Fletcher: Lack of 12s is long-standing concern
FORMER RFU pla yer development manager John Fletcher says the lack of home grown No.12s playing in Premiership r ugby has been a long-standing concern for England.
A Rugby Paper survey of starting line-ups f or this season’ s Premier ship to date reveals that just 36.1 percent of starting insidecentres were England- qualified, with only Exeter’ s Ollie Devoto, Gloucester’s Mark Atkinson and Newcastle veteran Toby Flood starting all three matches.
While regular England squad man Piers Francis has featured twice for Northampton, the trend elsewhere has seen overseas stars such as Sale Sharks’ Rohan Jan se van Rensburg, Andre Ester - huizen (Harlequins), Siale Piutau (Bristol), Josh Matavesi (Bath), Francois Venter (Worcester) and Billy Meakes (London Irish) dominating the crucial inside-centre position so far.
With Manu Tuilagi currently injured, Worcester’s Ollie Lawrence was given a chance by England before his Autumn Nations Cup campaign was ended by a hip injury, meaning fly-half Owen Farrell reverted to the No.12 shirt he has worn regularly under boss Eddie Jones.
Fletcher, who worked with England’s pathway teams for ten years before leaving in 2018, believes the direct style of play employed by Premiership clubs makes it attractive for many sides to recruit ready-made foreign players ahead of developing homegrown youngsters.
“No.12 was always a position where we probably lacked a bit of depth in players with certain qualities,” Fletcher told The Rugby Paper.
“The Premiership is made for the ‘go forward’ No.12 and over the years you’ve seen a lot of powerful, Pacific Island guys playing there.
“Lots of teams talk about earning the right to go wide by going forward first. It wouldn’t be my preference, I’d prefer a Flood, Atkinson, Devoto or Slade – guys who can give you go forward but also play – but it’s personal preference around how you see the game.
“Going back a few years, Max Clark (Bath), Johnny Williams (then London Irish), Devoto and Slade were the guys I felt could give you a bit of everything, but Johnny’s with Wales now, Henry’s gone to 13 and Eddie’s preferred Manu or ‘Faz’ as his main men at 12.
“No.12, along with No.8 and a little bit at tighthead, were the positions where we were always looking to build depth and that still seems to be the case at inside-centre.”
Meanwhile, the early rounds of this season’s Premiership clearly demonstrate how Sale’s South African recruitment drive has affected their homegrown squad profile.
Just 19 of Sale’s 45 starters in the first three rounds were England-qualified, while London Irish, Bristol and Leicester were also down on numbers compared with others.
Gloucester led the way, with an impressive 91.1 per cent of their starters being England-qualified, while Bath (86.7%) and double winners Exeter (77.8%) are next in line. In eight of the 12 Premiership clubs, over 70 per cent of their rounds one to three starters were England-qualified.