John Mitchell has revealed that the Red Roses are being told about selections beyond the first round, due this Sunday.
The news is intriguing, but not altogether a surprise.
He’s faced with an almost impossible choice: so many players deserving a place in the team. Despite his many years as coach of many teams in many countries, I doubt if he has ever faced such a tricky task. Despite the grandeur of a team like the All Blacks (he was in charge over 20 years ago), he would not have had to decide between this number of worthy causes. So many of the Blacks would have been obvious picks.
I had even contemplated the thought of seeing one XV announced to play Italy, then a completely different one for Wales. Normally that would be seen as highly disrespectful to the second opponent, but in the current circumstances it would be hard to prove that a given selection was demeaning.
I went through possible processes like this: first two XVs, a first and a second choice (injuries always a possibility):
15 KILDUNNE SING
14 DOW LAFLIN
13 ROWLAND BRIDGER
12 SCARRATT HEARD
11 BREACH BUCHANAN
10 AITCHISON HARRISON
9 HUNT WYRWAS
1 BOTTERMAN CARSON
2 ATKIN-DAVIES COKAYNE
3 MUIR CLIFFORD
4 ALDCROFT GALLIGAN
5 WARD O’DONNELL
6 KABEYA BECKETT
7 PACKER ALLEN
8 MATTHEWS CLEALL
The younger, newer faces are all in the right-hand column. Switch, say, 15, 12, 10, 9, 1, 4, 5 and 8 across, and few people would be surprised to see that choice. Then we have the let-out of the bench, allowing eight more of the squad to enter the frame.
So Mitchell and his advisers have probably told the players omitted from Round One whether or not they will figure the following week. It’s perfectly possible the plan stretches even further.
We may assume that he has taken advice from people who have expert inside knowledge: Sarah Hunter knows all about the pangs of waiting for the announcement (though in her case the news was positive 141 times!); and the sports psychologist, who could inform him in advance of likely reactions to rejection.
As was to be feared all along, some players are counted out by injury (Amy Cokayne and Katie Buchanan for example). Players with single-figure caps would be less optimistic of a starting place, but there are plenty more with dozens of caps who couldn’t be sure of preferment.
Mitchell likes the idea of a player having the chance to process the news (‘a day or so’); but is that what every player wants? No two people are likely to agree on such matters.
We still don’t know his overall strategy: whether he will make slight adjustments with each succeeding round – that was essentially Middleton’s policy. Or whether he will keep the uncapped players waiting.
Will he need to see various combinations each starting a game (for example, 9 and 10, 12 and 13) or is he happy that players are already quite used to each other? He is the new face here; most of the squad have known each other for a long while.
Two things are certain:
1. He intends his team to win every match
2. He wants to be sure of his best team by the time the French come calling
We haven’t got long to wait.
