Thursday 11 May 2017 16:28, UK
David Strettle says that former England coaching regimes were too quick to drop players based on their weaknesses rather than helping them to develop.
Graham Simmons sat down with Strettle before Clermont's European Champions Cup final against Saracens, live on Sky Sports this Saturday, and the winger spoke about the pressure of being a player in the English spotlight.
The 14-Test international believes that players were typically judged on what they couldn''t do, rather than what they could do.
"With English rugby we were too quick to look at the weaknesses of players, as opposed to concentrating on the strengths," Strettle said.
"You look at Tom Varndell; he's a try machine. He's someone who, if you put him in an All Blacks team, would have probably have scored god knows how many Test tries. Yeah he had areas in his game, like we all do, which you have to work on, but look at what he's got - he's got an x-factor which you can't find anywhere else.
I watch New Zealand play sometimes and I see some of their players make mistakes and I think 'If he'd have made that mistake in an England game - gone'.
"Look at Christian Wade, a player there who's got such unbelievable attacking ability, and yet people concentrate on other things. [Chris Ashton] scores god knows how many tries for England, people pick at faults in his game elsewhere.
"I just think that it's sad that people expect the complete player."
Strettle, who is the third-best try-scorer in the Top 14 this season, believes other countries show more patience with their players.
"I watch New Zealand play sometimes and I see some of their players make mistakes and I think 'If he'd have made that mistake in an England game - gone'."
The former Harlequins and Saracens back believes it's the role of a coach to help develop a player, rather than discarding him based on shortfalls in his game.
"That's why you are an England coach, that's why you're a Premiership coach; you make these players better. They're not the finished article by any means," said Strettle.
"When you put them on a pitch and think 'right, he's pressing replay now, he's done' - no, teach him. He's obviously got the x-factor and ability, make him an international player, make him a world-class player.
"If you chop and change so much you lose all ability to do that, and the worst thing is, the players lose their confidence."
Strettle won his first England cap under Martin Johnson in 2008, and featured sporadically under Stuart Lancaster. The 33-year-old is yet to get the nod from Eddie Jones, but believes the Australian has the right attitude as a mentor, and says England will be more of a force because of it.
"Under Martin Johnson, the environment I felt was that players were so worried about making mistakes because they were going to get dropped, they played so conservatively.
"You walked off a pitch thinking '[I] didn't make a mistake there, I'm safe for next week' - I mean, you don't beat New Zealand playing like that. You beat New Zealand going at them and trying your very best. You might knock a ball on, you might pass it quick and pass forward, but you've got to try it because the only way you beat the best in the world is by doing that.
"When I speak to the lads who are now in the Eddie Jones environment, I believe they've got that new sense of belief around themselves. They believe that even if they make a mistake, as long they're trying hard they know that Eddie will stick with them.
"That's the most important thing, because if you don't have the belief of your coach, there's nothing worse as a player."
