Saracens flyer David Strettle has queried whether England are going about selecting their wings in the right way ahead of coach Stuart Lancaster’s announcement of his squad for the November internationals.
England welcome New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and Australia to Twickenham on successive weekends next month, starting with the November 8 visit of the world champion All Blacks.
But a year out from England hosting the 2015 World Cup, several positions in the starting side remain up for grabs with the question of who should be the Red Rose team’s starting wing men still to be decided.
Marland Yarde and Antony Watson appear to be the names in the frame at the moment but the likes of Christian Wade, Semesa Rokoduguni and Chris Ashton all have their supporters too. Strettle may be the ‘wrong side’ of 30 but he showed his class with two tries in Saracens’ 30-23 European Champions Cup win over Clermont on Saturday.
However, you have to go back to 2013 for the last of Strettle’s 14 England caps and the 31-year-old, who would be a surprise pick if named in the squad on Wednesday, believes it would be beneficial if Lancaster could generate some consistency in selection out wide.
“So many wings come and go with England because Test rugby is such a bigger game that you have to have more of an all-round game,” Strettle said.
“The sad thing is you get young lads who come in and score tries for their clubs, get put in at the highest level and get exposed, and then people just get rid of them,” he added.
“They’ve shown some natural talent in being a good finisher, so teach them the game and stick with them. That doesn’t seem to happen on the wing. “If they’re scoring tries in the Premiership and not scoring for England, but they go back to the Premiership and keep scoring tries, maybe it’s because they’re not getting the same ball to them. “I feel I’m one of the best wings in England and have been playing consistently at this level for a number of seasons.
“Stuart’s done the right thing, he’s had a look at the wings that are out there and I hope that leading up to the World Cup he’ll pick the best ones.”