Under grey skies at Twickenham on Sunday afternoon an England XV took on the Barbarians and it was pretty obvious, from the moment Marland Yarde scorched down the left flank for the first of 10 tries for Stuart Lancaster’s team, which side had World Cup places in mind. Lancaster is taking 50 players to Colorado this summer for high-altitude training and Yarde was one of those hoping to make an impression on the England coaching team watching from the stands. If the Barbarians suggested a side who had enjoyed the midweek hospitality of the Irish a little too much, the England XV looked sharp with Joe Launchbury impressive on his return in a white shirt as the home side recorded a record 73-12 victory in this fixture. Launchbury and Courtney Lawes look like a nailed-on second-row partnership by the time England kick off the World Cup at Twickenham against Fiji on 18 September. Elsewhere things are less certain and five players grabbed their opportunity to make a case for the final World Cup squad of 31.
Christian Wade
The only player in this list not to make it on the plane to Colorado, the Wasps wing divides opinion but his ability to finish off moves is not in question and a hat-trick on Sunday left one question hanging in the air after the match. Why is Wade not in the England squad when Chris Ashton, on the Saracens bench on Saturday, and David Strettle, whose time in an England shirt is surely long gone especially as he is bound for France in the autumn, are going to Colorado. It could have been four tries had Wade not dropped the ball over the line 10 minutes after the break. His second try just before the interval was a peach. Taking a long pass from Yarde, who was electric in the first half, Wade left the opposition wings David Smith and Ugo Monye standing with a change in direction as he cut inside the pair to score. Wade may be no giant but neither was Shane Williams, Jason Robinson did not perform too shabbily in an England shirt and Monye will want to forget his last game of rugby after unsuccessfully chasing the little man around Twickenham for 80 minutes.
Henry Slade
The Exeter centre has been playing most of his rugby for the Chiefs this season in the No13 shirt. He played at inside-centre on Sunday in an exciting pairing with Elliot Daly, who has scored some spectacular tries for Wasps recently. Ultimately Slade may settle into a fly-half role for his club but Lancaster could well pair him with Jonathan Joseph in the World Cup now that Manu Tuilagi has removed himself from the centre equation. Lancaster is more likely to go for the defensive qualities of Brad Barritt as his No12 come the autumn but the centre combination is by no means settled and Slade did himself plenty of favours on Sunday. It was his sublime long pass to his Exeter club-mate Luke Cowan-Dickie that created that first try for Yarde and he took his chance for a try of his own after the break. Slade runs as straight as an arrow from an English long-bow and he looked very impressive with the ball in hand, outshining his centre partner Daly.
Danny Cipriani
Stuart Lancaster has taken his time to pick the Sale playmaker in an England starting XV for the first time and Cipriani had been a brooding presence on the bench in the Six Nations. To be fair to Lancaster George Ford and Owen Farrell pick themselves as World Cup fly-halves, injuries permitting. But to be fair to Cipriani, one cannot do more than score 33 points, a record for an individual England player in this fixture, and land all 11 kicks at goal. Cipriani controlled the game expertly and, although Wales and Australia will have less forgiving defences when real competitive rugby is being played at Twickenham in the autumn, the man of the match could not have done any more.
Luke Cowan-Dickie
Hooker has been a traditional source of strength for England over the years. But, with Dylan Hartley’s latest bit of bone-headed behaviour, the 21-year-old Cornishman Luke Cowan-Dickie suddenly has the chance to become England’s third No2 in the World Cup. That could even be No2 No2 as Rob Webber’s form at Bath has dropped off of late. Lancaster’s dilemma is that Hartley, for all his lack of discipline, is England’s best hooker but Tom Youngs is certain to start against Fiji. England badly need a reliable set-piece hooker and the young Exeter man threw in well to the lineout. He looked good in the loose, too, for the 48 minutes he was on the field, straightening the line well for the Yarde try and off-loading the ball smartly in the first half.
Ed Slater
The Leicester lock is England’s forgotten forward after a frustrating club season, largely out of action with injury after leading the England tourists to victory against the Crusaders in New Zealand a year ago. Slater was played in the back row for Leicester in their shellacking at Bath the Saturday before last but he returned to the engine room alongside Launchbury on Sunday and did his cause no harm with a try from a rolling maul in the first half. The rolling maul could still be a potent weapon for England in the World Cup and Slater is the kind of heavy-duty forward England need but the second row, and indeed the back row with Sam Burgess making a big impression at No6 for Bath, is very competitive. Slater, for all his qualities, may just miss out when the final England squad is announced in August.
