Eddie Jones named his XV to take on South Africa yesterday – and one man who had plenty to say about his selections was England’s 2003 World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward.
Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Woodward took particular issue with veteran Mike Brown’s placement within Jones’ line up.
“Of all the matches I’d have stuck with Brown at full back, this is the one,” he wrote.
“Brown divides opinion, but I understand why Eddie has been so loyal to him. He is physical, passionate, in your face and on his day a very fine Test full back…At Ellis Park, with the home crowd baying and a few ‘bombs’ coming down from the stratosphere, I would be more than happy to see him at full back.
“For me he’s a 15 or he doesn’t play. I have seen nothing from him to suggest he can operate at the top level on the wing,” stated Woodward, who also questioned Brown’s quickness – whilst making suggestions as to names who might better suited to the role.
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“Now he’s in the latter stages of his career and not as quick. Just to labour the point, down in the south of France Chris Ashton will be on the beach. I see no reason why he isn’t involved — and I wonder what Christian Wade makes of it.”
Woodward also criticised the decision of Jones not to include Gloucester’s Danny Cipriani in the squad whatsoever.
“There is no point bringing him on tour unless he is given game time. His selection for this tour is looking like tokenism to me,” he added.