Are we really wholeheartedly proposing that a guy with 2 sub appearances total, who's not even in the 23, should be parachuted in at this point? I know people are sceptical of Lancaster's judgement, I am, but but if people are right to say that, he's really off in his thinking. Super-off.
Right now, we have a guy who we know is excellent in the loose and who we can trust with the lineout in this current pack. The worry is our scrum and what happens if we change our pack. Do we actually want to change our pack though? If fully fit and able I'd start Launchbury, but I'm not sure he is. In any case, the lineout should stil continue to function with him at 4. That leaves the back row. Do we want Haskell and Vunipola? Haskell for Wood would make protecting our own ball even dodgier. The argument for Hask is... what? Wood's actually playing well at the moment, he's carrying well which is Hask's point of difference. When did teams last fear England at the breakdown, I'd say this team has intermittently really been dangerous on the counter-ruck, Wood's been pivotal at that. Vunipola for Morgan, I could buy that and it would make a bit of difference - but I don't think Youngs would fall apart. Wood has been the main guy taking our line-out ball, not Parling, Wood is the guy who it rests on. So, no, it's not team familiarity, it's having a genuine target in the back row.
For me, the big problem in the scrum is Marler getting seperated from Youngs and a fairly loose looking back row. Maybe that is Youngs' fault, maybe not. I don't know enough to be sure. Maybe a really strong scrummaging lock would change things... maybe just changing Marler would change things. Maybe just scrumming as 8 men, practising really hard and hitting fully intensity, would change things. Certainly Youngs' non-striking doesn't help things. But we are getting an awful lot if we put up with that.
And we don't know what we're getting with George really. We've got a fair idea, but we can't be sure. Getting caught out by the pace and intensity of the game is common in the new guys. We don't know how he's doing in training.
I don't really favour changing things up at this stage. I think the problem is more that the team is not at full-throttle than anything else, and changes will only kill that. If they identify one thing here or there they can change to really alter the dynamic, cool, or if they reckon they've got a form player, sweet, but I don't think there's an intrinsically better unit in the squad. I don't really see anyone doing better given the limitations of the coaching and everything they're dealing with at the moment.
