Martin Johnson should be looking to youth rather than experience against the All Blacks this weekend, writes Chris Hewett in The Independent.
"Simon Shaw, recent autobiographer and senior citizen of the red-rose engine room whose exploits for the British and Irish Lions on the high veld of South Africa last summer could not have been more energy-charged had he been in his late teens rather than his mid-30s, was back in camp yesterday as England launched their preparations for this weekend's meeting with the New Zealand at Twickenham. No doubt Shaw performed brilliantly in training, reminding Martin Johnson– the man who kept him out of the national side for years – of his all-embracing skill set ahead of the last, and most thankless, of this year's Tests.
"Yet Shaw's reappearance at this point might drop England even deeper in the mire with regards to the next World Cup, now less than two years – and no more than 17 internationals – away. Will Shaw be on the plane to Auckland in the early autumn of 2011? There is more chance of the Prime Minster spell-checking his shopping list. Courtney Lawes, who sat on the bench as second-row cover against Argentina last weekend but failed to make it onto the field, will not be 36 for another four World Cups. One of these men represents the future. The other goes by the name of Shaw."
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