Rugby World Cup 2023: England lack 'world-class' players says Matt Dawson
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Do you want to see the experience of Owen Farrell or the youthful exuberance of Marcus Smith and Henry Arundell?
England lack world-class players and do not know their best starting XV for their World Cup opener on 9 September, says former scrum-half Matt Dawson.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has picked 16 players in his 33-man squad who reached the final under Eddie Jones in 2019, with Owen Farrell captain again.
"I know there are players in that squad who have been world class," Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
"My concern is where are the world-class players right now?."
Borthwick's squad contains players possessing more than 1,400 combined caps, with veterans Courtney Lawes, Dan Cole and Ben Youngs set to appear at their fourth World Cups.
Dawson, who won the World Cup in 2003, could only predict full-back Freddie Steward as a guaranteed starter in the backline to take on Argentina in Marseille in England's opening game.
"I'm not convinced that playing the way Steve Borthwick is playing at the moment is good enough to win the World Cup," Dawson added.
"I look at the England backline... and you tell me one player that is inked in. Freddie Steward at full-back?
"How influential is he going to be if we don't know who the other six players in front of him are going to be?
"I don't know the nine, 10, 12, 13… and that indecision has to be playing on the coaches' mind."
The former England scrum-half said he is not sure even the players know what the best XV is at the moment, "let alone the coaches".
"They've got to get that connection, that fluidity over the next few weeks where all of a sudden, not only us as fans and pundits and rugby lovers, but the players and squad know what that first XV is," he said.
"I know that sounds ridiculous and it's got to be competitive, but you've got to know what your best team is and you've got to get behind that.
"You've got to know where you are in the squad. There's an acceptance within that 33 that only 15 can take the field, but [you have to] get the best 15 on the field [to have a chance to] pick up a medal come October."
England lost their opening warm-up match 20-9 to Wales and have three more warm-up games to go before the World Cup.
They face Wales again at Twickenham on Saturday before a fixture against world number one side Ireland in Dublin on 19 August and Fiji at home on 26 August.
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All pictures via Getty Images