Owen on fast track to Paris
STUART LANCASTER believes his raw, revamped England side can harness the fearlessness of youth to claim another victory over France in Paris tomorrow. The national team, who left London St Pancras on Eurostar yesterday, go into round one of the RBS 6 Nations with two debutants
in their back line — Jack Nowell and Luther Burrell — and another novice, Jonny May, with just a single cap. But Lancaster, whose side won in Paris two years ago, is adamant his rookies will not enter the Stade de France with trepidation. ‘The upside is the no fear,’ he said. ‘There is no fear factor that sometimes can build in their career during Six Nations or during international rugby. Experience counts for something, but belief in the player from the management often counts for more in my opinion.’ Lancaster added: ‘I’ve gone with my gut instinct. Form, potential and consistency in the Premiership and Europe have also been factors, then you come into camp and get a feel for whether a player is ready. My instinct was that Jack, Luther and Jonny were all ready.’ The doomsday scenario for Lancaster and England would be for the rookies to be overawed by the occasion and find themselves brutally exposed. Should that occur, the coaches will be wary of taking a try-them-and-ditch-them approach. ‘You don’t want to chop and change all the time,’ added Lancaster. The England coach was also forced to defend the decision not to name a specialist fly-half among the England replacements — with Bath’s in-form George Ford merely in Paris as injury cover. In the event of an injury to Owen Farrell, the preferred Plan B will be for Alex Goode to slot in at No 10 and assume the goal-kicking duties. Meanwhile, Lancaster, his assistant coaches and players — along with their opposite numbers — have been warned about the threat of disciplinary action if there is any public criticism of match officials. The IRB are concerned about a ‘slow increase’ in such outbursts and have explained in a letter to unions that anyone speaking out in such a way could face a disrepute charge.