Shane can shine

Opta takes a look at England's centre conundrum and assesses the ambitions of Geraghty

Last updated: 15th October 2009  

Shane can shine

Geraghty: Could solve England's midfield problems

Following the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, England have constantly struggled to find a successful combination in midfield.

The world-beating partnership of Wilkinson/Greenwood/Tindall is now a distant memory and since Martin Johnson held aloft the Webb Ellis Cup in the Telstra Stadium, 25 different players have represented England in one of the two centre positions.

The following table shows the six players who have made more than 10 appearances in the centres for England since November 23, 2003, a further 15 have made starts or substitute appearances in the midfield.

Player GamesPointsTries Win %
JD Noon 3130638.7
MJ Tindall 2724444.44
MJM Tait 175147.05
MJ Catt 130038.46
TGAL Flood 1310253.84
OJ Barkley 1215141.66

Shane Geraghty is one of those players to have made a couple of substitute appearances, and he has made a tremendous start to the 2009/10 season, putting him in the frame for a recall. Opta take a look at his efforts for his new club, Northampton Saints, and analyse whether he has what it takes to nail down a permanent spot in Johnson's line up.

The former London Irish man has played in all six of Northampton's games so far this term, including their pulsating win over perennial Heineken Cup challengers, Munster. In that game against the Irish heavyweights, he scored a try, provided assists for the other two, kicked 16 points and didn't miss a tackle. He also gained 44 metres for his side, more than any of team-mates.

Although he has played mainly at 10 this season, the 23-year-old is a versatile player and could provide the much needed creativity at 12, outside a resurgent Jonny Wilkinson. In his five Guinness Premiership games for the Saints he has made 37 tackles, only two other backs in the league have made more, the Wasps duo of Ben Jacobs and Dominic Waldouck. He has made three clean breaks and three passes leading to clean breaks, showing his undisputed creativity and an eye for a gap. A try and 49 points from the boot mean he is the third highest scorer in the league so far, showing his ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over as well.

Shane Geraghty in GP 09/10 
Carries34
Metres109
Clean breaks3
Break passes3
Tries1
Points54
Tackles37
Tackle %84%

Currently he is one of England's top players, and if he can continue this form on Friday night against Perpignan, then Johnson will be hard pushed not to select him come the first autumn international against Australia on November 7.

6 Nations Winner 2010 Win Outright: England 3/1

Comments (2)

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Jon Payne says...

Yeh, Gerathy and Tait in the centres and then the Aussies can just run straight through us!!

Posted 08:44 6th November 2009

Rory Steinbeck says...

Geraghty and Tait in the centres please...

Posted 22:09 19th October 2009
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