Jack Nowell’s inclusion in the England squad this week, despite there being no Six Nations fixture this weekend, has turned the heat up on incumbent winger Jonny May, who had an indifferent game against the Italians on Saturday.
May did well to create Danny Cipriani’s try, but other than that he looked ponderous on the ball, often making the wrong decision including one botched kick from a promising attacking position. He was steam-rolled by Luca Morisi for the Italian centre’s second try, while he butchered another promising attack by crabbing across the pitch, neither drawing his man nor making a break.
It is this last point that has particularly irked Lancaster, who knows all too well that England have been too profligate in promising positions in the past, and will need to take any chances that come their way when they take on Ireland in Dublin in the next round.
“I made a point in the Tuesday review that we have to take those opportunities, there is no doubt about it,” Lancaster said. “We need to score those. It is frustrating. We left a couple of tries out there.
“[With Jonny] it was just simple execution. You have got a decision to make. You run at the last defender, he commits to you and you pass the ball. He doesn’t commit and you run over the line and score.”
Public shakedowns from coaches don’t happen too often these days, but May’s troubles could be to Nowell’s gain. Both he and Anthony Watson tend to ply their trade on the right wing, but Lancaster has expressed his faith that either could do a sufficiently good job on the left, while praising the Exeter man’s return to form for his club.
“Jack is a very good footballer. He is good under the high ball, finds his way to get into the game, beats players one-on-one and now that he has got that tendinitis sorted, he has got more pace and power than he had last year.
“He dealt very well last year with the things thrown at him by Conor Murray and Johnny Sexton. Jack has got an excellent temperament. He has been playing at 13 for Exeter recently which is Rob Baxter’s way of getting him in the game more. He is one of Exeter’s most potent attacking weapons.”
There is also the strong possibility that Mike Brown will not recover from his nasty concussive knock, sustained against the Azzurri, in time to train and be fit for the Irish test a week on Saturday. Nowell, Watson and May could all feasibly feature in the same back three, given the former two have both spent plenty of time at fullback in recent seasons.
The most likely solution to Brown’s potential absence, however, remains a recall for Saracens playmaker Alex Goode, who impressed in his side’s top-of-the-table win over Bath at the weekend. Given the furore surrounding concussion at the moment, Brown will not be rushed back.
“We have to play it by the book, take in all the medical guidance, and put player welfare right at the centre of it all,” Lancaster said. “Awareness is absolutely top of the agenda.
“If Mike is not fit to play, then we have a great pool of players and we will bring the next guy in. The way Alex [Goode] played for Saracens last weekend, he was excellent, the best game I have seen him play in a while. He is right at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”
In other injury news, locks Geoff Parling and Courtney Lawes, as well as flanker Tom Wood, are expected to return to training next week, and could be included in the matchday squad for the Ireland game.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
15 replies on “May’s missed chances open the door for Nowell”
Not sure about dropping players based on one game, but I do like Jack Nowell so I’d have no real issue with his coming back in. If Brown is fit, I’d be tempted to bring Nowell in, but I wouldn’t want to see two changes in the back three, so if he isn’t then May should get another chance. Consistency of selection is key. If May is dropped, it should also be to the 23 shirt.
Agree. May’s performance wasn’t that bad, and he’s already proved his worth. Dropping him after a game that England won by 30 points would be a bit of knee-jerk.
Bring Nowell in at FB if you must, or move Watson to FB and bring Nowell in on the wing. A bit unfair on Goode perhaps, but he’s had his chances in an England shirt.
It’s not based on one game though. He’s been pretty poor in a lot of games, which is frustrating g as hell because he clearly has all the skills to be a very good player. Bar decision making, clearly.
Ironically now that England have sorted out some of their other backs issues the man who would be most likely to shine is Ashton.
Hmm. I like May. Mainly because his pace is a real world class point of difference. But this is not the only time he has butchered opportunities. This is a basic error, not a difficult situation. There is cover for this position that has experience with the team. There were other errors, such as in defence.
Ashton? I agree. In attack he would really suit our current back line and the way we played in the last 2 games. The problem I have with Ashton is his defence. I would put the cost at close to a try a game against the better teams. That is too high a price. I don’t think he would have stopped Morisi for his second.
If you don’t think he would have stopped Morisi for his second try, then he’s no better or worse than the guys who were playing.
If he had been playing, though, then we may have scored more tries, we’ll never know.
What Ashton has improved is his kicking game. Kicking up field to give everyone a chance if he’s got too many players in front of him. Instead of running laterally across the field, eating up space occupied by other players.
If we’re looking for players with pure pace and an ability to scare defences, then why is Wade not in the team. Probably no worse in defence than May, and seems to go looking for the ball a bit more.
He has the look of an instinctive player that’s had his head crammed (read coached) full of too many things to think about/do.
I would like him to stay in for the 6N, I really hope we see the best of him. Any other option we put there is someone the opposition would prefer to defend against.
May’s pace is not good enough to offset shortcomings in his all round game. Ironic that he may be dropped after Italy as I would normally say May is not a player who wins or loses games , he just plays a part in the size of the result. Nowell in contrast does a lot of work off the ball and is solid, he is the sort of player who may well substantially contribute to winning a tight game.
Every time May gets the ball he looks like a rabbit in the headlights. I’m not sure he’s got the temperament for international rugby and his wonder try against NZ wasn’t enough to convince me otherwise (although enough for most fans it seems)…
It takes more than pace to score most tries; just look at the premiership’s all time record try scorer…
I really hope they don’t bring Goode in, for me he is just far too slow for an international FB, yes you have the option of him as second receiver but then you take out a player running a line from deep. Much better to leave Watson at FB (his first choice position) and May/Nowell on the wings. I think May is hanging by a piece of string though, he’s consistently making one or two really basic errors every game and at some point you have to make the decision, against a better team it just simply is not and will not be good enough.
Unlucky for Brown but I thought having Watson move to FB gave us a new dimension back there, I’m a huge fan of Brown but Watson is just plain class to me, made some cracking cover tackles on the weekend and in attack there is no better feet (except for maybe JJ). The only thing is we lose a kicking option.
Really want to see Slade given a chance at some point, give him the 23 shirt to cover fly half and centre. But that’s not going to happen for the 6N.
Wholeheartedly agree. Watson was excellent when he moved to full-back – and plays there regularly at club level – so makes no sense at all to bring Goode in (especially as he is rubbish in an England shirt).
How tall/good under the high ball is Nowell? I can see Ireland using their excellent tactical kicking game to test our back three, and not sure I fancy Nowell’s chances against Tommy Bowe.
Nowell was fine uder the high ball against Ireland last year. Not too worried about that.
Watson’s tackling improved in the Italy game but he also missed a couple of howlers – in particular the one that let Parisse in for his try, when he didn’t trust the man on the inside. I get the feeling that his cover tackling is stronger than his head-on, one-on-one tackling.
I’d actually be a bit more worried about Watson under the high ball – I remember him missing a few in the autumn internationals
That said, if Watson is at fb, Ireland’s kicking will have to be spot on as they do not want to give him room to get going
Nowell’s first position used to be FB so he’s solid under the high ball, but then he’s lacking in the height department (5?11), so against Bowe (6?3) he may come off second best. Plus Bowe is one of the best wingers in the NH on his day. Nowell’s defence is quality as well, remember him taking down Parisse last year one-on-one
You can see Watson’s progress just these past two games, so much more confident than the autumn internationals and if you watch back the Wales game, he took some incredible high balls under pressure, think he only missed one. I don’t think anyone knew what was going on for that Parisse try, shocking defending by everyone.
Nowell’s first position used to be FB so he’s solid under the high ball, but then he’s lacking in the height department (5″11), so against Bowe (6″3) he may come off second best. Plus Bowe is one of the best wingers in the NH on his day. Nowell’s defence is quality as well, remember him taking down Parisse last year one-on-one
You can see Watson’s progress just these past two games, so much more confident than the autumn internationals and if you watch back the Wales game, he took some incredible high balls under pressure, think he only missed one. I don’t think anyone knew what was going on for that Parisse try, shocking defending by everyone.
Nowell, no way! Ashton yes!