Jeremy Guscott: Billy’s the boy for England No.12 spot inside Tuilagi
But his well-taken try and calm penalty at the death to secure the victory would have impressed England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
Providing Manu Tuilagi is injury free by the time the Autumn Internationals start, he would be my first choice at outside-centre. The player inside him at Leicester Tigers is Anthony Allen, who is a very fine club performer, and, on the back of a good few seasons of consistent performances, probably deserves an international run out – but he’s very unlikely to get the chance.
Allen doesn’t quite stand in your face as an obvious choice, because, although his stats are as good, if not better, than most inside-centres playing in the Premiership, he just doesn’t shine enough. He’s a good all rounder that any club team would love to have, but without any sort of X-factor.
At international level you’ve got to be able to turn a match with some special quality. Tuilagi has an explosiveness and aggression that makes him difficult to stop – even from a standing start – and close to the line you’d back his dynamite strength to blast him over.
I played alongside some very consistent inside-centre performers, Simon Halliday, Will Carling and Scott Gibbs among them, and they rarely had a below par game.
Halliday could off-load from inside a jam jar, Carling always got across the gain-line, but then forgot to pass to me. Only joking – he did pass a couple! Gibbs was another Tuilagi, but, as well as sheer power, he had a great step and mental belief in his ability to get the job done and dominate his opposite number.
Centres have to be consistent in defence and attack. There’s so much traffic constantly in and out of their channel that they’re asked to do both.
Twelvetrees has an opportunity to put space between himself and his competitors for the England 12 shirt. Compared to his competition in the England senior squad he has a more rounded game.
Kyle Eastmond definitely has the X-factor, his acceleration off the mark and his in-built tackle avoidance system when running with the ball gives him the edge in attack. He tackles very well for his size, his passing is high quality, plus he has a kicking game.
However, despite Eastmond’s tackling ability, with him defending at 12 the opposition would soon send traffic down that channel and absolutely pound him, because he’s only 5ft 7ins and 80kg (12st 8lb). They wouldn’t get as much joy with Twelvetrees, who is 6ft 3ins and 100kg (15st 10lb).
Simarly, Northampton’s powerhouse Luther Burrell, 6ft 3in and 104 kg (16st 5 lb), has started the season like a train in the Saints midfield and could be in the reckoning if he performs consistently over the next few weeks.
Eastmond, providing he’s fit, will still challenge for a starting place because of his outstanding ability to beat players from first or second receiver. You wouldn’t want any other player taking the ball there with a prop forward or second row to be picked-off in the defensive line.
Matt Giteau has played a lot of international rugby at centre, and there’s no reason why Eastmond couldn’t do the same.
But, unfortunately for Eastmond, the other side of the coin is that it would only take a big fella running over him for questions to start being asked.
I believe that change is in the air for the Premiership and English rugby as a whole. When once the premium coach was the defence guru, the clever teams are on the lookout for a smart attacking coach to unleash talent to score tries.
Having the ability to make and score tries is what rugby should be about. The contest between defence and attack is currently too one-sided, but if it starts to be weighted more towards the attack masters, then the likes of Eastmond will be in high demand.
Twelvetrees can roll with styles of play because of his physical presence and skills, but I feel he has to develop a trademark gift. It could be the clairvoyant ability to read his Gloucester fly-half, Freddie Burns, and be there every time he makes a break, providing the link which sets up a try for his outside-centre, wings or full-back.
He could learn from Conrad Smith, who is one of the most complete centres out there. Granted he plays in a good team, but that comes with added pressure because you can’t let your form drop playing for the All Blacks, or you’ll be left out.
England haven’t had a real general in midfield since Will Greenwood, who was able to marshall players inside and outside him to great effect, using them as decoys, or actually putting them through space.
The game has changed, but England are crying out for that midfield back who can make those important breaks, or read a break and be the first support player.
Given the latitude by the England coaches to attack, Twelvetrees could really come into his own. What player doesn’t want the responsibility to run an attack? Scoring tries is what it’s all about, defending is easy!
