Stuart Lancaster must dare to dream, says Brian Ashton

Brian Ashton hopes that England’s new-found attacking style will be no passing ‘fad’.
A young England team destroyed Argentina with some stunning running in the summer on their way to a two-Test series whitewash of the Pumas.
And former England coach Ashton, 66, who led the Red Rose to a highly creditable 2007 World Cup runners-up spot, says the challenge for head coach Stuart Lancaster is how best to blend the old with the new in terms of team selection and playing style.
He said: “It was good to see England do what they did in Argentina, I just hope they get the opportunity and have the mindset to continue on with that and see where it takes them.
“You can dream forever but if you don’t put your dreams into action then you’ll never know whether you’re going to be successful or not.
“When you pick the likes of Freddie Burns, Kyle Eastmond, Marland Yarde, Christian Wade, Jonny May and the rest it would have been pointless to just kick the bloody thing downfield and drive mauls.
“So the way they played was half expected but nonetheless it was great to see them put it into operation.
“I know it wasn’t the first choice Argentina team that they were playing, but, as the old saying goes, you can only play what’s in front of you.
“It’ll be interesting to see how many of those guys, who played a different style of rugby from what England had played in the previous 18 months, feature in the autumn internationals.
“It is a really interesting conundrum for Stuart: how to blend together the players in Argentina with those who were rested and those that went on the Lions tour. To have too many players available to you, who are able to play different styles of rugby, is a great position for any head coach to be in.”
Ashton, who remains a close confidant of Lancaster and visited England’s pre-Six Nations training camp, believes that Mike Catt’s influence as attack coach is also starting to bear fruit.
He said: “The players take the credit if it goes right and it’s the coach that takes the flak if it goes wrong.
“But I’m pretty sure that Mike Catt had a big input into setting the mindset as to how they should play in Argentina.
“When I was with the 2003 England World Cup-winning squad I used to use the phrase ‘freedom with accountability and discipline’.
“And Mike Catt was in amongst a group of players like Dawson, Bracken, Wilkinson, Greenwood, Robinson and Healey who were all of that same mindset.
“What Stuart won’t want to do – and he doesn’t need me telling him this – is to have a team that can only play one style. He needs to find a team for all seasons; one that can deal with whatever is thrown at them.
“If you have a team that dictates the way the game is going to be played whether that’s a kicking game, a driving game, a wide game, a tight game, whatever, they become very tricky to play against.”
This summer also saw call for a global season to be introduced but Ashton believes there are simply too many obstacles in the way.
He said: “I can understand the desire to have a global season but maybe it should have been done at the outset of professionalism.
“I think the problem now is that there are too many vested interests, especially in the Northern Hemisphere.
“In the Southern Hemisphere most players tend to be centrally contracted so it might not be too much of an issue but in the North you have Premiership Rugby, the Top 14 – who like to flex their muscles every now and again over things like this – and then the PRO12. I think it is going to be difficult to keep everyone happy.
“If it had happened right at the start of the professional era 18 years ago then it might have been slightly different.”
JON NEWCOMBE/BEN BAKER