Wednesday 7 October 2015 18:59, UK
Stuart Lancaster's selections for Saturday's dead rubber against Uruguay shows a lack of trust in England's wider squad, says Dewi Morris...
I was down at London Scottish on Saturday before England's game against Australia and was asked for my opinion of the Wallabies.
I said that Michael Cheika looked dangerous, the Matt Giteau clause made them a better side, the scrum was improving and it was a much improved Australia team from the one England met 10 months ago.
It was a problem for England and I voiced my concern, only to be told I should be backing the England team rather than being negative.
I can't be a blind patriot, that's not what supporting your nation is about. Improvement is important, and you can't improve if nobody is ever allowed to criticise you. This comes from someone who wants England rugby to be the best in the world, not someone who wants to see them torn down.
World Cups are tight, I know that, but the selections never seemed to reflect any intimate knowledge of a solid game plan.
The most painful thing about watching the loss to Australia was knowing that the concerns people had were not addressed despite having almost four years to plan for them.
The team picked against Uruguay shows that Lancaster is still unsure of what type of game he'd like to play, even after playing against Wales and Australia.
Henry Slade has been brought into the side at 13, but why isn't he playing 12 with Jonathan Joseph? Owen Farrell is a solid player but lacks the attacking edge that is required to unlock defences that are improving with each year that rugby is professional.
What is Jamie George doing in the squad? He still isn't being utilised despite being one of England's most promising rising stars. He may have made a positive impact in England's set piece during the campaign but we will never know now, and yet he still won't get a chance in a game with nothing to gain.
Lancaster has opted for Danny Care but the Quins scrum-half should have had more chances during the tournament, while Geoff Parling and Joe Launchbury once again pair off in the second row.
What's wrong with George Kruis? People can't prove themselves if they aren't given minutes on the pitch to do so.
Pressure
I don't want to pay disrespect to Uruguay because they are as professional as amateurs get, but it's a game where the youngsters in the England squad should be played because even a 100-point victory won't do anything to placate those with their knives out for Lancaster and his staff.
Whatever they felt at Twickenham, there is even more pressure waiting for them up in Manchester from those who got tickets for one game out of the four, and now it's a dead rubber. Why not give the fans something to watch by unleashing all the future talent at their disposal?
Instead there are more scrambled selections which sends scrambled messages, and while Lancaster has made some changes, he hasn't gone far enough in my opinion.
Chris Robshaw would have done well to get a break in this game, for the mental as well as physical benefits to him as a player and person. He's under a great deal of pressure.
Additionally I still think Lancaster's selections don't offer the attacking threat that is needed to dominate at an international level. I want to see what England can offer with George Ford at 10, Slade at 12 and Joseph at 13.
Why is Dan Cole starting? Where is the concern? It shows a lack of trust in the wider squad and I'm left scratching my head looking at certain selections, which is no different from the rest of the World Cup.
I've been saying for three years that the balance is off, it's not a new issue. It looked like the team was going in the right direction for a portion of the Six Nations, but when the crunch came the brakes were applied and the side went conservative.
World Cups are tight, I know that, but the selections never seemed to reflect any intimate knowledge of a solid game plan. I felt with our attacking game we could have done something at this competition.
The organisation was given everything at their disposal to build on a good campaign and they arrived at the World Cup looking quite rudderless.
The management are responsible for who they put on the pitch. England rugby is not in a good place and it has cost the country a lot of money due to the professional nature of this game.
