The Daily Telegraph Rugby correspondents have picked their teams for the 2022 World Cup. (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2021/11/23/englands-strongest-xv-experts-pick-red-roses-team-2022-world/)
The four experts, Fiona Tomas, Charlie Morgan, Kate Rowan and Jake Goodwill, are agreed on many positions. It’s the disagreements that fascinate.
They’ve allowed themselves the privilege of judging matters as if the game were to begin tomorrow. And these are their ‘final’ picks, a description that probably means the grand final, not their ‘final’ thoughts after burning the midnight oil.
I’ll take the trickier path and imagine how the landscape will look on 7 October next year, the eve of the tournament.
How far is experience a vital factor? Kate Rowan is in no doubt; it must be there, hence her choice of Sarah Hunter. I hae mi doots.
The last four weeks have shown players from first cap to 130 playing will high levels of confidence and know-how. The one difference next year will be the location, Kiwi crowds finding it tough to support the Red Roses. Of the XV I find myself picking (see below) seven have already played in New Zealand, and Amy Cokayne knows the place better than some Kiwis.
The Choices
Up front Jake Goodwill goes for Hannah Botterman at loose-head, the other three for Vickii Cornborough. This is one pick that is very hard to decide. Botterman showed considerable advances this autumn: her scrummaging looked far more secure, and her work in the loose was as good as ever.
Cornborough improves with every passing season, which is saying something. Her early try at Worcester saw her change direction at pace as she fed off a 5-metre line-out. Heady stuff.
I will plump for the tried and tested: CORNBOROUGH
At hooker Fiona Tomas goes for Lark Davies, the rest for Amy Cokayne. There is so little to choose between two outstanding players that Middleton keeps alternating them. But Cokayne has the edge in experience, not least of playing in New Zealand.
My choice: COKAYNE
At tight head there’s only one candidate: BERN
How England have missed her during her absence.
The choice at lock is unanimous as well. We are very fortunate to have two such able exponents. ALDCROFT, WARD
Matters grow much more contentious in the back row. An admission: I have felt for a long while that Sarah Hunter will not make it through to next autumn as the automatic choice at No 8. Of the Telegraph quartet only Kate Rowan opts for her. Charlie Morgan, perhaps feeling a bit guilty at not placing her at No 8, allows her to move to the blind-side.
She will be 37 at the start of the tournament. With so much quality competition around I can’t see her making the ‘final’ choice by either definition. In a parallel case, the only player to have won more caps than her 130, Rocky Clark, gave way to Vickii Cornborough in the 2017 final.
My choice: CLEALL P.
There is total agreement about the No 7 shirt: PACKER
But all-round dissension about the blind-side. Morgan has Hunter there; Tomas goes for Alex Matthews, Rowan for Cleall and Goodwill for Vicky Fleetwood.
Fleetwood is another player who, I fear, will not make it to the tournament. One reason for the pack’s good showing recently has been the emphasis on weight at the scrum. That is the one feature of the game this valued player cannot offer. In its place she produces remarkable speed and aggression, but I suspect that Louis Deacon may not consider that sufficient.
My choice: MATTHEWS
It’s fascinating to see so much disagreement about the scrum-half position. Goodwill and Rowan both opt for Leanne Infante; Morgan for Mo Hunt, Tomas for Claudia Macdonald.
Morgan says: ‘…if Natasha Hunt is available, her skills and nous would unleash this talented backline.’ But I suspect her service is the slowest of the three. She will certainly be looking to up the tempo at every stage, but the other two aren’t slouches either. The backs have flourished without Hunt’s contribution recently.
Macdonald’s progress over recent seasons has been quite remarkable, and she is by a distance the quickest of the three. Infante is currently the management’s first choice. It’s rare to place defence as the prime weapon in a No 9’s armoury, but her tackling and covering are outstanding. In my view she has the best service of any No 9 in world rugby as well. Some of her kicks this autumn have shown pinpoint accuracy.
My choice: INFANTE
All are agreed on the out-half, Zoe Harrison. She has taken on a new aura this season, looking calm and totally in charge. Helena Rowland has proved herself a worthy stand-by, but only one player can wear the No 10 shirt.
My choice: HARRISON
At centre there is a 3-1 split between the experts. Morgan goes for Amber Reed at No 12, the rest for Rowland. Reed is the third player I fear may not make it the whole distance. Her attributes are evident, huge experience, high skills with hand and foot, but the one missing feature is outright pace. At World Cups that is a must, right across the line, and Rowland has it in abundance.
My choice: ROWLAND
No 13: everybody’s choice: SCARRATT
That is a great pity for Holly Aitchison who has already proved her multiple talents on the rugby field. But there are eight places on the bench.
On the wings Goodwill goes for Abby Dow and Jess Breach; everyone else for Dow and Lydia Thompson. This was always going to be the hardest area to pick. Wingers very rarely figure on the bench.
While Thompson was absent injured, could people have imagined Breach not lining up at the start? It will be fascinating to see how the choices work out during the 6 Nations. Very often in past seasons the selectors’ task has been eased by an injury. In this debate we are assuming a 100% fitness call. All present and correct. Come next October I suspect the choices will be: BREACH and DOW. That will upset the thousands of Thompson’s fan club.
At the back only one call: KILDUNNE
The Telegraph’s choices are inevitably a direct response to the events of the past month. Time has a habit of altering our perceptions. Quite different views may be expounded at the end of the 6 Nations. But my choices above are essentially long-term.
It is a quite separate issue deciding the full party to go on tour. Shaunagh Brown recently suggested 35 might take part, but the limit is 30. That is where luck, versatility and fitness play a huge role. She is quite right about the outstanding players who will be left behind. A sad prospect.
