No room for sentiment in Lancaster’s new England

This time a year ago, Christian Wade was all set to start his first home England international, expected to be named on the wing for the game against Australia. Then, at the worst possible time, injury hit.

He missed the entire series and, as it happened, most of the rest of the season, only returning to full fitness right at the very end, when it was too late to be considered for England’s tour of New Zealand.

It has been the general consensus since then, or even since before that, when he burst so spectacularly into our rugby consciousness with his dazzlingly quick feet and impossible changes of direction, that one day Wade would be an England regular.

Back fit and firing this season, then, it is a surprise that he has been omitted from Lancaster’s initial 33-man squad for the upcoming November Internationals. It is even more surprising given the outrageously good solo try he scored at the weekend against Leinster.

When looking at wingers, Lancaster and his coaching team talk of looking for a ‘point of difference’ – i.e. something that makes you stand out from the rest. Jonny May’s blistering pace, for example, Semesa Rokoduguni’s raw power, or Jack Nowell’s ability to beat the first man.

Wade, of course, arguably has a greater ‘point of difference’ than any of England’s other wingers – his sidestep and acceleration are simply unparalleled, and allow him to do things defenders cannot handle.

The caveat to having this point of difference, however, is that the winger must be good across the board at everything else. He must have a kicking game, he must be positionally sound, he must be able to defend robustly – and the list goes on.

It is perhaps in this regard that we find Wade’s downfall. He has produced moments of pure magic already this season, but sadly he has also produced moments of pure madness. He has essentially individually conceded two tries through failing to be able to ground the ball behind his own line.

These are things that he can put right in the near future, and no doubt Lancaster and co will be keeping a close eye on him in the coming weeks. Indeed, Wade could be one of the additional seven players to join the squad this weekend, but with four wingers already named and other areas of the squad looking thinner, this feels unlikely.

It is proof that, at the end of the day, Lancaster is not afraid of making the big decisions even if it means he’ll come in for some flak from the fans, many of whom are dying to see Wade back in the white of England.

There is also no room for Matt Kvesic, who, it has always been felt, was being groomed as Robshaw’s understudy and potential successor. He has been included in previous squad when not playing that well at club level, but this time the form of players like James Haskell and Calum Clark has forced Lancaster’s hand. Another fairly ruthless cull.

Stephen Myler is another player that is obviously highly rated by the coaching group, and is included at the expense of a certain Danny Cipriani and, to a lesser extent, Freddie Burns. The redemption stories of those two – particularly Cipriani – would have made a nice story, but again Lancaster has proved his indifference towards sentiment.

The only exception to this rule seems to be Billy Twelvetrees. The England coaches have invested a lot of time and effort into the Gloucester centre, who is included in the squad again despite the general feeling that he has never really made the 12 shirt his own after countless opportunities to do so. They still believe that he has a role to play in the England squad, and at some point he really has to start repaying that faith.

Fans rarely agree with every single selection decision international coaches make, and just as England supporters bemoan Wade’s absence so Wales fans have their gripes with Gatland’s squad for the autumn.

In the positive column, gone is Adam Jones who has been having a torrid time of things of late. For such a warrior, not to mention a nice man, to be omitted makes it a very bittersweet positive, of course.

Sadly there seems to be more in the negative column, from the fans’ point of view. The exclusion of Rhys Patchell is baffling given his obvious natural talent, while Eli Walker seems to be in a similar situation to Wade – immensely gifted, back on form after injury but still seemingly not having done enough by the coaches’ standards to warrant inclusion. There is also the general fear that Gatland will ignore form this autumn and continue to pick those players considered his favourites.

Should the likes of Phillips, Priestland and Cuthbert be selected consistently this autumn, when there are alternatives in far better form, and Wales lose, the fallout will not be pretty.

Crisis? What crisis? From the manner in which the Wallabies so nearly overcame the All Blacks last weekend, you would be forgiven for thinking the Di Patston/Kurtley Beale saga was merely a bad nightmare Ewen McKenzie was yet to wake up from. Yes, they lost, but the manner in which they played was supremely positive and will not have escaped the attentions of England and Wales.

If the off-field problems can be overcome, new head honcho Michael Cheika seems to have inherited less of a poisoned chalice than at first it seemed.

By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images