Jeremy Guscott: Lancaster must take risks to find a true cutting edge

It must be incredibly disappointing for this England side to get that close to a Grand Slam and lose in the manner they did at the Millennium Stadium, because teams are remembered for winning. I never believed England would be beaten as heavily as 30-3 by Wales, but maybe we got a bit carried away. Part of that may have been because Stuart Lancaster as head coach has remained open and persuasive, leading us to believe that England’s confidence and ability to adapt to the Six Nations climax in Cardiff ran deeper than it did.
That is why most people believed that the Italy game was just a blip, and that England were capable of finding ways to win in Cardiff. However, if you lined up the two teams and looked at them man-for-man even before the game, the Welsh tipped it in most positions. Not only that, but with Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton and Gethin Jenkins coming back strongly from injuries I’m sure that the Welsh forwards were fresher than guys like Tom Wood and Chris Robshaw, who had played almost every minute of every game for England.
Now it’s over we can see that what’s missing with England is a cutting-edge. That is why one of Lancaster’s priorities has to be to find an openside flanker like Justin Tipuric. What an out-and-out No.7 provides is great linking skills, and that’s what Tipuric did so well for Wales, playing a key role in both Alex Cuthbert’s tries. I’m not sure that young English opensides like Luke Wallace and Matt Kvesic link well enough yet.
As good as Robshaw has been as England captain, against Wales it showed that when he plays against a real No.7 like Tipuric, and Australia‘s Michael Hooper in the autumn, it is tough for him. However, Tipuric was clearly helped by a dominant scrum, and it should be remembered that Robshaw also went pretty well against Richie McCaw. What can’t be denied is that he has a high work-rate, and makes a huge number of carries, if not for great yardage.
Scrum-wise we discovered that if Alex Corbisiero is long-term injured England need to find another loosehead. In the second row I like Geoff Parling, who is a real leader, and I believe that Joe Launchbury will become another England lock legend to rival even Martin Johnson.
There is an interesting situation at fly-half where Toby Flood did well when he came on, and Owen Farrell had good games against New Zealand, Scotland and Ireland. But England have to find fly-halves who are a threat with the ball in hand. Jonny Wilkinson became the best fly-half in the world at one time without doing that, but he was unique, and England need to develop the likes of Freddie Burns, fast-tracking him to challenge Farrell.
On the credit side there was a huge plus for England in Billy Twelvetrees getting international exposure this Six Nations. Although Brad Barritt is a good ball carrier and defender, if he is put together in a backline with Farrell and Manu Tuilagi there is simply not enough creativity.
Alex Goode is a good footballer, but he has not shown that he is an attacking threat. The best full-backs in the world, like Israel Dagg, scare defences with their running. Mike Brown has counter-attacking ability, but England got too stuck in playing a territorial game to make the most of him.
You sense that England have to be prepared to take more risks to develop an attacking style – and that’s why this summer’s tour to Argentina is a great opportunity. Players like Twelvetrees and Jonny May must go on that tour, because otherwise a big opportunity will be missed. If Lancaster wants them, and also Christian Wade and Charlie Sharples, to be future stars then he must get them running with the best English players as often as possible.
I would also take Kyle Eastmond. He has steep acceleration, is rapid over 30-40 metres and difficult to pin down because he can change direction incredibly quickly thanks to his low centre of gravity. He’s also as good a passer as I’ve seen in Rugby Union. This guy is really talented, and he will learn quicker in an England environment.
Despite the defeat in Cardiff, England are still in a good place. However, I do not accept all this stuff afterwards about learning lots of lessons. All they learned is that they weren’t as good as Wales on the day. For me, it was a huge moment when Tuilagi spilled the ball early on when he was through. That could have been a try – and a very different game.
My last point is that Lancaster needs to be able to bring anyone he wants in an out of the EPS squad. To do his job properly he needs real flexibility in this regard, and if he hasn’t got it, it should be sorted out now.