Sir Clive Woodward blasts 'rubbish' England selection

Former England head coach Sir Clive Woodward has blasted has blasted Eddie Jones selection ahead of the clash with Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

"There is such a thing as being too loyal to your players and I fear Eddie is guilty of that." wrote Woodward.

"It was, for example, quite startling this week to read Billy Vunipola admit he has been ‘playing rubbish’. Now credit to Billy for his honesty but you must question what’s going on.

"If Billy knows how poorly he’s been playing, everybody in the team and coaching staff will also know. Why is it that some players in the group seem immune from being dropped? Nobody in rugby history has been undroppable.

"England are not a club side. ‘Playing rubbish’ is not an option for any player or his coach.

"And how dispiriting must it be for in-form players like Sam Simmonds and Alex Dombrandt to hear Billy’s comments when they still can’t get in the squad? And to rub salt into the wound, a virtually untried 19-year-old, George Martin, is suddenly parachuted into the matchday 23.

"Now, I wish the Leicester forward all the best if he gets on, he is a good talent, but frankly others are well ahead of him in the pecking order."

Wales: 5/2

England: 17/35

Draw: 24/1

"Cipriani is the only English number 10 of the past 20 years who, if I'd been coach and he had been up for selection at the same time as Jonny, could have caused big selection headaches.

"The Sale man's skill-set is so complete. He poses an attacking threat with ball in hand and has a superb kicking game and world-class distribution. I think Wilkinson would have got the nod over him in the end but the fact I even mention them in the same breath shows how highly I rate Cipriani."

"In the Grand Slam game in 2003, we worked on a plan to man-mark him with three players, so the tackler was not exposed by O'Driscoll's footwork and pace in a one-on-one situation.

"That's how big a threat we believed he was - he needed three men to handle him. Ireland were going for a Grand Slam, but none of the players around Brian were in the same league.

"Whenever he had the ball we wanted one player opposite him and one man either side - it would usually be Wilkinson, Will Greenwood and Mike Tindall."

"He took rugby to a whole new level," said Woodward.

"There's very rarely one player who dominates a whole World Cup and he certainly did."

 "Jonny was special and he scared the opposition. Everyone has to pat him on the back."

"The way he defended and attacked, he was a very special player," added Woodward, who handed Wilkinson his England debut in 1998.

"All of us involved in that team [in 2003] just felt very lucky and privileged to have had him around at that time.

"He would have taken the decision to retire very seriously but he will still be playing for Toulon, and he has been playing very well for Toulon.

"I'd just like to say well done to him. He has done so much for not just English rugby but also world rugby on the field, and especially off the field."

e said: "The greatest talent I played against was Gareth Edwards. He was in his last season and I was in my first.

"His talent was undiminished and he had a great aura. His banter with his old Lions mate Bob Hiller was also priceless. As a coach, it is Jason Robinson.

"He was a sponge and soaked up every single rugby union skill. By the end he was probably the best kicker out of hand we had, he laid the ball back at rucks perfectly and his tackle technique was perfect. What a player."