THIS HAD BETTER WORK, STU!
Welsh rubbing their hands as Lancaster takes huge gamble with England backs
STUART LANCASTER knows there is a storm coming in relation to his selection against Wales, and the England head coach has started trying to head it off in advance.
Yesterday, he outlined his logic for the midfield choices which have caused debate and uproar. The decision to drop George Ford, reinstate Owen Farrell and promote Sam Burgess to the host nation’s starting XV will be officially confirmed this morning. Then the explanations will be heard and dissected.
For now, the indications are that England feel the best way to negate the stifling Welsh defence is to adopt a battering-ram approach. Instead of the subtlety and guile of the demoted Ford and injured Jonathan Joseph as the creative hub of their back line, Lancaster will expect Farrell, Burgess and Brad Barritt to grind the visitors down before Ford is dispatched from the bench to run amok late on.
Yet England fans will despair that, after a sustained expansion of the attacking repertoire with Ford as the canny conductor, the coaches have opted for a more basic approach. They will rightly wonder where this leaves the lethal, on-song wings, Jonny May and Anthony Watson, who are bound to spend more time chasing kicks than taking passes in space and doing what they do best.
In each case, the centre selections make some sense. Burgess can bring explosive power as a gainline-busting carrier and as a tackling force of nature. Wales may believe they can expose his defensive positioning but Farrell and Barritt will provide loud guidance on either side of him and he will cause far more trouble for the opposition than for his own team.
Outside centre is regarded as the hardest position to patrol defensively and Barritt is the ideal man to fulfil that brief. He will stand tall against the Welsh midfield and co-ordinate those around him. But the Saracen was off- colour against Fiji, he is not often a dominant carrier and he will not light the fuse for attacking fireworks outside him.
The major concern is that the partnership is untried — at least in a competitive context — and that it doesn’t have the look of a complementary alliance. Both centres will run hard, straight lines and look to offload when possible. One of the two, with Joseph or Henry Slade, makes sense. The two together is less natural. It comes across as a reaction to the threat posed by Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams, but they have forged an understanding over years.
The decision at No 10 is the one Lancaster faces the biggest struggle to justify. Ford has been first-choice since the end of the last autumn Test. Even without the injury absence of Farrell, Ford would have been the starter at the Six Nations — and he ended the championship with a glorious flourish against France.
Dropping him at such a pivotal moment suggests a major tactical shift at a time when most teams have clarity of purpose. It also sends a shattering message to Ford that he is not trusted and that could have ramifications in the short and long term. If Farrell is unable to inspire England and his friend is recalled against Australia, his confidence may not have survived this experience intact.
Wales were monitoring the situation from their Surrey base yesterday with barely suppressed satisfaction. In the crucial 10-12-13 area they are far more settled, familiar and assured. Williams will start in the outside channel and the Scarlet believes England will be less threatening without Joseph.
‘I know which one is a lot harder to defend — Jonathan Joseph,’ said Williams. In reference to Burgess, he added: ‘He’s a big, physical player so if he does play I’m sure he will be carrying the ball hard. We’ve got one of them in our team. Jamie (Roberts) is a really good ballcarrier as well. That will be an interesting battle.’
Williams also felt Roberts would come out on top against the even heavier Burgess and suggested that England were altering their midfield to counter the danger posed by Wales. He added: ‘We like to get forward so maybe that is why they are selecting those players.’
Wales’ attack coach Rob Howley claimed the visitors are happy to have an established centre pairing armed with creativity. ‘We’re fortunate to have Scott Williams who’s played and trained with Jamie Roberts for the last four years anyway,’ he said. ‘That combination for us is pretty good.
‘ We’ve got the balance of creativity. Dan Biggar is a great kicking fly-half and can bring out the best in our back line when he needs to. Jamie has been a key member of our squad and he’s been ready to play this game for the last 10 days.’
Amid all the talk of England’s reactive selection, there was one other pointed remark from Howley, about Wales having the courage of their convictions.
‘We’ve always picked our team on what we feel is best and the way we want to play,’ he added. ‘We wouldn’t want other sides to dictate our selection.’