England's World Cup training squad: A front row dissection

Over the next few weeks I thought I would offer a brief examination of the England World Cup training squad prior to the final squad selection, starting with the front row.

The one area where English rugby is seriously light in quality is at hooker.

Dylan Hartley is the current Test incumbent, but is arguably one of the worst hookers currently playing the game at the highest level.

Despite having played at prop until his late teens, various coaches have labelled Hartley a reluctant scrummager.

If you watch the Northampton Saints play then it soon becomes apparent that Hartley is also an illegal scrummager, constantly looking to stand up, to create the impression that the opposition can’t cope with the pressure.

Hartley does have a high work rate, but he lacks power and dynamism, so what use is a good work ethic if you spend 80 minutes being knocked backwards?

Hartley likes to present himself as a ball carrier close to the ruck, but despite charging in from deep, he tends to choose to carry from static rucks, thereby being an obvious target, and he also seems to physically retract at the last minute.

Steve Borthwick used to get driven back just as much and yet Hartley escapes censure from the media.

Hartley’s lineout throwing has improved, and he has comparatively soft hands, but he doesn’t present as a very good athlete, and for such a young player is surprisingly slow.

However, in fairness Hartley is a good club player, and has shown real improvement this season, so perhaps I am judging him harshly whilst he is still a young man playing a tough position.

Steve Thompson is next off the rank, and is my favoured hooker. In terms of dynamism he is half the player he used to be, but is still a real physical presence – as Saia Fainga’a will recall, and he contributed strongly as an impact sub during the most recent Six Nations.

Thompson can still be guilty of the occasional skewed throw, the same as Hartley, but is noted as a serious scrummager, and is a real physical lump.

Interestingly, having seen some photos of England’s pre-World Cup training he looks in good shape too.

With England likely to field a comparatively slender lock pairing in Lawes-Palmer, my personal preference would be for the bigger Thompson to start and for Hartley to offer impact and tempo from the bench.

Thompson has serious experience, size and is grizzled. I want to see him brought into an inexperienced pack for a World Cup that could be played out in wet and soggy conditions.

George Chuter has been the third hooking selection in the Elite Player Squads, but hasn’t got near a Test cap in quite a while. Chuter is a good technician, but no more than that. He’s comparatively small, is only comfortable carrying for short gains close to the ruck, and isn’t a powerful defender.

In short, he is a steady pair of hands that does the core duties well, and who is probably in the England squad more because he is experienced and plays for one of Europe’s best clubs.

The wild card choice is Lee Mears. Mears had a good run of games under Johnson, leading up to the 2009 Lions tour, and then quickly fell from grace.

Prior to that fall from grace English fans will recall his excellent carrying game in the Premiership, and his accurate lineout work.

Problematically, Mears is very short, but in one way that has been to his advantage as he has a very low centre of gravity, and a very dynamic bottom half. Conversely, one bad game and he is too small.

As a very good carrier Mears often got his hands on the ball for England, but he was turned over far more regularly at Test level than he was at club level. It’s perhaps unfortunate that he when he started for England he was playing in what was a rather stodgy front five.

Mears was also used as a scapegoat for the performance of the Lions forwards in the 1st Test versus the Springboks in 2009.

Mears was excellent in the build-up games, but when put in one of the most badly selected packs in recent Lions history, he was the one given the boot (and even from the bench for the ludicrously pedestrian Ross Ford). Alun-Wyn Jones and Phil Vickery were granted reprieves.

Question marks were also raised over Mears’ scrummaging for England, but certain coaches labelled him a very good scrummager, so who to believe?

Indeed, his club side nearly always had a dominant scrum with Mears in the middle, but that never translated for England, and most England fans automatically blamed Mears.

My theory is that Mears was simply too short to scrummage with Sheridan and Vickery, both of whom are 6’3 plus, and both of whom are erratic scrummagers. The club props at Bath are around 6 foot, thus at Test level, where inches count, good quality tightheads found it none too hard to split Mears from Sheridan.

Further, with Mears, England had, for a period, the best statistical lineout in the world. Pros and cons, I suppose.

Personally, I think Mears would thrive with the current England pack, coming off the bench to increase the tempo. His carrying and off-loading game could be the perfect foil for Lawes, Palmer and Croft.

Plus, Tom Palmer, who sometimes calls the lineouts, isn’t the most natural 5 jumper, so it might be a real bonus to have a hooker who is so secure at throwing in.

A few seasons ago there was a propping crisis in England, but now there is a real glut of quality: Sheridan, Cole, Wilson, Doran-Jones, Stevens, Corbisiero, Marler, Wood, and even Tim Payne.

The media myth of Sheridan has taken over his actual ability, and misrepresents his role in the England side. When on song Sheridan is a fine, fine player, but because he doesn’t make 50 yard breaks or pick up opposing players one handed fans feel short changed by the circus strong man.

I don’t think Sheridan is a great technical scrummager, but I think he is a powerful scrummager. Scrummaging is like boxing, styles make fights, and Sheridan won’t and hasn’t won every battle.

However, I think an emphasis on scrummaging ignores what he does best.

Sheridan has a ferocious work rate. If you watch him closely notice how many tackles he makes around the ruck, or how many rucks he hits. He is utterly relentless.

On occasion he is capable of running off a ruck, picking up a ball one handed and making a big carry, but that isn’t his role in the side. He is there to defend, hit rucks, lift lineout players and make tackles. Personally, I think the only other prop in world rugby capable of making tackles like Sheridan is Owen Franks.

Dan Cole fulfills the same role, and although not as dynamic as Sheridan, is more than capable of hitting the ball up, and is a far better scrummager. His work rate, and Sheridan’s too, allows the locks to play in wider channels.

I already see Cole as being a rock in the England pack.

David Wilson has often played the role of impact substitute under Johnson, but for some reason is the man most ignored/forgotten by England’s massively informed media…

Wilson has improved his carrying game since moving to Bath under Steve Meehan, but is still prone to moments of tunnel-vision where he sees the ball and charges off on his own, ending up isolated, and he isn’t the most natural passer of the ball either.

Still, Wilson is a powerful young prop, and whenever called off the bench has, in my opinion, really added to the set piece.

He is a big man, is mobile, and at a pinch he can cover loosehead, and is quietly accumulating caps behind the scenes. I’d be content for him to start a big game for England were Cole to be injured.

Alex Corbisiero started for England in the Six Nations following injuries to Sheridan, and played well. He scrummaged strongly, but sometimes struggled with the physicality of the game in the loose, which perhaps isn’t a huge surprise given that he has never been a regular starter for his club side, London Irish.

Corbisiero is naturally a big man, but still carries a bit of puppy fat.

Phil Vickery famously spoke very highly of him, and there is reason to believe he could go on to be a very good player for England. He can play both sides of the scrum comfortably, and is a mobile young prop who apparently has a very good attitude.

Paul Doran-Jones is a starting tighthead, but again is another prop that can cover the other side of the scrum.

Doran-Jones is the new breed who speak a good fight, goes on tanning beds and pulls off a magnificent ‘I’m giving it my all!’ gurn like only the best Al Baxter impersonators can.

Weak humour aside he is very mobile, very, very fit, has excellent hands, and is a trier, but doubts remain over his size and his technical ability.

Doran-Jones is one of those props that is muscled up, as opposed to a naturally big man like Dan Cole, and he has had some very hard games in the scrum this season just gone, most notably against that other English Great White Hope, Joe Marler. He scrums like he is preparing to lift a weight, which I have always taken as a bad sign.

I think that Doran-Jones is just another Mike Worsley. I just don’t think he has the physical capacity to be more than an impact sub at Test level.

He is the sort of player who has to give absolutely everything in every scrum or he is going backwards.

I thought it particularly informative to watch him unable to counter Salvatore Perugini’s illegal scrummaging in the recent Barbarians match.

Tim Payne is the sixth prop in the training squad. Payne can also cover 3, but is primarily a loosehead. He isn’t the most mobile of props, is a hard if unspectacular scrummager and is very durable. He also has a real amateur element of spite to his game.

Payne will never be a world beater, but having been given regular game time under Johnson due to injuries he showed significant improvement and really contributed to the pack.

He won’t make the World Cup squad, but will always do a job.

Finally, the last prop selected is that enigma Matt Stevens. Prior to his dismissal from the game Stevens was one of the best carrying props in Europe, forming an awesome partnership with Lee Mears.

Since his return that aspect of his game has disappeared. One wonders whether that is due to the time spent out of the game and away from the physical training or whether Saracens simply do not require that from him, as their forwards tend to focus their energies on hitting rucks.

Stevens can also prop on both sides of the scrum, and has generally been a good performer for Saracens, but has he had enough time to get up to speed with the game as it is currently being played?

All things considered England have their two starting props in Sheridan and Cole, their two preferred hookers in Hartley and Thompson. Beyond that the third hooking berth is up for grabs, and there are a multitude of props who all tick a lot of boxes: fit, mobile, good technicians, can cover both sides, so really it depends on the balance of the squad and what sort of brand Johnson wants England to employ.

Were I in charge I’d select Sheridan, Cole, Wilson and Stevens as my World Cup props, with Thompson, Hartley and Mears as the hookers.

Wilson has done the hard yards in recent seasons, whereas I feel there are still doubts over Corbisiero and Doran-Jones, and Stevens can comfortably start a Test on either side of the scrum, bringing with him a positive attitude and some vital experience. I also believe that Mears’ style of play provides a different point of attack to Thompson and Hartley.