Stuart Lancaster’s youth policy is a gamble says Mark Cueto
Chris Ashton’s England omission commanded attention but David Strettle’s is just as alarming, according to Cueto, who notched 20 tries in 55 Tests for the Red Rose.
Stuart Lancaster publicly rues the current absences of Marland Yarde and Christian Wade but rather than turn to experience, he blooded youth in Paris and while Jack Nowell recovered after a shaky start, Jonny May lasted just eight minutes.
Cueto is well-placed to judge England’s current wingers. He is in his 14th year with Sale and is the Premiership‘s top try-scorer and while he has been impressed by the new crop, he is concerned they will not be battle hardened when the World Cup gets underway.
“Jonny May is a real threat and from what I’ve seen of Nowell he definitely has a lot of potential,” said Cueto, last capped in the 2011 World Cup.
“But there has to come a point when you stop picking players with potential and start picking a team that will be ready at the World Cup.
“Stuart Lancaster knows that but I’m not sure that May and Nowell are the answer. I have to say it’s a real shame that both Christian and Marland are injured, they can both be stars.
“But if you look at Ashy, he may have had a bit of dip last year, but his club form has been so good this season.
“And he’s a senior figure, nearly 40 caps, and it looked like England missed that kind of experience in Paris.
“And David Strettle seems harshly done by. Maybe he’s considered too old but he’s 30 – I was 31 in my last season for England. He’s the top try-scorer in the Premiership and I think he could definitely play at the World Cup, there’s no way he’d be past it. He’s flying at Saracens.”
Lancaster is always methodical and his investment in youth is uncannily sequential – Anthony Watson is 19, Nowell 20, Yarde 21, Wade 22 and May 23.
Their try-scoring figures are not so good, though, and prior to yesterday’s clash at Murrayfield only Yarde had touched down for England and his two scores came against a second-string Argentina last summer.
Discounting the 2012 cakewalk against Fiji, Strettle and Ashton are the only other out-and-out wingers to score in Lancaster’s first 23 matches. When used on the wing Ben Foden and Mike Brown have one apiece but combined they are on a par with penalty tries or Charlie Hodgson.
Ashton has certainly dried up. Three tries in 20 matches is a miserable return and Lancaster was particularly unimpressed with how he butchered chances this autumn, most notably against New Zealand.
But Cueto – Ashton’s wing partner at the 2011 World Cup – believes the blame cannot be shouldered by one man alone.
“The backline is so inexperienced at the moment and I think England are paying the price of so much chopping and changing but Ashy would counteract that,” he added.
“Luther Burrell was another debutant in Paris and I just worry that England won’t have a settled side, that have experience of playing together when the World Cup comes.
“Lancaster will know that time is running out but you have to stop thinking about potential and worrying about the here and now.”
Behind Strettle, Cueto came into this weekend as the Premiership’s second highest try-scorer but at 34 he is well aware his England days are over.
This season’s Indian summer convinced him to sign up for one more year in January, however, and Cueto admits Sale’s more serene settings persuaded him against hanging his boots.
“Firstly, I think there has been a fair bit of luck but I had a really good, injury-free pre-season,” he added.
“I may have lost a yard of pace but I think my awareness and my anticipation have improved. Last season I had a knee injury that had troubled me since the 2011 World Cup. Things weren’t going well for the club and I was really thinking about packing it in to be honest.
“But this season things are much more settled. There was some different emphasis in pre-season and we’re reaping the rewards. We’re well placed in the league, in the quarters of the Amlin.
“At the end of the day, if the team aren’t playing well, I’m not going to get the chance to score the tries.”
GERARD MEAGHER
