Stuart Lancaster will come to rue the decision to leave Steffon Armitage out of his England World Cup squad.
That is the opinion of former World Cup winner Ali Williams, speaking to the Telegraph, who was a teammate of Armitage at Toulon.
Armitage was instrumental as Toulon secured the Champions Cup, their third in succession, resulting in a nomination for European Player of the Year, an award he had previously won in 2014.
Yet Lancaster chose not to invoke the exceptional circumstances clause to pick the overseas based Armitage for fear of backlash from squad members and Premiership clubs.
However, England’s weakness in the back row was exposed when they struggled to deal with a dominant French pack in the 25-20 loss at the Stade de France.
Neither captain Chris Robshaw or James Haskell were able to slow down French ball and challenge at the breakdown.
And having dropped their only specialist openside flanker, Matt Kvesic, Lancaster will surely now be wondering how his back row will fare against group rivals Australia and Wales.
Both boast a wealth of back row talent with Australia toying with the idea of fielding both specialist opensides Michael Hooper and David Pocock and many encouraging Wales to employ the same tactic with Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric – who combined so effectively in the 30-3 rout of England in 2013.
And it is the challenge of those two back rows which causes Williams to question Lancaster’s decision to overlook the 2014 European Playerof the Year,
When you look at the structure of the game of rugby these days where are the most potent attacking opportunities? It’s off turnover ball. If you don’t have someone who can produce turnover ball then you are losing a huge attacking as well as defensive strength. That’s why I don’t understand how England can afford to leave Armitage out. Look at what Australia are doing by trying to get David Pocock and Michael Hooper in the same team. England have available the best openside in the business after Richie [McCaw] and they say ‘no thanks’. He has been in incredible form year after year. Any other side and he would be there.
Williams was also quick to reject the idea that Armitage would be a disruptive force in the England squad – with the former All Black left bemused with why Lancaster neglected the exceptional circumstances clause,
He is not a bad egg. That’s a huge misconception.I can’t understand why you would have a rule allowing to pick him in special circumstances and don’t use it.The guy was the player of Europe, he can help them win the World Cup, why not use it? The rule in New Zealand is that if you play outside New Zealand then you can’t play. That rule is clear and simple. Australia changed their rules in order to get Matt Giteau on board because they thought it could help them win the World Cup. England have that same clause but don’t use it. I find it baffling.
