England may have relocated from the harsh altitude of Colorado to the gentler climes of stockbroker-belt Surrey but the heat is intensifying on those seeking fringe places in Stuart Lancaster’s 31-man World Cup squad. As many as nine players are set to be released and some talented individuals will be packing their bags on Friday.
Lancaster will try his best to soften the blow but he acknowledges the time for hard decisions is fast approaching. While it is likely to be a few weeks before the head coach settles on his absolute final permutations at hooker, prop and centre, the management’s thinking in other areas is growing slightly clearer.
When invited, for example, to nominate the player who has impressed him most during the camp to date, Lancaster opted for Gloucester’s Jonny May, potentially bad news for a clutch of other wing contenders. “He has been the standout performer so far, probably in the whole squad really. He has been excellent and has really got the bit between his teeth. It sometimes happens, when a player gets dropped from an international team. They can feel sorry for themselves or turn round and say: ‘Right, I’m going to work harder at my game.’ He’s definitely done that.”
For Semesa Rokoduguni, Chris Ashton and Marland Yarde, the risk of being omitted from the squad has increased substantially. Wasps’ Matt Mullan has also been mentioned warmly in despatches, which is either an attempt to keep the mobile loosehead sharp should injury strike, or a worry for one of the other six props still in contention. With Kieran Brookes having impressed his coaches and Alex Corbisiero able to prop on both sides of the scrum, it is conceivable Bath’s David Wilson could yet end up as the odd man out.
And so it goes on. Lee Dickson has been one of the regular squad picks but one of the four scrum-halves will be chopped. Nick Easter’s bad back, sustained while lifting weights on day two, has recovered sufficiently for him to be able to train this week but he has missed a significant chunk of England’s practice ground preparations. Matt Kvesic is a high-calibre openside but there is no room, as things stand, for himself and Northampton’s ever-competitive Calum Clark.
The situation at hooker looks to be a two-way grapple between Saracens’ Jamie George and Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie, although that call seems set to be delayed until the final 31-man squad are named at the end of the month.
Two from Billy Twelvetrees, Kyle Eastmond and Luther Burrell will have to be jettisoned, however, if both Sam Burgess and Henry Slade – neither of whom has yet won a full cap for England at union – are to be retained.
Burgess’s prospects remain undimmed by Lancaster’s decision to pick him at No12 rather than on the flank where he operated with increasing assurance for Bath at the end of last season. The former South Sydney Rabbitohs player is keen not to inflame that particular debate – “I will play anywhere I am told” – and disputes the idea that his job this week is simply to knock his club-mate Eastmond out of the equation.
“I think that’s a really poor way to look at it. I would hate for it to be played out as me versus Kyle. In terms of getting over someone, it is not about that,” Burgess said.
“As much as you want to do well, this game is not an individual sport. It is a team sport. I am his team-mate and that’s how I will approach every day with every single one of the players in the squad.”
There is a school of thought that if Burgess makes the final 31 instead of Slade it will improve the chances of a third specialist fly-half, such as Danny Cipriani, sneaking in at the expense of Alex Goode. Lancaster is not ruling it out but did not sound particularly wedded to the idea. “That could be the case but it would leave you with only one specialist full-back [in Mike Brown],” he said. “Then you run the risk of that specialist full-back falling over in the week of the game.”
All Cipriani can do is train out of his skin this week and keep everything crossed.
