Friday, 12 February 2010

Just because you're in the England squad...


"I'm looking forward to next week's selection meeting," said Bath assistant coach Brad Davis after his side's destruction of Sale Sharks at the weekend. "It should be pretty tasty."

I bet it was delicious. And I bet it was a more cheerful affair than previous selection get-togethers at Bath this season.

Davis was due to sit down with head coach Steve Meehan and forwards coach Martin Haag on Tuesday to decide on the team for Sunday's trip to Reading to take on London Irish.

That meeting is likely to have taken place before Martin Johnson officially announced which of his England squad members would be released to play for their clubs this weekend. But the question many of those who saw Bath on Saturday will be asking is whether the England squad members discharged back to The Rec should get a spot in the starting XV anyway.

Should you make changes to a team that was so dominant just a few days earlier, regardless of how good the returning cavalry is?

Matt Banahan, Shontayne Hape and Lee Mears are all back in Bath now, Johnson having decided they are surplus to requirements for England's trip to the Stadia Flaminio in Rome this weekend.

The issue of Banahan's inclusion in the Bath starting XV on Sunday is a vexed one – a concept that would have seemed unthinkable only a month ago.

If the Jerseyman is included in Meehan's starting XV for the encounter with London Irish, then that will have to be at the expense of the in-form Michael Stephenson or Joe Maddock. The equation is further complicated by the presence of Jack Cuthbert, who didn't do much wrong against Sale.

Maddock's form has not been consistent this season but recent signs have been positive and his sidestep certainly hasn't deserted him. And the man who was the Guinness Premiership's leading try-scorer last season has to get off the mark at some point this term.

And what about Hape? The centre has started every Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup match for his club so far this season and many might regard his selection at inside centre against the Exiles as a formality.

But before Hape is chosen at 12, Bath need to decide who's taking the place kicks on Sunday.

If, as would seem sensible, Butch James is allowed to concentrate on his play-making rather than worrying about goal-kicking, then Ryan Davis may just slot in at 12 on Sunday, with Hape moving to outside centre. That would be my selection anyway, especially given Davis' excellent showing against Sale and the way he interacted in midfield with James.

It would also prime Hape for the outside centre role, a position he is set to fill on a more permanent basis once Olly Barkley returns.

And Mears? He played well enough in the second half against Sale but for me Pieter Dixon showed sufficient creativity in the loose and solidity at the set piece to retain the hooker jersey.

Such genuine competition for places augurs well for Bath. After all, who, even just a few weeks ago, would have thought there'd be room for debate about whether Bath's England contingent should be selected for their club?

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