Warren Gatland admits England's team selection surprised Wales
Thursday 24 September 2015 14:56, UK
Warren Gatland has admitted he was surprised to see Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess selected to start for England against Wales at Twickenham.
The neighbouring nations square off on Saturday in a pivotal World Cup Pool A clash and Stuart Lancaster sprang a surprise this week by dropping fly-half George Ford in favour of former starter Farrell.
An injury to outside centre Jonathan Joseph forced Lancaster to shuffle his midfield with Burgess coming into inside centre and Brad Barritt shifting outside to No 13.
Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards revealed last week he had his team working overtime on their tackling in an effort to nullify the attacking threats of Ford and Joseph but Lancaster has instead opted for a far more direct approach.
Despite not anticipating the switch, Gatland still believes England will be very dangerous and has a high opinion of Farrell - whom he coached with the British and Irish Lions in 2013.
"We were expecting they were going to go with the same 10, 12 and 13 so that threw us for a couple of days even though the team wasn't announced until today," Gatland said.
"There have obviously been some leaks out there about who they would pick at 10.
"Owen Farrell, having been involved with him with the Lions, I think he is a quality player. He played well in that first game against France. He has played well when he has come on."
The selection of Burgess - who has never started a Test for England - in such a huge game caused some raised eyebrows but Gatland has no such reservations about the decision and admitted he is somewhat envious of the strength in depth at Lancaster's disposal.
Gatland said: "He is a world-class player. Sam is obviously similar in size and stature to someone like Jamie Roberts. Then Brad Barritt is very experienced and a great defender.
"Look that is the selection they have gone to and they believe that is the right selection. They could have picked a number of players. They have a huge amount of strength in depth.
"At the moment I wouldn't mind having that same dilemma of having that quality of choice because they have got some world-class players."
