We Got Our Selection Wrong And Paid The Price Against England

THE FACT England beat Scotland in the World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Manchester does not surprise me. Given the sheer weight of numbers, plus the difference in the resources which the two Unions are able to put into age group rugby, England really should beat us every time.

OK, we beat them during the Six Nations, however, we had home advantage then, while several of England's brightest Under-20 players did not feature then, being required to fill-in at their clubs for players who were on Six Nations duty. We might, therefore, have expected things to be closer in Manchester on Saturday, when England had their bigger boys back. But, a 62-point turnaround in four months – from an 18-points Scotland win to a 44-points defeat, is frankly unacceptable.

Certainly, Scotland paid a heavy price for beating Australia in their opening match, a mere four days before they were due to face England. I worried when I saw the number of changes the Scots' management team made. Certainly, some were necessary, but, to choose to rest Zander Fagerson at this stage, when we would be facing an England team which tends to play by firstly gaining the upper hand up front; that one defied logic. In the event, we conceded 13 scrum penalties – I wager, with Fagerson at tight-head, we would have won a few of our own.

Zander Fagerson - resting him for England was a mistake

However, the big lesson is hardly a new one. Compared to England, we lack depth, but, we are not “hot-housing” our talent well-enough. Our youth talent identification programme needs tweaking, as does our development programme. To take the Avis example – we are not the biggest, so, we must try harder, and work smarter than we are doing.

That much is obvious – but, what we do and how we do it, to get to where we want to be – difficult one.

WELL DONE Ireland, whose win over the South Africans on Saturday was undoubtedly the pick of the three results involving Six Nations teams against the best of the Southern Hemisphere. It is never easy to win in Cape Town, or indeed, anywhere in South Africa, but, to win when playing virtually an hour of the match with only 14 men, well, that was fantastic.

CJ Stander in action v Scotland in the Six Nations 

I honestly felt a red card for Stander was over-reaction from a referee who did not impress me. A yellow card would, I am certain, have been the appropriate penalty. Stander's was, firstly, attempting to charge-down Pat Lambie's clearance. No way could he have avoided contact. The challenge was never a red card.

Still, Ireland buckled down an deservedly won. That final, try-saving tackle at the death, with some four Irish defenders involved, summed-up the commitment of the men in green. We now must wait and see what sort of backlash this produces from the injured Saffers.

FOR Wales, it was the usual story, since 1953. They didn't lost to the All Blacks, the World Champions merely scored more points than did the red dragons!! I always fancied this recast AB

s team would take an hour or so to gel and find their feet; they have lost a phenomenal amount of class and experience since the World Cup final, but, as I expected it would – class told in the final quarter. No surprise that the ABs won.

ENGLAND beat Australia, no real surprise here either. Given Australia only got as far as they did in the World Cup thanks to the uselessness of Craig Joubert, the Scottish line-out and more-particularly an out of his depth TMO, it was hardly a surprise that, next time out, they should fall to an England team which continues to grow in confidence and stature under Eddie Jones. The next two tests in this summer series promise to be very interesting indeed.