Jonny Wilkinson: World Cup rivals would love England's fly-half dilemma
Monday 27 July 2015 13:09, UK
Jonny Wilkinson feels some of England's World Cup rivals would love to have the fly-half selection dilemma coach Stuart Lancaster is trying to solve.
With the start of a home World Cup less than two months away, the intriguing battle for the No 10 shirt is yet to be decided, with Bath's George Ford and Owen Farrell of Saracens offering Lancaster two world-class options.
Ford has made his international breakthrough in the last 18 months, winning 11 caps and taking his points tally to 109 with 25 in a sound performance in the Six Nations finale against France in March.
Farrell has more experience, playing 29 times for his country, but he missed the entire Six Nations with a knee injury and has been played in the centre at times.
England are on the way back from a training camp in Denver, Colorado, and Lancaster has given his players a week off as he looks to sit down and assess his options.
The 45-man training camp party will be cut by nine early in August and Lancaster will name his 31-man squad for the tournament on August 31, with players who did not go to the United States - injured Joe Simpson, Tom Croft, Nick Easter and Ben Foden - also in consideration.
Asked about England's No 10 battle, Wilkinson told Sky Sports News HQ: "I am a big fan of both and I have spent some good time with both, which has been a privilege and an honour.
"Owen Farrell has done so much to bring that team to where it is. You have to remember, when he was put into that team he fronted up and became it.
"He brings a very solid nature to those key moments, he just fronts up and says 'I'll knock this over' or 'I'll put the hit in that stops the attack.'
"He's done amazingly but people can forget that quite quickly, because George comes in and he has got that ability to read the game, to open up areas, where he brings a certain touch of class that makes you think he has been there for a long time.
"But the key is you have got two of them. Moaning about which one you are going to play is tough. You have got two guys there who a lot of other countries would look at and say 'if you don't want one of them, we'll take him.'
"They are going to lead this time, they are going to take it into the next era and they are going to continue to build and inspire this rugby team.
"You've got to work with both of them. They both need time before the World Cup to get used to it because you are going to need both of them at some point."
Wilkinson was speaking at final leg of the O2 Touch Tour, a touch rugby event which has visited cities across the UK to encourage both men and women to get into the non-contact sport of touch rugby.
The events have provided the opportunity for 250 unemployed young people across the country to put on the event - getting involved in coaching, event management, PR and lots more.
