Can you pick a player because of who he is, and not because of what he does?
It seems so, otherwise Danny Cipriani would be the England fly-half in Rome
this Sunday and Jonny Wilkinson, conceivably, would not even be on the
bench.
Ultimately, grudgingly, I have to admit that I would choose him for the Italy
game but only by a kind of circumstantial default. Mike Tindall, one of the
finest midfield focal points in Europe, is injured. His absence cruelly
wounds the rest of the England campaign.
Furthermore, the grisly injury toll means that England have lost four other
key men. One more defeat and we are slap bang back into the debate of the
early World Cup as to whether Brian Ashton has a clear voice or if it is
submerged by clashing philosophies and bickering inside the team room.
For that reason, for a kind of stability, for a familiar face, and because the
players around him still seem to believe in him (at least, they say they do
at the traditional asinine, self-justifying media burbles which afflict the
whole Six Nations), I would choose Jonny for Rome.
But strictly on form? No. Is this a media thing? We built him and now,
typically, are we devouring him? Absolutely not. He has lost a considerable
amount from his game and my growing anxieties are purely technical. He is
the greatest tackler, pound-for-pound, the game has ever seen, bar none. But
the eye tells us that he no longer hits so hard and the statistics tell us
that he no longer hits so often.
Indeed, his lunge which knocked Jonathan Thomas senseless at Twickenham and
which really had to bring a citing, was perhaps a view on a decline. His
goalkicking percentage rate is currently fine, but it is lower, it is that
of a mere mortal.
His kicking out of hand has become frustratingly conservative. These days, he
no longer seems to give the ball a kind of joyous whack with the outside of
his boot, which used to deliver it on vast diagonals. He kicks end over end,
burying the balls safely into the stands. But often, after his team have won
a line-out, his clearing kick gives them another line-out about 15-20 metres
up the field but this time, without the throw-in. Compare the length of the
kicking of, say, James Hook or Ronan O'Gara.
Opinion as to whether he has declined as a tactical controller depends on your
view as to whether he ever was one. He still takes responsibility, but his
check-and-go manoeuvre has become samey, and he rarely these days puts
people through the gap with aplomb. I have a vast affection for Newcastle
Falcons but this season I have seen them too many times, with all the ball
in the world, with Jonny, Toby Flood and Mathew Tait in the midfield, fail
utterly to pose a threat to the defence. His game at Twickenham last
Saturday fell to bits.
His temperament, his aura, and his ice-coolness on the late, fateful kicks are
all still magnificent. His courage too. It is marvellous to see him putting
in a long run of games after the horrible run of injury. Rugby will never be
able to repay him for his appeal, modesty, behaviour and glamour.
But King Jonny is on the verge of being overthrown. The greatness is
declining. If England could only find momentum and direction, then they may
well conclude that different hands on the wheel are sorely needed. Well, are
we choosing icons, or players?
Twickenham: home match or mausoleum?
One account of the England-Wales game said that when Mike Phillips reached
over to score the winning try for the Welsh, Twickenham "was silenced".
Silenced? Twickenham? When was it anything else? Am I being unkind or is
Twickenham the least atmospheric, the least passionate and the most drab of
the six Test stadiums in the RBS Six Nations?
It must be said that the new South Stand and the completion of the bowl has
added a new sweep to the place. It must also be said that you can hardly
expect 80,000 to arrive wearing gaudy replica kit, colourful T-shirts and
beach wear in the middle of February. Clive Woodward was wrong to decry
Twickenham's blandness compared to stadiums in Australia, where it is warm.
Wish I had shares in Barbour, mind.
But it is not so much an imposing stadium, as is Wembley or the Millennium or
the Suncorp in Brisbane, or Croke Park. It is just a round bowl of seats.
Last week it looked colourless, we had to endure the usual hectoring,
unnecessary announcer. It did not look vivid, it did not seem a hindrance to
the opposition.
Home match, or mausoleum?
Arrogant French set themselves up for a fall against Ireland
Vincent Clerc was man of the match for France against Scotland, in a new-look
French team he was brilliant. I must confess to being suspicious of the
selection by Marc Lievremont, the new coach, because a horde of young guns
rarely win Tests. That horde, however, did.
What a shame that it has all gone to Lievremont's head. For Saturday's game,
he originally left out Clerc. The wing is only starting because Julien
Malzieu is injured. Lievremont has talked about rotation, giving others a
chance. It is drivel. The Six Nations is never a rehearsal. You pick your
best team.
Lievremont is taking the mickey out of the traditions of the event, he is
making fun of the Irish. He is tinkering dangerously. A large part of me is
hoping that Ireland acquaint him with harsh reality and leave him wishing
profoundly that he had picked his first XV in every position. The philosophy
of development is for sacked coaches.
What do you think? E-mail Stephen at rollingmaul@timesonline.co.uk
with your opinion and he'll reply to the best of the letters next week. Just
remember to enter through the gate - don't stray offside
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>>>>>THE HERO OF THE WEEK<<<<<
ADAM JONES (WALES)
Adam and hairdressers remain poles apart. So, it seems, do Adam and world
class status. Given his rather generous waistline, so do Adam and the gym,
though he may well be fitter than he looks. This is the man who, last
season, achieved the incredible feat of looking uncomfortable against the
Scotland scrum. But he took all the stick last week and then he put his head
down and got on with it. His ability to stand up so well to whatever Andrew
Sheridan threw at him in the scrum was one of the main reasons why Wales
kept it down to manageable proportions prior to their fightback. Hail the
hirsute hero.
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The Stephen Jones Debate
With this being the first week, we don't have any of your correspondence
to debate, but in future weeks this area of the e-mail will be reserved for
your views and boos. E-mail Stephen at rollingmaul@timesonline.co.uk
and he'll either agree, disagree, add some insight or come back firing...
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The week in 60 seconds
Thursday:
VICKERY
INJURY ADDS TO ENGLAND'S WOES
Phil Vickery has handed England yet another injury scare ahead of Sunday's
match against Italy in Rome. The England captain is a doubt after hurting
his right calf during training in Bath this morning.
Report by Times Online
WILKINSON
REFUSES TO LOOK BACK IN ANGER
England's "angry" men will not include Andrew Sheridan - who seldom
seems moved to anger - when they go looking for redemption in Rome on
Sunday. The Sale Sharks prop has again fallen foul of an unusual ailment.
Report by David Hands
LIPMAN'S
GRAFT BRINGS BELATED PROMOTION
Michael Lipman is frankness itself. "I couldn't believe what I was seeing,"
the Bath flanker said of last weekend's experience as an onlooker at
Twickenham as England slid from their winning position against Wales. Now he
has the chance to do something about it after he was called into the
starting line-up for his Six Nations debut.
Report by David Hands
HADDEN
STAYS LOYAL IN HOPE OF SCOTLAND RECOVERY
Despite Scotland's poor performance against France on Sunday, Frank Hadden,
the coach, has stayed loyal to the players who failed.
Report by Lewis Stuart
FRANCE
RING CHANGES FOR IRELAND MATCH
Marc Lièvremont is proving to be a hard man to please. Despite his new-look
team's impressive win in Scotland last Sunday, the France coach has made six
changes in personnel for Ireland's visit to Paris on Saturday.
Report by Mark Souster
Wednesday:
ITALY
EXPECT ENGLAND TO ARRIVE WITH ALL GUNS BLAZING
Dismayed by their own shortcomings, disappointed with criticism of their
performance against Wales last weekend, England will come out fighting
against Italy in Rome on Sunday - and it is not only their players who say
that.
Report by David Hands
ROBERTS
GETS CHANCE TO MAKE WALES IMPACT
Anyone who was in the Cathays area of Cardiff last night may have come across
a party of four young men, clearly students, who were celebrating. Three
were what you might call normal size; the fourth was huge - 6ft 6in and
nearly 17 stone. What the friends were celebrating was the way that the huge
one of them, Jamie Roberts, a medical student at Cardiff University, had
gone from watching Wales games on a pub television in the student quarter of
the Principality's capital city last year to a place in the starting XV
against Scotland at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
Report by John Hopkins
Tuesday:
WILKINSON
ESCAPES CITING
England retired to their lair in Bath yesterday, licking the wounds handed out
by Wales at Twickenham on Saturday as well as those that were
self-inflicted. It could have been worse. At least Jonny Wilkinson can
concentrate on recovering the ground lost in the RBS Six Nations
Championship without the threat of disciplinary procedures hanging over him.
Report by David Hands
Monday:
"THAT
PASS WAS THROWN WITH THE BEST OF INTENTIONS - JUST WRONG EXECUTION"
I would be on another planet if I wasn't aware of a little of the post-match
talk after Twickenham on Saturday, so these are my thoughts...
Column from Jonny Wilkinson
FRENCH
DISPLAY TRADITIONAL STYLE IN PUNISHING SHODDY SCOTLAND
Welcome back French flair; goodbye Scottish optimism. A truly dreadful home
performance was eclipsed by all the joys of the French playing the way that
only they can, with pace, panache and elan yesterday.
Match report by Lewis Stuart
Sunday:
WALES
DREAMING AS ENGLAND SLEEP
Brian Ashton still managed a smile after what was the worst 40 minutes of his
coaching career.
Analysis by Stuart Barnes
HOOK'S
DISPLAY AT FLY-HALF PUTS WILKINSON TO THE SWORD
James Hook can take his place alongside the great Welsh fly-halves, such as
Phil Bennett and Barry John, after this match-winning performance. Analysis
by Jeremy Guscott
WALES
FIGHTBACK SHOCKS ENGLAND
England collapsed spectacularly in the second half on a cold and cheerless
Twickenham afternoon, giving a performance that finished little short of
total disintegration.
Match report by Stephen Jones
BOOS
ADD TO IRISH HANGOVER
What had been billed as Ireland's redemption song became a discordant, jumpy
affair by the end of which coach Eddie O'Sullivan was relieved to avoid a
first defeat to the Azzurri since 1997. Relieved, but hardly deaf to the
faint but unmistakable boos that greeted Jonathan Kaplan's final whistle.
Match report by Peter O'Reilly
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Things you need to know about rugby: No 1
THE MYTH OF THE DOUBLE MOVEMENT
There is no law in rugby concerning the "double movement". It is
staggering how often people complain about tries scored because the scorer
appeared to be brought down short of the line then planted the ball over the
line after being grounded.
"Double movement!" is the protest. "Double movement!" was
the cry even from the BBC commentator at Murrayfield when Vincent Clerc was
brought down short but extended his arms in a definite second movement to
place the ball over the line. No such thing in the lawbook, chaps.
Clerc's was a fair try. You can ground the ball short and then ground it again
on or over the line. You can do it even if your momentum does not carry you
over. You cannot better your position by wriggling or crawling or trying to
rise in the tackle. But you can extend your arms and touch down.
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