England face the unenviable task of a dead rubber against Uruguay on Saturday, a game in which they are on a real hiding to nothing. Win well, and the naysayers will gleefully point out that it is much too little, much too late. Perform badly, and it will be the ignominious end that this disastrous campaign arguably deserves.
The decision to take the game to Manchester was controversial in the first place – that fact that they took the Uruguay match up the M6, rather than any of the others in which the result was not guaranteed, always felt like nothing more than the RFU paying lip service to the North. Of course, they are reaping what they sowed now – with the Super League grand final at Old Trafford earlier in the day, this game is now the second most important rugby match in Manchester this weekend.
ENGLAND
It feels like another muddled selection from England. In certain areas, they have decided to throw a bone to those fringe players that have played little or no role in the tournament so far. In that regard, it will be especially good to see young Exeter duo Henry Slade and Jack Nowell dovetailing in the backline – and given the latter was first choice in the Six Nations, he will feel he has a point to prove.
Alex Goode and Danny Care also get their first starts in the back-line, while George Ford is recalled at fly-half. Bafflingly, however, Owen Farrell is shifted to the 12 shirt, leaving England with four players in the back-line who can play first receiver. While it should enable them to play a wide game, they will have to be very careful of not being too lateral, because the line-up certainly lacks carriers that will threaten the gainline.
In the pack, it is a different story, which is what suggests a rather muddled overall selection policy. Instead of giving the likes of Dan Cole, Tom Youngs or Geoff Parling a rest, they are all retained despite the front five struggling so much against Australia. Mako Vunipola is the only change there, with Jamie George left twiddling his thumbs on the bench and Kieron Brookes not even in the squad.
One to watch: Henry Slade
When England’s World Cup squad was announced, Slade’s inclusion was met with cautious optimism from fans and pundits alike. Undoubtedly overshadowed by the selection of Sam Burgess, it was felt Slade would benefit from being out of the limelight. As it turns out, that is where England have forced him to remain by not picking him at all in the opening three games.
He offers an entirely different skill set to any of their other centres, with intelligence, distribution and kicking high on his list of attributes. The hope must be, in this team, that he is not merely shipped the ball from Ford and Farrell, but that someone inside him can run the kind of hard line that will open up the spaces wider out, in which Slade thrives. If so, expect him to bring the back three into the game in a way that no England centre has been able to thus far.
URUGUAY
Given they have lost three from three, this might seem slightly odd to say, but Uruguay have been one of the success stories of the World Cup so far. While they have not come close to winning a game, they have conceded fewer points in the second half than the first in two of their three matches, pointing to improved fitness and organisation levels that have undoubtedly come from better coaching after a bit of investment from World Rugby.
While they will not threaten England this weekend either, they can go out with their heads held high. Agustín Ormaechea, their charismatic scrum-half, has been cleared to play after receiving the World Cup’s first red card against Fiji, and he teams up again with best mate and fellow professional Felipe Berchesi, who is recalled after missing the Fiji encounter. Berchesi’s boot saw Uruguay leading Wales on the 20 minute mark, so England will have to watch their discipline lest they be punished.
One to watch: Juan Manuel Gaminara
Gaminara is a flanker of small stature, but he is a nuggety little player with strength over the ball that belies his size. And that is exactly where England will have to be wary of him, particularly in the wake of last weekend’s Pockock-inspired car crash at the breakdown. Gaminara operates similarly low to the ground, and secured a couple of fine turnovers against Fiji. Given England’s back-row are all relatively tall, the diminutive Uruguayan will look to latch onto the ball early and hope they fail to move him as they did Pocock last weekend.
PREDICTION
Despite England’s travails this campaign, and with all due respect to Uruguay who have undoubtedly added colour to the pool, there is no-one who really expects this game to go anything other than exactly to script. Provided England use some big runners in midfield and do not play too laterally by just flinging it wide at any given opportunity, they should finish their World Cup with the slimmest of silver linings. England by 50.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Can anyone explain the England team selection to me?
You have one game in the North, a RL hotbed. The game is a dead rubber. It is already seen as a sop to the North rather than a genuine attempt to spread the RWC around … you have a RL legend in your squad. So …. what does SL do? Genius.
You’re spot on Brighty. A perfect opportunity to use the venue as an advantage (although it makes no difference now) given it’s location, and he fails to pick the one player who could have drawn in some more support up North.
The fact that said player probably should have been picked for this game anyway makes it even more laughable!
Good, not just me that thought the dropping of Burgess for Farrell (FFS) was completely boneheaded. SL has no effing instincts.
I think for me what makes less sense is to keep Youngs and Cole in the starting 15! Although Youngs hasn’t been pretty good, and has certainly run and tackled his socks off, him and Cole have certainly not helped Marler in the scrums, and Cole’s inability to listen to the ref when giving away silly penalties time and again makes me wonder how he’s kept his place.
Farrell is not a bad option at 12, but certainly not as dynamic in breaking through the defence as Burgess.
Dazza, I’m not a Farrell hater, but the lad himself says he’s not a 12 and I’m inclined to agree with him. Who’s going to straighten the line and get over the gain line? We have enough first receivers with Ford, Slade and Goode. I just can’t fathom it.
Completely agree on the Youngs, Cole point and would also add Parling. Kruis and George can feel rightly agrieved.
If Farrell has been tasked with straightening the line etc, then he will do that. It really depends what sort of plan there is in place (if there is one at all). I suspect we will see a lot of dummy runs from Farrell and Slade to catch out the defence. Also expect to see Ford and Farrell switch around a bit, and Farrell and Slade also.
Hopefully Catt has been let loose on the attacking side of things for this game, and with Haskell and Easter providing good carry options I expect they should get some good ball to play off.
Nice point re having a plan Dazza. I HATE saying this but if the idea is to keep the Uruguay defence honest then Burgess trucking it up would have made far more sense,especially in tandem with Slade. He could have kicked and passed them dizzy.
Hey ho.
** I know Slade is in their. I was meaning in tandem with Burgess. Sorry Enoch.
His survival instinct apart that is. It’s quite worrying that he has been urging the RFU to get on with their inquest. Does’nt sound like someone fearing imminent unemployment to me.
Hah! Classic.
If Lancaster had gone fully with the “popular choice” team and England had gone on to win by 40 (which they should regardless), then the witchhunt against Lancaster would redouble, with everyone saying that the Uruguay side should have started the big two tests, even though rugby doesn’t work like that. So he may have tempered his selection slightly, I’m not sure.
To my mind, England need something out of this World Cup, and I hope they target the tournaments biggest win. Yes it’s only Uruguay, and yes people will try to dismiss it, but this group of players need a target and something to play for. They need to be ruthless. I would have picked my team best suited to that, and that will be pretty much full strength. This isn’t mini rugby, not everyone needs to get a go. Also, how much “experience” is there to be gained in a one-off World Cup match against Uruguay?
Uruguay are there for the taking, they will be knackered after their exploits against Fiji, and England should be targetting 70 points. We should have started what is our strongest team with possibly a couple of tweaks, and then packed the bench with pace (considering the squad constraints).
My 23 would have been:
Mako, Youngs, Brookes, Launchbury, Parling, Wood, Robshaw, Morgan;
Wigglesworth, Ford, May, Burgess, Joseph, Watson, Brown.
George, Cole (dropped), Marler (dropped), Easter, Haskell, Care, Slade, Nowell.
Assuming Lawes and Youngs are not going to recover from their knocks. The other 6 to miss out are Farrell, Barritt, Goode, Kruis, Wilson and Webber. Nothing meant against Sarries there!
Having seen Farrell play several times at 12 (including a couple outside Ford in the U20’s), I think he will take on the defensive line, try to break the gain line and offload in the tackle. He will bring Slade into the game, and create more space for Slade in the 13 channel.
It will be interesting to see who gets the job of kicking from the tee? With four players in the back line who are all competent kickers from the tee, do you go with the obvious choice of Ford at 10, Farrell (arguably the best place kicker we have), or do you let Slade or Goode take the responsibility because it really doesn’t matter.
70 points plus
Poor Uruguay, they must be knackered, a poor selection for England but they must nevertheless go for the jugular to gain any respectability. Forget the points (although if it were the ABs they wouldn’t be satisfied with less than a cricket score) England needs to show that they are not sulking and go out and play enterprising rugby.
By 65. England have nothing to lose so won’t be tense. Uruguay are playing their second quick game in succession. Not fair on the Uruguayans. The tournament needs bigger rest periods in future.
Uruguay by five! Would’nt bloody surprise me. WHEN is SL leaving?
WHO CARES ? ! ………….LOOSERS ! LOL
England by ‘only’ about 40 points. Disjointed backline to move laterally and forwards to give away stupid penalties, especially early on. Maybe winning by about 10 – 15 at half time, with a late surge of tries when the Uruguayans are completely out on their feet.
Seriously tho ,….. 45 or 75pts , i dont believe it will make a difference , the same amount of ppl will be wanting lancasters head as will want him to stay , as a Welshman i hope he goes cos i think he’s a good coach , just did’nt get the rub o’the green , thats rugby ! depending how old you are gives you different opinions , when i was a kid the only team i remember wales loosing to was NZ, and they cheated to get the result , ..{andy haden } to you kids !, if there was a world cup in the 60s-70s i’m sure Wales would have won one , we will never kno unfortunately , but it seems to me that English fans feel they have a god given right to be in the final ,…. until 30 yrs ago they were bloody crap , but common sense says being the biggest rugby nation on the planet they win it again someday , so cheer up you English supporters , every dog has his day !{even overwieght fat scrum cheatin machines} Marler cof cof
Are you Enoch in disguise? Very confusing comment!!