As Brian Ashton prepares this lunchtime to name his England team to face Italy on Sunday, much attention will inevitably focus on his treatment of Jonny Wilkinson. With a crop of exciting young No 10s jostling for position behind him, Wilkinson’s performances were always going to be closely monitored this season, but his indifferent form has added further heat to the debate, especially after England’s second-half capitulation against Wales on Saturday. In some quarters, the knives have come out for England’s sacred cow.
Some are calling for him to be sacrificed but all the indications are that Ashton will stick with Wilkinson. Neil Back, a World Cup winner in 2003 and now Leicester’s technical director, believes there is another option — moving Wilkinson to inside centre. Such a move, he suggests, would make room for Danny Cipriani, the heir apparent at No 10, and give Wilkinson time to direct operations in midfield.
“I wouldn’t overly panic if I was Brian Ashton, but he has got a real dilemma now,” Back said. “Does he stick with Jonny at 10 or does he bring in Cipriani or [Shane] Geraghty? And does he stick with [Toby] Flood or move Jonny to 12? It’s time now to give Cipriani a go. I’m sure that if England had maintained their lead against Wales, Cipriani would have come on and Jonny would have moved to 12. But we’ll never know now.”
So is playing Wilkinson at No 12 a viable option? “I think so,” Back said. “There’s less pressure in terms of time on the ball and there’d be a better opportunity to scan where the space is and communicate. In England’s best days, it was Will Greenwood who ran the show at 12 and called the plays. Jonny was able to execute those very accurately [from fly-half]. Maybe moving Jonny out to 12 with a bit more time and space would help with his distribution as well.”
Wilkinson’s performance on Saturday was, though, merely one aspect of a second-half display that, in the absence of the retired Martin Corry and Lawrence Dallaglio, exposed a glaring lack of leadership on the field.
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“In 2003, we had a lot of club captains and a vast amount of experience,” Back said. “England are going through a period of change now and they’ve lost a lot of leadership. It’s not going to happen overnight and they could have been 40 points up at the weekend. But the fact that they weren’t and were then dismantled by an average Welsh side is a massive concern. It’s down to game management and I’d have expected more from Jonny in that area.”
When Wilkinson was deliberating on his future before signing a new two-year contract with Newcastle Falcons last month, Leicester were one of the clubs awaiting his decision with interest. Echoing the views of Dallaglio, Back wonders whether a move might have reinvigorated the fly half.
“As a player, I always found that the more pressure you’re under for your place, the better you play,” Back said. “I’d have liked to see him try his hand at another club and have real competition for his place. He hasn’t got that at Newcastle, he’s a bit comfortable. I understand the reasons he’s stayed, but for his own future, I’d have liked him to stretch himself and to be put under a bit more pressure.”
Another selection that will have exercised Ashton’s mind is his choice of open-side flanker, after the injuries suffered by Lewis Moody and Tom Rees against Wales. Back, often seen as the model for a classic No 7, believes that England should choose a player who can restore their potency at the breakdown.
“After what happened at the weekend, they need an out-and-out No 7,” he said. “I think they’ll go for Michael Lipman, he’s the next best No 7 out there and he’s playing very well at the moment. James Haskell was the star for me against Wales and Luke Narraway played well. But there were two freakish injuries in the back row and after that, there were problems.”
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Ashton’s task today is to address those problems. His solutions will be eagerly awaited.