Wednesday 23 November 2016 17:22, UK
England defensive coach Paul Gustard has defended the decision to omit Semesa Rokoduguni from the squad to face Argentina on Saturday.
Bath wing Rokoduguni scored two tries in a man-of-the-match performance in the 58-15 victory over Fiji last weekend but has been cut by coach Eddie Jones for the clash with the Pumas at Twickenham, live on Sky Sports 2.
Jones has again made changes for the third autumn international following the back-to-back wins over South Africa and Fiji this month, with Jonny May set to return to the starting XV on the right flank.
Rokoduguni's Bath team-mates Matt Banahan and Matt Garvey have expressed their surprise after the 29-year-old was sent back to the Recreation Ground, with Banahan tweeting: "Just caught up with the news Rocco has been released after his display at the weekend, what message does that send after a MOM #whybother?"
But Gustard told Sky Sports News HQ: "We had a similar situation between South Africa and Fiji. There were three or four guys that acquitted themselves very well in the first Test as well - Mike Brown and Jonny May didn't play the second Test.
"Rocco didn't play in the first Test on the back of good club form and we have decided to go on a game-to-game basis.
"[We] identify the threats that the opposition will pose, what we need to counter, what we need to defuse, what we need to get right and conversely also what we need to get right in terms of the opportunities we will get from their defensive structures. How can we exploit their weaknesses, their frailties? And that's what we've done.
"So we have chosen a group of players that's staying with us and on the back of that we will get a good 23."
Rokoduguni was also axed immediately after making his sole Test appearance in a defeat to New Zealand in 2014, seemingly on the grounds of stage fright, but Gustard says he has accepted the situation.
"Eddie spoke to him, obviously about the selection and why, and that's only fair it remains between Rocco and Eddie," said Gustard.
"But we went out for tea, the guys that went home, the assistant coaches, went out for a bite to eat and a chat with them, and he's good.
"Rocco first time round disappeared from the England set up but he has been a consistent member with England since February.
"We identified that he has got a lot of talent, he has got a lot of ability and, like all our players and all our coaches, we all want to get better and want to improve."
England have stretched their winning sequence to 12 Tests with victories over the Spingboks and Fiji but have leaked five tries, some of which Gustard believes were "unbelievably soft".
"There have been some really good signs, positive signs and growth areas post the Australia tour," Gustard said.
"Unfortunately we've shipped a couple of unbelievably soft tries which is disappointing. We're better than that, but stats don't always reflect the performance of the team.
"We've spoken as a group of the need to raise our level again and that's what we're doing. We had a great day on Tuesday and we're looking forward to a good performance on Saturday.
"Yes we can be better, but we are the same group of players and same coaching group that conceded four tries in the Six Nations. We've not quite hit our straps yet. We know we can be better and we will be better on Saturday."
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