IT IS impossible to overstate the gale of fresh Pennines air which has begun to blow through English rugby. The unfamiliar names on the squad list reflect the shifting climate but the change in attitude is the most striking. When in 10 days’ time the players arrive at the Sycamores, home of West Park Leeds RUFC, for their pre-Six Nations training camp on January 23rd, they will be walking into a cultural revolution.
Mike Tindall, Nick Easter and Mark Cueto were among those omitted from the 32-man squad while Delon Armitage and Matt Banahan are relegated to the Saxons squad as England seek to put behind them a dismal World Cup campaign dogged by scandal.
Stuart Lancaster, England’s interim head coach, was not about to give all his tactical secrets away on day one but it is clear how he has achieved world-class level-five coaching status. He gave an off-the-record presentation on his attacking philosophy which ranked among the most refreshing delivered by any coach in my biro-chewing experience. He made some of his predecessors sound like blinkered speak-your-weight machines.
The next trick will be to instil this clarity and intelligence into his players. England have had any number of new dawns without having the players to sustain them. Lancaster’s first – and possibly last – Six Nations squad may not necessarily terrify the French, the Welsh, the Irish or the Scots but opponents would be correct to sense the days of English complacency are over. As long as Lancaster is at the helm, cynicism and lethargy will be outlawed.
Already the former Leeds coach has made it very clear reputation counts for nowt. Gone are the World Cup rabble rousers, replaced by clear-eyed youth with a thirst only for improvement. British Cycling’s Dave Brailsford and Hugh Morris of the England and Wales Cricket Board are among those due to address the squad on the secrets of success.
“Our first meeting will be about trying to get a sense of teamship, about where we’re going on the journey,” said Lancaster. “It’s about trying to paint a vision of what the future looks like and getting them excited and engaged.”
In the cases of the nine uncapped players in the squad it will be more a question of calming them down. Northampton, who supply a record eight players, have had the backrowers Phil Dowson, Calum Clark and the shrewd scrumhalf Lee Dickson added to their international roster and the Saracens backs Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt could well start against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 4th. The Harlequins centre Jordan Turner-Hall and prop Joe Marler, the Scarlets number eight Ben Morgan and the Wasps hooker Rob Webber will hope a first cap is within reach.
By Lancaster’s admission it is a squad picked with an eye on the present and the future. If there is a quibble it is that no senior place has been found for Andy Saull or Billy Twelvetrees, young men whose talents are not necessarily replicated by anyone else. Instead of a groundhogging openside flanker, like Saracens’ Saull, England will continue to make do with converted number sevens, although Tom Wood and Clark are no slouches. In midfield there are not quite the deft ball-players, like Twelvetrees of Leicester, that the best sides have in abundance. Lancaster, though, is committed to coaxing more out of England going forward and is entitled to leeway as he embarks on the task.
“The majority of sides we face will have stability, consistency, quality players and a consistent management group,” Lancaster said. “But if you look at the experience in the frontrow and secondrow, we are not sending a team of under-23s to Murrayfield. We want to grow a group of players and develop experience.”
The captain will not be named until later this month. One bookmaker has installed Dylan Hartley as favourite but one of the hooker’s Northampton clubmates, Wood, is the most obvious choice. It is also clear the 20-year-old Farrell, whose father Andy is part of the coaching team, will be high on the list to face the Scots. Lancaster said: “He won’t be fazed by it at all. He has temperament and presence and that is what we are looking for.”
GuardianService
ENGLAND SQUAD FOR THE SIX NATIONS: Forwards – M Botha (Saracens), C Clark (Northampton Saints), A Corbisiero (London Irish), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), T Croft (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), P Dowson (Northampton), D Hartley (Northampton), C Lawes (Northampton), J Marler (Harlequins), L Mears (Bath), B Morgan (Scarlets), T Palmer (Stade Francais), C Robshaw (Harlequins), M Stevens (Saracens), R Webber (London Wasps), D Wilson (Bath), T Wood (Northampton). Backs – C Ashton (Northampton Saints), B Barritt (Saracens), M Brown (Harlequins), L Dickson (Northampton), O Farrell (Saracens), T Flood (Leicester), B Foden (Northampton), C Hodgson (Saracens), J Simpson (London Wasps), C Sharples (Gloucester), D Strettle (Saracens), M Tuilagi (Leicester), J Turner-Hall (Harlequins), B Youngs (Leicester).
