RUGBY/Six Nations:Not since Clive Woodward's early days in charge has an England squad announcement created such a stir. It was not so much the change of captaincy or the brutal axing of dead wood that distinguished Brian Ashton's first selection yesterday as the inherent message. Some of the biggest names in the forest are flat on their backs, uncertain of their futures.
A few, like the World Cup winners Ben Kay and Ben Cohen, have at least had their fall broken by a place in the England A squad, now known as the Saxons, but Lawrence Dallaglio, Simon Shaw, Andy Goode and Mark van Gisbergen are conspicuous by their absence. If any of that quartet feature at Test level again it will be a major achievement.
It would be easy - and misguided - to point to the recall of 30-something veterans such as Mike Catt and Jason Robinson in a 33-strong squad for next month's Six Nations championship and complain that Ashton has opted for a cosmetic prune rather than full nip-tuck surgery. Arguably the reverse is true.
The 60-year-old Ashton has simply done what his predecessor Andy Robinson - and Woodward - never quite got around to by making dispassionate calls based on form and ability rather than reputation. It sounds obvious but the failing had become commonplace in the past two years.
The result is England suddenly have a squad capable of making opponents think again. Robinson is back, 15 months after announcing his retirement, because Ashton has clearly sold him a compelling vision of a brighter 2007. England lack leaders but Ashton clearly believes new ones can be found, Robinson perhaps among them.
"Jason knows what it takes to be at the top of the world game in professional sport," said the coach.
"Apart from being a fantastic rugby player, he has outstanding values as a person which will be important to the England team in the coming year."
Likewise the search for new leaders sees the youthful Shane Geraghty and Toby Flood rub shoulders with Catt and Jonny Wilkinson, while Andy Farrell, now a centre rather than a flanker, has a chance to show everyone what he can do. With such driven individuals involved, England can only improve.
Given the sort of mess Ashton inherited, there is also a certain irony in choosing the son of a Cornish pig farmer to clear things up. The first thing to say about Phil Vickery is he has the respect of everyone in the squad and led England against Argentina in 2002.
He is soft-spoken but hard as nails, injury-prone yet indomitable of spirit, and his appointment as captain to this year's World Cup and beyond is a powerful indicator of Ashton's faith.
The snag is that no one really knows how long Vickery, after three operations on his neck and back, has left as a rugby player. It has been marvellous to see him resume his career with Wasps after leaving Gloucester last year but doubts still hover over his longevity. Ashton, nevertheless, is willing to take the risk.
"He showed in the autumn that he is back playing international rugby well and both as a player and a captain he is the right man to take England forward."
There was also a deserved salute for Martin Corry, described by Ashton as "still a vital member of the squad".
The ousted captain can count himself slightly unfortunate, having achieved a winning ratio of 50:50 in his 14 Tests in charge of a struggling team.
There were days when sheer bloody effort dulled his tactical instincts. But did he justify his place as a player? The answer, even on the bad days, was yes. Would any other available leader have made a difference? Those who still mutter the words "Lawrence" and "Dallaglio" have not watched any Premiership rugby over the past 12 months.
In any big squad there are bound to be some caveats. Surely the Gloucester pair of James Simpson-Daniel and James Forrester, in particular, should be in the senior squad? Are the selectors going to learn anything new by sticking the fit-again Richard Hill in an exciting-looking Saxon squad? The same applies to Ben Kay and Cohen, who possess more than 100 caps between them already. Either they are good enough to stay at the top or they are not.
But think about it and even the oddities make a certain sense. If Simpson-Daniel and Forrester take the A teams of Italy and Ireland apart next month their confidence will soar. Ditto Olly Barkley, Anthony Allen and, yes, Cohen and Kay.
How they respond to their demotion will tell the management everything they need to know. With the World Cup eight months away, time is not on England's side. The good news is that Ashton, with one clever sidestep, has galvanised all concerned.
Guardian Service
Backs: I Balshaw (Gloucester), M Catt (London Irish), M Cueto (Sale), H Ellis (Leicester), A Farrell (Saracens), T Flood (Newcastle), S Geraghty (London Irish), J Lewsey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), S Perry (Bristol), J Robinson (Sale), P Richards (Gloucester), P Sackey (Wasps), M Tait (Newcastle), M Tindall (Gloucester), J Wilkinson (Newcastle).
Forwards: A Brown (Gloucester), G Chuter (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester), L Deacon (Leicester), P Freshwater (Perpignan), D Grewcock (Bath), M Lund (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), L Moody (Leicester), T Payne (Wasps), T Palmer (Wasps), T Rees (Wasps), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), D Ward-Smith (Bristol), J White (Leicester), J Worsley (Wasps).
