There were some special performances on the first weekend of European rugby, as the home-nation clubs produced some excellent results. European rugby is always labelled the closest level to test-match conditions, so this was the best opportunity yet for players to make a case for international selection.
GOING UP
Jonny Gray
Glasgow’s thrashing of Leicester Tigers on Friday was the definition of a team performance, making it very difficult to select just one individual. After the moment of madness by Matt Toomua, the Warriors raised their game to another level and the younger Gray was the heartbeat of this performance. He tackled, blitzed rucks, carried and generally dominated the match against a club renowned for tough forward packs. All the chat for Lions has been about the multitude of English second rows, Iain Henderson and Alun Wyn Jones, but this weekend it was Jonny Gray who showed why he deserves a place on the plane.
Jamie George
Alan Hansen’s famous folly about Manchester United that ‘You can’t win anything with kids’ came to mind as I watched last year’s champions Saracens play the previous three years champions Toulon. On one side, a dream team of world-cup-winners and seasoned internationals, on the other a core of exciting and hungry rising English stars. Saracens destroyed Toulon in the opening half and it was the ‘kids’ at the heart of it – Itoje, Kruis and the Vunipola brothers handling like they were All Blacks. But for me, it was Jamie George that stood out. His line to ghost on the inside of Nonu and then offload out the tackle to create Wigglesworth’s try was excellent. He also performed his core hooker duties brilliantly. Right now he is the form hooker in the northern hemisphere, the only problem is the England (and maybe Lions) captain Hartley stands in his way. However, with Hartley’s continued injury problems, George may get his chance sooner than thought.
Owen Farrell
Farrell made a mockery of my earlier worries about his form and rustiness following an extended injury spell. He produced a man-of-the-match performance as his guided his team with poise and maturity. His kicking game was excellent (although Wigglesworth took on a portion of it), in particular a smart grubber early on and a raking kick to the corner on 70 minutes were done with perfection, and he stretched Toulon defence again and again with his distribution.
Scott Williams/Jonathan Davies
Bit of a cheat here as I am including both the Scarlets centres. Scott Williams was the slight better of the two on the day but what was most exciting was the rekindling of a brilliant partnership. Their link play was fantastic and they threatened time and time again, combining well with the rest of the dangerous Scarlets backline. After Davies ill-fated break in France with Clermont, he is looking so much better back in Wales. This was the player who kept Brian O’Driscoll out of the third Lions test in 2013 remember… Right now this should be the starting Welsh centre combo – hopefully Rob Howley was taking note.
Nick Abendanon
One of the beauties of the Lions is that it is a one-off, so players who are not in the current international set-ups can be included, without the need to keep one eye on the next world cup, or worry about England’s ‘overseas rule’. The European player of the year in 2015, Abendanon produced a masterclass from the back as he scored one try and generally created chances. He is such an exciting player to watch and interestingly seems to have ironed out a few of those moments of madness he could be prone to alongside the great. If he maintains this form, he could be a wildcard for Gatland.
GOING DOWN
Leigh Halfpenny
Player of the series in 2013, Halfpenny has been plagued by injuries since and has seen his shirt filled with aplomb by Liam Williams. If he is to wrest the Welsh (and Lions) 15 shirt back he will need to produce better displays than this, however. Although his goal kicking was faultless, the rest of his game was strewn with errors – a few slips over, a forward pass here and a kick straight out on the full there. He will play better than this, he is too dedicated and quality a player not to, but he faces an uphill struggle to make it back in time for the November tests.
Ben Youngs
Just as Glasgow’s performance was a brilliant team effort, Leicester’s was a team capitulation. As a Tigers supporter I am trying to avoid sounding like a despairing fan here, however, truthfully, no one in the Tigers team furthered their international ambitions on Friday. Fair to Glasgow they were excellent, but Tigers’ defence was woeful. Two intercepts thrown by seasoned former-England internationals, Matthew Tait and Freddie Burns, summed up the performance and for fringe players like Ellis Genge, Owen Williams, Tom Brady and Tom Youngs, hoping to force their way into their coaches’ thoughts, as well as starters like Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, it was a worrying performance. Youngs’ place in particular must be in danger, with Dan Robson tearing up the place at Wasps.
By Henry Ker
What do you think the chance of Robson getting some time for England in the AI’s? At the moment the form scrum half in England (in my opinion). I’m sure Gatland won’t take him on the Lions tour unless he does get some time and really shines?
I think he’s got a decent chance, although I would have said the same of Cipriani.
I’d like to resurface this article though, written in 2010!
http://www.therugbyblog.com/interview-with-dan-robson-future-england-star
I think the difference between Robson and Cips is the strength in depth of their respective position. Outside of Care and Youngs we haven’t had anyone pushing for a place (Simpson being injured a lot and I’m discounting Wiggy). But Ford, Farrell, Slade, Cips and now even Lazowski are all possible fly halfs for England. I think Slade will probably play 12 at or 13, but could do a job at 10.
I think it depends how many other changes Eddie Jones has to make in the backline. He already has to bring in two new wingers (both with limited international experience if he goes for Yarde and Roko) – and considering the form 13 is Daly and the form 15 is Goode, both of whom have already been tested at the top level whereas Robson hasn’t… I think it very unlikely he will bring in more than 3 new players in total.
That said, there may be an opportunity to try out a new player or two against a team like Fiji. Robson certainly has the all round game to thrive at international level.
Totally agree with you about Daly and Goode, but form doesn’t seem to mean much to England coaches these days. A lot of it comes down to trust and previous experience. Eddie knows that JJ and Brown can perform at the tops level, whereas neither Daly or Goode have as much experience.
With the current injuries I would love to see a back line of Robson, Ford, Wade, Farrell, Daly, Roko/Yarde, and Goode with Care, Slade and JJ on the bench…………..but I don’t think my wish is going to come true.
I like that backline very much – pace, intelligence and an excellent kicking game. Roko over Yarde for me, some of his finishes recently have been phenomenal.
I am wondering whether Jones may be considering Daly or JJ for the wing, with the other in the 13 shirt? Both got the pace necessary and experience of playing there at top level and would be less of a gamble than bringing in two ‘new’ wingers?
Daly has limited experience on the wing for Wasps and has never played there for England. Also Yarde has more England caps so not a new winger by any stretch.
I don’t see Daly as a winger, centre or full back but not a winger. Just like Brown or Foden are not wingers.
I still say no to Wade sure he can beat players and create chances but he would be a huge defensive liability from a positioning, decision making and technique aspect at the top level (look at how it killed Ashton’s int career and his decision making wasn’t too bad).
I would love to see Robson given game time as both incumbents have big weaknesses to their games.
Daly vs JJ is tough but Daly just edges it for me however I like the idea of shifting him to the wing in place of Yarde. Despite his domestic form Goode still hasn’t convinced me in White
Robson, Ford, Daly, Farrell, JJ, Roko, Brown
Care, Slade and Yarde on the bench
The thing for me with Goode is that he hasn’t had a chance under the new system with this current crop of players. The system they are playing under now is so similar to the style of play at Sarries that I feel he would be a massive benefit to the team. The style of play does not suit Brown and that’s why he hasn’t had the impact in the most recent games that he did under Lancaster.
True, I’m happy to see him given another go against one of the smaller teams given his form in the Prem, but not against SA.
Leon – the problem with playing Goode against a lesser team is that we don’t really learn anything.
I’m sure he would have an impact against Fiji for example, but we still wouldn’t know if he can hack it against one of the top teams
i think it will take Brown getting injured for us to see Goode against a SA or Aus team and until that happens, we are all guessing about how good he would or would not be
Don’t agree that Brown doesn’t suit the style of play, In fact I’d have said his abrasive running, defensive security and work rate were right up EJ’s street.
He was however, definitely out of form and probably over-played.
Given Brown’s looking much sharper for Quins at the moment, I’d be suprised if Goode gets a look in. Which is a shame. I’m not his greatest fan and I don’t believe he would have the impact internationally that he has for Saracens (he cretainly didn’t when played in the past) but he certainly deserves a chance and I’d be happy to be proved wrong.
Although if you do play Goode, I don’t think you can play Ford and Farrell together. Too many play-makers not enough hard runners.
That’s the key thing for me – Goode wouldn’t have the same impact for England all the time we have playmakers at 10 and 12. If Manu got fit and played 12, I think that Goode would come straight in.
It’s hard to compare Goode now to Goode when he got an England look in. He has come on incredibly in the past 12 to 18 months, over which time he hasn’t really had a chance for England. I previously just thought he’d never cut it, but I think he would now.
I totally agree with your comments about Jamie George. I think he was good last year, but has also raised his game this year. The big thing he has in his armoury is his ability, courage and confidence to throw to the back of the line. With so much taken from stats, a lot of the pretenders (Hartley included!!) shy away from this. If the lions want to get into the All Blacks they need quick possession from the back of the line.
Julian – huge naivety exposed by your comments as to how a modern lineout works. The hooker isn’t the decision maker so not sure how he would determine where he throws. That’s the discretion of the caller who calls in the line because he can see where the space exists. Also, doubt a conversation along these lines ever happened: Dylan:” Errr.. Courtnery mate, bit worried about my darts fella, can you not call to the back please?”, Courtney: “Sure Dyls, Anything to keep your data prominent….let’s not worry about the pattern or that we get our best attacking ball from the tail. I just want you to get more caps”