high in Cardiff. A Welsh loss would be a shock and severe set back but there is no need for Wales to expect a vintage performance quite yet; there are bound to be flashes and if they combine those with a win that will constitute a wonderful start for Warren Gatland, Shaun Edwards and Rob Howley.

Scotland fancied their chances but caught a French team that has immediately left the fearful negativity of the Bernard Laporte years behind. Whereas England pay homage to experience, France concentrated on current form allied with long term potential. Marc Lievremont has it right where Ashton and Eddie O' Sullivan have it wrong.

Ireland won, full stop, that's all there is to say. Had Italy not taken half an hour to gel the home side may have suffered more than an embarrassingly flat performance. The side cannot perform for the coach and if they subside in Paris, matters will look bad for the coach and, it must be said, the men that made the decision to re-appoint him before the World Cup. Hopefully Ireland will have more than a cross kick, the main Anglo-Irish attacking weapon, up its sleeve.

France apart it was not a particularly high standard of rugby and a reminder why the Northern Hemisphere has only won one of Six World Cups. France, at least, is showing a desire to win local games and global ones. Marc Lievremont, for that reason, just eclipses the smooth class of Hook as man of the week. Now to this week's post...

UNDER THE POSTS
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OSPREYS V WALES
Stuart, you make some critical comment about the NZers in the Ospreys team, but yesterday showed that there is more to the Ospreys, certainly Mike Phillips is as good as the present day Justin Marshall and Ryan Jones was excellent in that first half. Maybe you should have more accurately suggested that the excessive number of non-nationals in the GP may cause England problems in terms of leadership. David James, Kettering.

STUART SAYS: David, There was no criticism of the Osprey Kiwis or their presence in the team, rather I pondered whether the Ospreys were perhaps a better team than Wales because of their presence? Wales won at Twickenham but that does not prove the answer to be in the negative. Maybe the Ospreys would have beaten England by a few more points. Ryan Jones was excellent and I think his captaincy a fine move and no doubt, Mike Phillips was the best scrum half on the pitch but that does not mean he is the best scrum half in Swansea. As for England's problems, they had absolutely nothing to do with foreign affairs. Smarter selection and braver intent are the missing ingredients required, the problem is internal.

ENGLAND V FRANCE
Can France's new coach and approach be contrasted with that of Ashton and England? Normally I'd forgive any coach the first international in a while but when someone makes 'low tariff dive' like Ashton and 'belly flops' it what positive about him can one say? Where does he go from here? Has he fallen between two stools when finally given the chance? I thought our 9, 10 and 12 criminal even in the first half. The 10 seems caught up in his reputation and has become so conscious of trying to win the game himself, IMO, see World Cup where he dropped every-time he had penalty advantage even with an overlap (we got three points from a possible 10-14 in those situation despite two chances each time). The 12 was his "mini me" and decided if he got the ball he would be as vain glorious as his older sibling. Should my motherland Wales, aside from the win and points, take anything from this game? I mean at one point I thought they might be the worst Welsh team since the 90s and I cannot say I was terribly impressed after. Jon.

STUART SAYS: Jon, Yes France and England's approach to the game deserves the most miscroscopic examination. I have touched upon the subject in my column and I find it hard to dispute anything you have written...maybe you are somewhat hard on the less experienced Flood who did create problems for a Welsh team that did look dreadful for half a game. What can Wales take from the game, apart from the win? Well now, let us not knock the importance of the confidence and the mental toughness to hang in there, and the memory that keeping the ball alive and not kicking it away or being obsessed with field position...actually quite a lot. So maybe we do differ on your views upon Wales.

UNSTEADY EDDIE
Stuart, isn't it about time Eddie O'Sullivan learned from one of his own lessons and many of the mistakes he has made as Ireland coach? This group of players, that should have won Grand Slams and performed far better in World Cup, should be disbanded. I am not saying discard them all but a good few of them because with the example of Eoin Reddan for Peter Stringer, we are seeing that when Irish youth is given its chance, it can be better that what is on offer from the under-achieving veterans. So what about Robert Kearney, Tony Buckley, Jamie Heaslip, Johnnie Murphy, Cian Healy, Shane Jennings and Tommy Bowe being given a chance? It's getting to the point where I can't watch this insipid, uninspiring Ireland team any more. Rich M, Belfast.

STUART SAYS: Rich, As a neutral watching the game in detail on Saturday it made painful viewing. Eddie O' Sullivan seems incapable of bravery when it comes to selection. A team of talented players almost delivered, did not and are now looking slightly - no plenty - the wrong side of the hill. Tommy Bowe and Jamie Heaslip for two would offer the sort of pace and dash a few of the new French players brought to their team. But of all Ireland's problems, the main question to be resolved is whether the manager is the biggest one of them all. After the World Cup, Ireland should have made a fresh start, all round.

JONNY BE BAD
Stuart, In the Sunday Times you said, 'Ashton is in need of the unusual, something slightly different, something like Danny Cipriani'. I couldn't agree with you more. I think that Wilkinson was one of the major reasons we weren't 20 points up at half-time, he seems to lack the ambition to really get the back line moving and search for the holes you talked about. You also said, 'Andy Gomarsall looked the controlling influence into which he evolved in the World Cup'. Here I have to disagree, I thought Gomersall was the other reason we weren't 20 points up. Too quick to kick, too slow to release the backs. There are good players in better form in both positions. Cipriani is just one. Ryan Lamb is another. At scrum-half Wigglesworth has been given the nod, but I would argue the case for Danny Care. A little more Lievremont please. Ben James.

STUART SAYS: Ben, A lot more Lievremont. English back play has stultified and Jonny Wilkinson IS one of the main reasons. Having watched him consistently since the last World Cup I will state that the blinkered obsession with his inclusion is based upon nothing but sentimentality. His alignment is all wrong and his failure to settle England Saturday suggests that without a smart and experienced operator (Mike Catt or Will Greenwood) he has always been an individual; brilliant for years, I refuse to deny his excellence in all technical aspects from 1999 - 2003 but the team leader, it doesn't look that way. A few others are coming late to the fact. He should be treated as any other player and with Cipriani showing such potential, this means being omitted. More Lievremont indeed. As for Gomarsall, he plays to the plan and did it well enough for the first half. The problem was the plan lacked the requisite ambition to finish Wales when the forwards had laid the platform. Wholesale changes are required, not just to add in form players but to change the mind set and up the ambition of the team...Tuesday, 9.00 am as I write, there are some interesting selections coming up.

Thanks for the mail, as ever, Stuart .