It’s the fifth and final match of the 2010 Six Nations and Martin Johnson’s hand has finally been forced. After an anti-climatic match against Scotland at Murrayfield, the England head coach has made several changes for this weekend’s clash in Paris; but it’s all too little too late in the day to make any difference.
Full-back Delon Armitage has been below-par throughout this year’s championships - how he managed to retain his place in the starting XV up until the penultimate match was a mystery to the majority of England supporters.
Armitage may well have paid the price for a poor performance against the Scots, but Johnson has paid the price for being too loyal to several of the team’s stragglers. The Six Nations title is now out of reach after that abject display in Edinburgh when many were hoping changes would be made earlier in the tournament.
A victory against France on Saturday would be more than a slight consolation, however; and preventing the French from winning the Grand Slam in their own backyard is now the primary objective.
The odds are firmly stacked against the visitors and anything other than a convincing France win would be a huge shock. Marc Lievremont’s side have bulldozed their way through every opponent and will thoroughly deserve their Grand Slam this weekend if – or more likely, when - they beat Johnson’s men.
A big criticism over the England head coach has been his reluctance to inject some youth into the starting line-up. Experience over youth, instead of a healthy blend, seems to have been Johnson’s motto in this year’s Six Nations; and for a short while at least it appeared to be working.
But in Rome, against Italy, there were clear signs that perhaps all was not as rosy as things first seemed after that opening weekend victory over Wales. A lack of imagination, leadership and skill nearly cost England in the Eternal City – in the end they fortuitously edged their way to two points.
When the likes of Ben Foden, Chris Ashton, Courtney Lawes and Toby Flood are on the replacements’ bench not being used match after match, then questions were always going to be asked when the results failed to arrive.
No-one is expecting England to go to the Stade de France this weekend and leave with maximum points - but Johnson’s changes will at least give this match a level of interest.
Foden, the 24-year-old full-back, will be given the chance to prove his worth against France as he replaces Armitage. And Foden could well be joined by highly-rated Northampton Saints teammate, Chris Ashton.
Ashton has been one of the Guinness Premiership’s stand-out performers this season and has also flourished in the Heineken Cup over the course of the current campaign. He is likely to replace Ugo Monye, who has sustained a neck injury after that nasty clash of heads with Scotland’s Kelly Brown.
True to form, though, Johnson is considering bringing another old-timer back into the frame for this weekend’s match in Paris. Mike Tindall could replace Mathew Tait at centre in one last public display of loyalty to his veterans.
England crave for a head coach that is proactive and not reactive, and this latest set of changes by Johnson at this meaningless stage of the championships suggests that he is, sadly, in the latter category.
But the RFU must ensure they’re proactive ahead of next year’s World Cup. And it could be time for the governing body to also ring the changes following this weekend’s final Six Nations match.
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