Stuart Lancaster has emphasised youth, but picking tyros who are not regular starters for their clubs will only add to England’s woes, according to the Sunday Times' Stephen Jones (via paywall).
"Without the foundation stones, a rugby team are nothing. Last week England selected four props for the RBS Six Nations and beyond from clubs who play in the Heineken Cup, entrusting Matt Stevens, Dan Cole, Alex Corbisiero and Joe Marler with the task of laying the foundations for the recovery of the national side.
"Is the castle built on sand? When their respective clubs announced the starting teams for their crucial pool matches this weekend, none of the four was chosen. They were all on the bench. Anybody not chilled by that statistic ruddy well should be.
"Saracens preferred Carlos Nieto, an experienced Italian, to Stevens. Meanwhile, Leicester chose the charismatic Martin Castrogiovanni at tight-head instead of Cole; London Irish went to Clarke Dermody at loosehead instead of Corbisiero, and Marler, perhaps most pointedly of all, was supplanted when Harlequins moved their reserve tighthead, the Irishman Mark Lambert, to Marler’s loosehead side. In all four cases, the clubs have gone for players of vastly more experience than the young Englishmen.
"What does this tell us? For the top 32 players of England, the first hurdle has been negotiated. They are safely in Stuart Lancaster’s first squad. Congratulations abounded. So did excited media tributes to bold selections and brave new worlds. All the 32 need now is parental permission and to promise to be home by their bedtime, then off they go. To Murrayfield, Mothercare and beyond."
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