Now that Josh Lewsey has been ruled out, who do you think Ashton should play on the wing?
My vote would be to move Mathew Tait to the wing, with Danny Hipkiss coming in at outside centre. Will he play Mark Cueto? Or perhaps Nick Abendanon will come straight in at full back with Jason Robinson moving to the wing?
Mike Catt has played on the wing before!
I’m a Hipkiss fan, he’ll work as the blunt instrument to Catt’s rapier, or something.
To be honest it’s not that likely they’ll have any ball, even if the England pack do manage to win some they’re hardly going to risk letting the backs play with it. I would personally have Hipkiss in the center, and Cueto on the wing, Cueto’s got the sevens background and speed to defend his area, Hipkiss has the strength to stop the midfield dead.
Definitely, he HAS to bring Hipkiss in the centre and move Tait to the wing. Hipkiss had an immediate impact after coming onto the pitch in the semi – in fact his forward momentum, half-breaks and off-loading drove England into the position where they could gain the penalty and slot the drop goal (though Jonny could do that from his own goal-line anyway).
Abendanon’s a very promising player and I liked what he did against the Boks in the summer tests, a few basic errors apart. My gut says to bring him onto the subs bench as he can cover full-back and wing, although my head’s saying that the immense pressure of a rugby world cup final might not be the place to find out whether he can take the big international pressure or not. Maybe Cueto, who has proven his worth in previous big matches (though not recently) might be the better option.
One of the great things about England’s revival has been the use and the impact of the subs bench. The worst thing would be for Ashton to put in a couple of damp squids who will have no impact at all. You can hardly see Farrell warming the bench for 60mins, only to be unleashed and use his gas and dynamism to break the wearing Boks defence!!
I hope Ashton can retain the synergy and tactical shape that he has somehow created over the past few weeks.
Totally agree – I’ve been saying for ages anyway that Tait is a class player but is not a centre. And much as I like Cueto I think it’s really important to keep the 22 (ane especially the starting 15) comprising of as many players as possible that have been involved in the last 3 games for continuity’s sake.
I also think Hipkiss is class and just hope that we see him get some first team action at Tigers this season and we don’t just see such a class player lose out to Mauger, but for now I think he’s easily good enough and mentally strong enough to start on Saturday.
Catty on the wing! I remember it well, I was at that game. First of all SCW named Guscott on the wing, then he got injured so he picked Catty. There was so much outcry about it but the funny thing was he actually scored a try. It was a game I’ll always remember though because it also marked the debut appearance off the bench of a certain teenager from Newcastle.
Gutted for Lewsey as I see him as one of our most consistent players dating from the 2003 6N campaign through to this World Cup. It’s cruel, but if it has to happen to someone at least he’s one of the ones that already got to win one World Cup.
I’ve got a feeling Cueto will come in for his experience and solidarity, despite not having been in the squad for the last three weeks.
Really hope not, Hipkiss has looked excellent.
Breaking news from inside the England camp is that Hipkiss will be on the bench for Saturday’s final. Presumably that means Cueto is starting…