Imagine you are Stuart Lancaster. A contract until 2020 is reassuring but the next six or seven weeks suddenly matter significantly more. What does he do in those positions likely to define his 2015 campaign, not least in the centre? Ideally, those wearing 12 and 13 against New Zealand in three weeks’ time will be the same pair kicking off next year’s Rugby World Cup. No pressure then, Stuart.
Which is why this European weekend is effectively a final trial for the various contenders as Lancaster prepares to announce his squad for the autumn series on Wednesday. Bath’s Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph will be in concert in Glasgow, while Luther Burrell is up against Racing Métro’s Welsh Lion, Jamie Roberts, in Paris. Manu Tuilagi will have to cope with Ulster’s international midfield while Brad Barritt tackles Clermont’s all-stars. Billy Twelvetrees, Henry Slade and Shane Geraghty are playing in the European Challenge Cup but remain contenders; Elliot Daly, Ollie Devoto, Sam Hill and Henry Trinder are developing talents. Even Owen Farrell has worn 12 outside George Ford in a junior World Cup final.
Lancaster can pick, at most, only five centres in his squad. The trick is to select complementary pairs of aces, not ill-matched knots of individuals. In Lancaster’s head will be the memory of Barritt and Tuilagi tearing the All Blacks apart less than two years ago. So will be the image of Eastmond looking totally lost defensively alongside Tuilagi in Hamilton last June. The same Eastmond, however, has been playing out of his skin alongside Joseph for Bath. And what about Burrell, so good in last year’s Six Nations at 13, yet still seen as a 12 by Northampton?
We have not even mentioned Sam Burgess, touted by some as the wrecking-ball answer for the World Cup at inside-centre. Burgess and Tuilagi would scare most defenders to death but imagine the fun Conrad Smith and Beauden Barrett could have with them positionally? As Mike Ford, Bath’s head coach, stressed this week, it is “pie in the sky” to expect Burgess to play for England in this season’s Six Nations.
So does Lancaster stick in the middle, or twist? To Ford it is simple: Eastmond and Joseph, along with the fly-half George Ford and wings Semesa Rokoduguni and Anthony Watson should be selected en bloc. “I’d be really disappointed [if they’re not],” says Ford.
“Stuart has asked for more time to pick the men in form and I feel there are two or three positions he’s still debating, especially in the backs. Our backs have been the form Premiership back-line so it’ll be interesting to see what type of squad he picks.”
The perfect template for any great Test centre partnership, though, is not that simple. Ideally you need an unselfish, bright, resolute cog alongside someone strong, quick or elusive enough to win Test matches on their own. England will also be facing sides, both this autumn and in their World Cup pool, who will come forcefully at them down the 12 channel.
It is why Barritt and Tuilagi could yet be reunited despite Lancaster’s instinctive preference for a second play-maker at 12: Barritt is the ultimate team man and defensive organiser (even more useful when George Ford comes on), Tuilagi the raging china-shop bull.
This, clearly, would be dismal news for Twelvetrees and Eastmond. But how are England going to win a World Cup? The answer is by picking men who can best handle pressure situations and think most clearly amid the tumult. Eastmond, when the chips were down in Hamilton, looked befuddled. If Farrell starts at fly-half, as he will this autumn, there is an awful lot of responsibility on one pair of shoulders. Even Burrell, fancied by many to start inside Tuilagi against the All Blacks, does not have a renowned kicking game.
So into my squad would come Slade, a rising star in the west if ever there was one. He has been wearing 13 for Exeter but, crucially, has time on the ball wherever he plays. He has a huge left boot, notable distribution skills and, at 6ft 2in, can look after himself defensively. He could also offer the spatial awareness which Barrett and the Smiths, Ben and Conrad, supply for New Zealand. England will need another clever distributor in their World Cup squad whoever plays at 10; if Twelvetrees or Geraghty are not deemed consistent enough, then Slade it is. Joseph, whose ability to beat defenders on a classic outside-centre arc has been a joy this season, has also done enough to merit another chance.
That leaves five contrasting yet compatible centres: Tuilagi, Burrell, Barritt, Slade and Joseph. Lancaster could instead retain Twelvetrees or Eastmond – or both – and promote Slade from the Saxons at a later date but the moment for tough decisions is now, not in January.
England’s centres of excellence for 2015 – whoever they are – need to spend as much time around each other as possible.
