Hodgson must be given a chance

England fly-half conundrum still unresolved

Charlie Hodgson did not have the best of games against the Wallabies on Saturday, but - according to Danny Stephens - the mercurial Sale Sharks is still a contender to wear the England No.10 jersey on a regular basis.

Saturday's stats speak for themselves. England fly-half Hodgson missed two out of two kicks at goal, and the world champions lost to the Wallabies by two points.

Asides the place-kicking, Hodgson did not have the best of games either. His distribution was average at best, and there were none of those breaks that regularly wow the Edgeley Park crowd.

When he eventually left the field injured with about twenty minutes left to go, England's pack had taken over the try-scoring duties and Hodgson was a largely anonymous figure - his well-flighted miss-pass to Josh Lewsey that led to England's third try excepted.

George Smith and the rest of the Australians had imposed a brand of in-your-face defence that not only crocked Hodgson early on, it snuffed him out of the game. Hodgson looked hurried every time he got the ball, and although his passes went to hand, none of the supporting cast were able to rescue him.

Does anything about this story sound familiar?

Hodgson has only fourteen England caps. When England played France in March 2002 in Paris for a Grand Slam decider in the Six Nations, Jonny Wilkinson had only a handful more caps than that.

On that day, the French were ferocious. Serge Betsen did a man-on-man job on Wilkinson, the likes of which had never been seen in any top-class game.

Wilkinson also left the field early that day, utterly dejected and clueless as to what could be done to change things. As we all know, he returned all the richer for the experience, and when the two met again in the Rugby World Cup semi-final, Wilkinson was the victor. Betsen departed with a yellow card.

On that day in Paris, Wilkinson was also let down by his supporting cast. England had set out to play expansive rugby against the French, but once their fulcrum had been unbalanced, there was nobody who stepped in to help set it right.

It was another lesson learned by the England management. Wilkinson was under similar pressure against Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final, then Mike Catt was sent on to support him, and suddenly Wales found themselves with two men to close down instead of one. England went on to win comfortably.

Back to Paris 2002. The other reason England lost that day was that they were totally out-fought up-front. Wilkinson often received ball delivered from a shaky platform in the face of opposition who were not retreating. It was the last time that this happened to their full-strength team before the RWC success.

From then on, Wilkinson was given a steady stream of possession on the front foot for nearly two years, which is something that other fly-halves can only dream of experiencing.

Any time that England's pack struggled in a match, Wilkinson often struggled too, although never to the extent of that day in Paris which speaks volumes for what he has learned and applied from the experience. It is days such as those which teach a player, particularly a fly-half, more than any coach can ever preach.

Charlie Hodgson suffered something similar on Saturday. It was not exactly a man-on-man job - Australia's defence meted out the big hits all the white jerseys - but Hodgson suffered one of those days when there is simply nothing to be done. None of the players outside him were able to rescue him from his fate, and there was nobody on the bench who could have aided him as Mike Catt did for Jonny.

Sure, Hodgson missed kicks that made a difference to the score, but can you name a player that hasn't? Wilkinson missed a conversion against Wales from in front of the posts in 1999 when Wales won 32-31. Enough said?

Everybody has looked to Hodgson as a rival to Wilkinson this November, and nearly all have rated him equally as good. In the light of his failure to take Saturday's game by the scruff of the neck, the temptation will now be there to denounce him as second-class in comparison to ol' twinkletoes himself.

It would be utter stupidity to do this.

Hodgson is every bit as talented as Wilkinson, and has now undergone the first part in a career-defining examination of spirit-building.

He must be given the chance to bounce back before England fans bay for his blood. If he does, as I believe he will, the battle for England's pivotal role will only just have begun.