Rugby World UK – August 2019

Lozowski from our squad can easily

fill in, and that leaves us with a place

on the wing for Joe Cokanasiga, who

could be a liability but who could also

be a glorious match-winner.

One factor could change my mind at

full-back – if Anthony Watson found true

form in the warm-up matches. As a Lion

in 2017 he was outstanding; he played

with far more freedom and edge than he

has for England. You do wonder why.

WING Joe Cokanasiga (Bath), Jonny

May (Leicester), JackNowell (Exeter)

The late-season form of Denny

Solomona was very attractive, one of his

finishing manoeuvres in the right-hand

corner at the AJ Bell Stadium was

unbelievable. But he just misses out.

Daly is likely to play in the back three

in the Jones team, so they hardly lack

cover out wide. I yield to no one,

however, in my belief that the best place

for Daly, the position where he can do

most for his team, for the attack and the

men outside him, is at outside-centre.

Nowell may not be the most rapid

player but he has the biggest heart in

the sport. He is a wonderful footballer

and the sort of player to revive a team

when things are going badly. Absolutely

essential. In the Gallagher Premiership

final at Twickenham he was the

heartbeat of his Exeter team.

CENTRE Elliot Daly (Saracens),

OllieDevoto (Exeter), AlexLozowski

(Saracens), HenrySlade (Exeter),

BenTe’ o (unattached)

We have waited long enough for Manu

Tuilagi. The heart bleeds for him

because of his injury-wrecked career,

but he has simply not been himself

for Leicester, not been dangerous in

attack or disciplined in defence and

occasionally appears to lack work-rate.

Slade is completely untouchable

as a starter, a brilliant footballer and

competitor in the midfield. Meanwhile,

Te’o makes our team under a form

of sufferance. The club-hopping is

not particularly attractive, although

thoughts go back to his form in the

early part of the Lions tour of New

Zealand two years ago when he

showed glimpses of becoming the

player he was always supposed to be. 

And Lozowski? If you did not choose

him in your team, then you missed the

whole season after Christmas. He has

claims to be the finest Saracen of all last

term, with a nifty physical edge. Devoto

finished the season almost as strongly, a

player with pedigree and also physicality.

The dunderhead approach is over, it

should have died four years ago with

Burgess-gate. Our England squad has

craft as well as power.

FLY-HALF Danny Cipriani (Gloucester),

OwenFarrell (Saracens)

There have been a few signs that

Cipriani will be recalled from the outer

darkness. But there will surely come a

time, if he is not chosen for the World

Cup, when England desperately need

to make something happen in the last

quarter of a match and there is no

one there to do it for them.

It pains me horribly to leave out

George Ford, but World Cups have

never been won by the steadiest team.

And Goode and Lozowski can play

fly-half at the drop of a hat.

SCRUM-HALF Dan Robson (Wasps),

RichardWigglesworth (Saracens),

BenYoungs (Leicester)

For Youngs to justify his selection we

would need to see so much more in the

forthcoming warm-up games than we

Living large

Joe Cokanasiga shows

his power against Italy

MAIN IMAGE

Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images.

PICS

Getty Images

Stephen Jones

Stocky lock

Elliott Stooke in action

against the Barbarians