England World Cup Watch – Post-cut verdict

 

Lancaster

OPINION – The cut that took place last Friday was always going to contain an element of controversy and it didn’t disappoint. 5 of the 7 cuts were players in the backline with half of England’s squad wingers being excluded, a very risky decision from Lancaster moving closer to September 18.

The Rugby Drum’s pre-cut prediction: Dave Atwood, Calum Clark, Matt Kvesic, Lee Dickson, Kyle Eastmond, Semesa Rokoduguni, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Matt Mullan.

Players cut from squad: Chris Ashton, Marland Yarde, Semesa Rokoduguni, Matt Kvesic, Matt Mullan, Lee Dickson and Kyle Eastmond.

Starting with the wider squad before concentrating on the wealth of experience that England will miss in the backline, predictably, Kyle Eastmond, Semesa Rokoduguni, Matt Mullan, Matt Kvesic and Lee Dickson were all cut from Lancaster’s RWC training squad and it’s fair to say that these decisions were justified for a number of reasons ranging from lack of form to inexperience.

Despite making the squad and the team to play France, one can’t help but feel that Dave Atwood, Calum Clark and Luke Cowan-Dickie still sit low on Lancaster’s pecking order and will have to play matches of their lives in order to be included in England’s final 31-man squad.

Calum Clark

Few can argue with the players who faced the cut on Friday but the nagging aspect is that three of the six squad wingers were excluded however, if you take a look at players’ try scoring statistics for club and country, the wingers cut are arguably the most prolific…

 

Player  Club Appearances (Substitute) Club Tries International Appearances (Substitute) International Tries
Chris Ashton 27 (1) 17 N/A N/A
Semesa Rokoduguni 21 (2) 10 1 0
Marland Yarde 25 9 (2) 0
Jonny May 22 (1) 8 6 3
Jack Nowell 22(1) 7 3 3
Anthony Watson 19 (1) 4 8(1) 2

Given that Lancaster is giving players like Nick Easter a chance in the squad essentially based on the fact that we’ve seen him rejuvenate himself this season to the form he was in a few years ago, it makes you question as to why the likes of Ashton and Yarde haven’t been given a chance. In Rokoduguni’s case, the step up from club to country in 2015 was always going to be too much of an ask from him which has resulted in his exclusion. However in saying that, Rokoduguni still boasts a better try scoring record than May, Nowell and Watson.

Ashton has been back to his lethal best this season, illustrated through his number of tries. And with the ultimate request of winger being a lethal finisher, Ashton certainly fulfills that profile. While his defence has often come under scrutiny, he has sought to improve it and, with that try-scoring record, one would think he’d deserve a good shot, at least against France.

Yarde and Ashton

Marland Yarde has struggled slightly this season but taking into account that he’s been a part of a Harlequins team that didn’t resemble anything like the team with the fight and desire of the 2011/2012 Premiership winning Harlequins side, it’s tough to exclude him on that evidence.

Ultimately he has still scored more tries this season than the three wingers in the squad. And when you realise that he has scored 4 tries in 5 appearances for England with two coming against New Zealand in separate matches, it’s clear there’s something very special about Yarde that Lancaster isn’t seeing.

To say that May, Nowell or Watson should have been cut from the squad is a little harsh however, on paper it’s tough to see the reasoning behind Lancaster cutting so many wingers, especially when he could have got a good look at them in the World Cup warm-up matches. Being clinical is what a winger should be all about so statistics do speak louder than they would in other positions.

With this Saturday’s match seeing Jonny May and Anthony Watson starting on respective wings, it’ll be interesting to see how they perform and how they’re used by Lancaster. At the end of the day, the fact that Lancaster has left fewer wingers in the squad means that it’s a fine line between making the team and not making the team. If I were Marland Yarde or Chris Ashton, I’d stay quite close to my phone.


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