Grand Slam Still On?

I've got a bit of a dilemma. Watching the England v Italy match, I was thinking of how poor England were. Stupidly high possession percentage in the first half but went in at the break only 9 points up. Then Italy come out and dominate after the restart at Twickenham.

So here's my dilemma: I wouldn't have picked a different team. Give me that scenario over and over again and, knowing how poor they played, I would still pick the same team. Why? Because that's the best team we have at the moment.

So long as Owen Farrell is available next week, I'd put him back into the squad. I'd also have him play all 80 minutes. That's not to take anything away from Toby Flood who had an excellent game today though. I'd bring him on at 12 on the sixty minute mark. It would obviously depend on how well the other players were doing.

So what went wrong today then? I'm sure many people will point out that England won and that nothing did go wrong. Also, the old adage 'even though we played poorly we still won.' I agree, but it was so poor, we should be questioning how well we play. England have scored just one try in three games.

And that's where the problem lies, in our attitude. I get the impression that this England team are quite happy to sit back and wait for the other team to concede the penalties and try not to concede many themselves. A tactic only this team can pull off (England teams of old would concede more). There's no sting in attack. I don't know why though. In Barritt and Flood, they have a couple of great ball passers and in Ashton and Brown they have some excellent finishers. So why aren't they getting more tries on the board?

I know you're all going to hate me for this but I think it's Tuilagi. Told you you'd hate me. The reason for this is because he doesn't do quick balls. He is most definitely a crash ball player. He won't ship the ball out to Brown or Ashton under normal conditions. But you wouldn't drop him. Or, at least, I wouldn't. Why not? Because he is a strong player, both in attack and in defence. The ball will be there for the wingers if they push their case and come more central. Look at Luke McLane and his break against England. Broke the English line between 12 and 13. Simply because he came off his wing. They should have scored.

So there's the dilemma. Who would you pick against Wales? Let me know.


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