Rugby World Cup: England need to start George Ford at fly-half in quarter-final, says Matt Dawson
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England head coach Steve Borthwick started with both George Ford and Owen Farrell in the narrow win over Samoa
World Cup winner Matt Dawson says he would be "astounded" if Owen Farrell starts at fly-half ahead of George Ford in England's quarter-final match.
England were seven minutes away from defeat against Samoa on Saturday before substitute Danny Care's decisive try.
Ford was taken off after 51 minutes and Dawson hoped that was to protect the Sale man for the next game.
"I can't believe anybody in the coaching staff thinks that Farrell is a better 10 than Ford now," Dawson added.
Dawson and former England women's international Kat Merchant told the Rugby Union Daily podcast the manner of the sluggish performance could have extinguished the belief which had been building through the pool stages - despite England winning four out of four.
Merchant said: "It doesn't look like they know what they're doing. It doesn't look like the selectors know what they're doing.
"The backline shuffle was ridiculous and looked panicked. I think it was really damaging."
After scoring the try, it was Care again who came up with another crucial intervention for England by making a try-saving tackle in the penultimate play of the game as Samoa came close to a famous victory.
"Let's face it, Samoa were one Danny Care tackle away from winning," said Dawson.
"England lacked the ability to read the game and read the decisions they needed to make at crucial times."
Ford v Farrell debate rumbles on
After Ford starred in England's wins over Argentina and Japan, Farrell came back into the starting 15 for the game against Chile after returning from suspension.
But Dawson told the podcast that the captain's return had disrupted what had looked England's best 10-12-13 combination of Ford, Joe Marchant and Manu Tuilagi, and that Farrell's performances had not merited a starting place.
Dawson said Farrell was "not at the races" after moving to fly-half when Marcus Smith replaced Ford to play at full-back, with the Saracens man becoming the first player to be timed out of a conversion attempt at a World Cup.
"Part of me thinks that he brought Ford off because they need him next week," said Dawson. "I'd be amazed, astounded, if Farrell is at 10.
"In the last quarter he put in some wayward passes and gave the ball back to Samoa when they were on the charge.
"He didn't have his head in the game about penalties and the shot clock. This is about a knockout game which is going to be a tough ask and you need the right people in the right shirts.
"Farrell will go down as one of the greats for England, but at the moment he's not at the levels of the other players at 10 or 12, and no matter how much you try to squeeze that square peg into a round hole it isn't going to go. I think there's a ripple effect around the team."
Can Arundell spark England's attack?
Merchant also said the decision to move Leicester full-back Freddie Steward to the wing did not work, having come about as part of another backline reshuffle when Tuilagi departed injured.
She called for Henry Arundell to come back into Steve Borthwick's team.
Arundell scored five tries in the 71-0 win over Chile on 23 September but found himself out of the squad for the Samoa game.
"For me, I don't think he [Steward] is a winger," Merchant said. "You want out-and-out finishers out there or it shows you're just there for the aerial.
"I want the wingers rapid, showing footwork and want the likes of Jonny May there and Arundell coming in.
Henry Arundell's five tries against Chile mean he is only one behind the tournament's current top try-scorer in France winger Damian Penaud
"They looked so lost today. When Care and Ford were tracking back and making tackles, putting the work in, it clicked together. But they have to dig deep as a squad and really see if they've got grit."
Dawson highlighted an issue at scrum-half after what he called Alex Mitchell's poorest performance in an England shirt.
"That was a tough afternoon for Mitchell. Does he get a lifeline? If not, who comes in? Ben Youngs has not played a lot of rugby and Care has proved he is maybe a '20 minutes at the end of the game' kind of player," Dawson said.
'Very serious conversations'
Dawson said the England coaching team would need to have some tough conversations before the quarter-final in Marseille on 15 October.
Fiji are likely to be England's opponents in the south of France and will secure their quarter-final place if they earn a point against Portugal in the final pool stage match later (20:00 BST).
"The coaches have to have some very serious conversations. They have to have hard conversations with Borthwick and say we're in the last-chance saloon and selection has to be spot on with no regrets and you've got to take ownership and responsibility for it," said Dawson.