England's other option

Wednesday October 27 2004
The argument for England's long-waiting fly-half

The prevailing opinion in the immediate aftermath of the England squad selection was pretty gloomy.

Can he become King?

'Nothing new!' cried many. 'Where is the new talent?' cried others. 'Oh no, it's going to be a long November!' lamented others still.

A few were more positive, seeing the inclusion of Forrester, Ellis, Charlton, Cueto and other emergent talent as a bright sign for the post-Woodward era.

The biggest debate, and while Jonny Wilkinson is still alive it probably will remain the biggest debate for another generation, has been over fly-half. Who can fill those size eleven boots?

Charlie Hodgson is in the form of his career so far. He has led the Sharks to some key victories, displaying a useful return with the boot and igniting a prolific backline.

He has shown phenomenal mental strength in his recovery from injury and return to form, and on form alone, would be the first choice, but for one important factor, shortly to be discussed.

Olly Barkley, long groomed as Wilkinson's successor by Sir Clive Woodward, has dropped off the pace a bit.

New Zealand international Aaron Mauger once described a condition called 'second-seasonitis' when asked about the disappearance from the international scene of the prodigious Ma'a Nonu.

The condition's symptom was the frequent slump for a young player who has flashed onto the scene, but is then neutralised by experienced defenders who wise up to the precocious young talents, who are for a while too inexperienced to have enough plan Bs.

It seems for the moment that Barkley is suffering this. There is no doubt he has the talent to recover, and he will be all the better player for it. It is important to keep him in the set-up, but he needs time and patience for now, rather than to be thrown in at the deep end.

Andy Robinson picked four fly-halves. Wilkinson (seems a waste of a squad place to include a currently ailing and injured player), Hodgson, Barkley, and....

Hodgson is not the only fly-half playing some of the best rugby of his career so far. Wasps' Alex King gave the clearest indication yet in Sunday's Biarritz match that he is the one to lead England through this difficult re-building year.

The issue for Robinson to address with his fly-half selection is not as clear-cut as it might seem. Matt Dawson is not at scrum-half anymore, and Andy Gomarsall is on a fairly ordinary run by his own high standards, and is no spring chicken.

The scrum-half to really shine in the Zurich Premiership so far has been Leicester's Harry Ellis, who has all the makings of being a more than adequate replacement for Dawson.

He is in a team stuffed full of natural leaders, and can only blossom under John Wells' careful management. He should be at scrum-half for England now, as this is not a position in which England have a deep pool of talent.

Ellis, however, is short on big-game experience. Somebody from the half-back pairing needs to have that experience to take the other through the game, such as Dawson did with Wilko in the early days.

This is why, for now, King should be at fly-half. He may not have shined for England in his appearances to date, but he has rarely been culpable of any serious errors.

There is no doubt of his pedigree for big matches, having performed in enough of them for Wasps in the last couple of years. Ellis' sniping and snappy style, similar to Dawson's, is more suited to King's steady game than Hodgson's inventive one.

It is rarely productive to pair two more imaginative players. In a half-back pairing, one of the players must be solid and sensible, in case the imagination of the other backfires.

Neither is there any doubt that King's boot is perfectly reliable as a source of points, even if Mark Van Gisbergen is the current preferred choice of kicker at Wasps.

If King is selected at fly-half, and Andy Robinson gives him a decent run paired with Ellis in the half-backs through this year, and maybe the next, Ellis will have built up a useful well of experience.

By that time, Hodgson should have proved that his recent vein of form is no flash in the pan, and King will be near the end of his career. That will be the time for Hodgson to take the reigns.

But for now, King should be the one to take his superlative club form forward into the England squad, and to take Harry Ellis through some testing opening games.

by Danny Stephens