Dallaglio ‘distressed’ by lack of dead certs
LAWRENCE Dallaglio has sounded the alarm bells over the “worrying” state of the England side less than 12 months before the big kick off in Japan.
The former flanker is “a little distressed” about the the lack of cast iron World Cup starters Eddie Jones has in his squad with the tournament drawing ever closer.
He claims the head coach should by now know at least two thirds of the team he wants to walk out for that opening game against Tonga next September.
England must face South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia with an under-strength side and Dallaglio insisted: “What is really worrying for Eddie and for every England fan is that less than 12 months before the World Cup hand on heart, other than perhaps Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola, if he’s fit, you can’t say for sure who is going to be playing in every position. I find that a little distressing.
“Injuries will play a big part in the final make up of the team and the squad, but a year out from a World Cup you should have at least ten out of the 15 you can say, ‘yes, he’s on my team sheet.’ I don’t think we have that, and that’s a big worry for Eddie Jones.
“England need to enjoy a successful Autumn campaign. With a blank piece
of paper, and if everybody was fit, you would say you want to win all four. But that’s not the case and I’d say a minimum of three wins is what England need.
"The worry is they have a slightly inexperienced team with the loss of the Vunipola brothers, Robshaw and Launchbury all injured, and Joe Marler retired from international rugby. Add to that Nathan Hughes banned and Sam Simmonds also injured it’s going to be a lot tougher to get what they need from the Tests.
"New Zealand are the best team in the world and losing to them would not be the end of the world. But you want to win the other three given South Africa will be fielding an under strength side as they are not picking their guys who play in this country. Australia are not the force they once were, and we would expect to beat Japan.
"You don’t want to be losing too many games right now because it doesn’t do your confidence any good and it gives your main rivals confidence that you can be beaten on a regular basis."
Dallaglio is disappointed Jones did not look down to the Exeter to bolster his injury-ravaged squad. The head coach called up Gloucester’s Ben Morgan and Bath youngster Zach Mercer but Dallaglio insisted: “There are a couple of good players who can feel hard done by and Dave Ewers and Don Armand at Exeter are certainly two of them.
“I’m not sure whether Eddie Jones has been down to Exeter but, for me, Ewers and Armand are just the sort of players you want in the 23, especially when you look at the beasts South Africa have. But Eddie doesn’t seem to think so.”