Sir Clive Woodward ran through a number of major talking points following England’s dismal 30-29 defeat against Argentina in their Autumn Nations Series opener at Twickenham.
England led 16-12 at half-time, but Emiliano Boffelli and Santiago Carreras crossed in quick succession to turn the game on its head.
The visitors combined defensive grind with attacking glitter when it mattered, a cocktail that bent the scoreline their way, regardless of the statistical smallprint.
World Cup-winning coach Woodward, who attended the game as a fan, had a lot to say about his day on and off the pitch and not much of it was good.
Below, we look at the three major talking points from his column for the Mail Online.
Youngs not good enough:
The player who faced the brunt of criticism from the former England boss is Leicester Tigers scrum-half Ben Youngs.
He was visibly slow compared to Jack van Poortvliet’s arrival. His inventive chip kick from base off ruck almost resulted in a Marcus Smith try and the ensuing scrum led to Cokanasiga’s try.
However, it’s clearer than ever to everyone that JvP or Raffi Quirke are the nines to turn to with a World Cup on the horizon.
Woodward wrote: “At every ruck, Ben Youngs was taking too long to pass the ball away. Those fractions of a second all add up. No team will win a World Cup at that pace.
“I think there are four better English scrum-halves currently than Ben Youngs, with Jack van Poortvliet at the top of the list, but the more people praise him the less likely it seems that Eddie will pick him,”
Ben Youngs facts:
- On 24 April 2007 at the age of 17 years and 231 days he became Leicester’s youngest ever player used in a league match when he came off the bench against Bristol
- Youngs has been a Premiership Rugby champion five times, winning in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013 and in 2022.
- His father Nick Youngs played scrum-half for both Leicester and England
- Youngs is married to Charlotte. They have two children, son Boris and daughter Billie
- He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became England men’s most capped player with 115 appearances