Will Greenwood

The midfield combination I would love to see England choose

There is one stark difference between the likely midfield trio that England will take into this World Cup and the unit of Owen Farrell, Sam Burgess and Brad Barritt that played in the critical defeat by Wales four years ago: balance.

One of the lessons from 2015 was that, while Stuart Lancaster’s hand was forced slightly by Jonathan Joseph’s injury, a key change had been made to the Six Nations midfield combination by the time of the World Cup.

England went from trying George Ford, Owen Farrell and Joseph during the build-up, to a combination of Farrell, Burgess and Barritt.

With Joseph injured – and you can hardly castigate Lancaster for that – England lost a flier at outside centre, but they reacted by following that adage of “attack wins matches, defence wins championships” by picking the physical pair of Burgess and Barritt together.

Now, when it comes to selection in that area, the first names on the teamsheet if England were playing France or Argentina now would be Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade. That triumvirate gives you a pretty good balance of everything: two kickers, right and left foot; a gain-line breaker; an off-loader; a leader; and someone capable of making an outside break in Slade.

He has worked so hard on his speed with coaches in recent years. Going back to that Ireland game in the Six Nations, for Slade to hold off an absolute flier in Garry Ringrose for his try showed everybody that he has the pace to beat a man on the outside.

If you look at the players who Eddie Jones has available, the obvious like-for-like replacement for Slade would be Joseph.

I have been a massive fan of his for years but, before last weekend, Joseph had not played

for England since the 2018 Six Nations due to injury. That is a long time between Tests, yet you saw immediately against Wales how talented he is.

If Jones wants playmakers, he can revert to Ford and Farrell, bringing Ford on if he needs to shift a game, with Tuilagi moving to outside centre.

Ford’s ability to pick a pass on the gain line is first class, and pairing him with Farrell was the norm for England until recently, but now it feels like an up-thesleeve option; a card Jones needs to play only if he has to.

That said, Tuilagi, at this stage of his career with his injury history, is better closer to the ball at inside centre, running straighter lines rather than those outside arcs at 13.

He seems to be over his groin injuries, which is excellent news, but England can still dominate Test matches by running him up and down in that inside centre channel.

If anything, it still feels remarkable to have Manu available and firing on all cylinders.

Taking him out does mean that you lose that ability to crash across the gain line that Manu has in spades, as we saw when he bumped Owen Watkin out of the way last Sunday before he had the entire Welsh defence chasing him.

Farrell, Tuilagi and Slade will be the starters, I have no doubt. However, if we were playing fantasy rugby, when the emphasis is on scoring and creating tries, there is one combination on paper that I would love to see. A midfield of Farrell at 10, with Slade at 12 and Joseph at 13.

I have always considered Slade to be an inside centre, despite playing so much 13 at Exeter and for England. He has really developed into that outside centre role, but I want him closer to the ball at 12, leading the side. I see him in and around that midfield for the next five to six years.

He has played across the back line at Exeter and some of that has been at 12, where the Chiefs now use Ollie Devoto or Sam Hill, but Slade has all of the skills to excel at inside centre.

He has also answered all of his critics in terms of his defence, putting on some timber; not enough to be cumbersome, but he is now big enough to both stay square in the tackle and yet still have the wheels to turn and chase.

Also, having been a lighter player in the past, he is very good at that low, cheetah-like tackle around the ankles, downing his prey. Plus, I would always want Joseph involved at 13 if he is fit.

Outside centre really is one position where England are well stocked, along with the second row. Four years ago when Joseph went down, Slade was too young, hence why he played against Uruguay.

Now England have options, with Farrell-slade-joseph being a fascinating alternative in reserve.

Piers Francis might end up being the modern Stuart Abbott and play in those opening matches against Tonga and the United States. His selection over Ben Te’o should not be that much of a surprise to anybody who has watched rugby over the past six months.

There was a time where it did not matter how poor the club form of Te’o might have been, he would have been in. But no longer.

If you play any of Joe Cokanasiga, Elliot Daly, Jonny May and Anthony Watson, not forgetting Jack Nowell once healthy, then you have a rapid back three. You will need two playmakers to give them opportunities, which Farrell and Slade can be. Give May half a chance and he scores.

Last, that potential starting combination of Farrell, Tuilagi and Slade has one huge advantage: experience on the field playing with each other, as they did throughout the Six Nations, bar the game against Italy.

They have an understanding. That supersedes in some ways one alternative option being a fractionally better player, because as a unit they have had the opportunity to fix problems in the heat of a Test match.

All of which puts England in a strong position heading to Japan, with far better resources than four years ago.

This unit have had the opportunity to fix problems in the heat of a Test match