Former England fly-half Andy Goode has said that George Ford is not the answer at no. 10 for England.
In an exclusive interview with BoyleSports, Goode revealed why England need to rethink their strategy at fly-half, shortlisting one name in particular that could be the future for England at the position.
The former Leicester Tigers star also gave us his take on some behind-the-scenes drama in the England setup relating to the job security of Head Coach Steve Borthwick and implored the RFU to get in touch with a French assistant coach who could be a massive boost to England as there is reported friction in France’s squad.
England Need To Move Away From George Ford At 10
From a No.10 perspective I would have loved to see Marcus Smith or Fin Smith be given a shot. We need a new direction at fly-half because although George Ford played reasonably well in the second half against Wales, our attack against Scotland was non-existent from about 18 minutes onwards.
I thought George Ford went missing, there was a lack of direction and leadership from the decision-makers, so it is crying out for someone like Marcus Smith. I'm pretty sure Steve would have started him had he been fit.
But what do we do if we keep picking the sort of elderly statesmen? We could potentially finish with just two wins from five again and we haven't learnt a lot.
*England are 4/1 underdogs to beat Ireland in Twickenham on Saturday per the latest rugby odds at BoyleSports.
We talk about the evolution of the team and the attacking game, but I can only see progression with the defence in what they are trying to do.
We have been lost at times in attack, certainly against Scotland when there was a lack of direction. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was exceptional when he played against Scotland and every time he touches the ball he makes metres and gets the crowd off their feet.
You need that at international level to break down the best defences, which Ireland have. I still can't believe Zach Mercer isn't in the squad in the back row, with Ben Earl at openside flanker.
We need destructive back row runners, no offence to Ollie Chessum who is a great second row, but you look at some of the best back rowers in the world and they are ball-carrying threats with tremendous physicality and soft touches out the back.
We've heard leaks and rumours from the camp at England with players not being happy that attack is an afterthought and that it's all about defence and set-piece. There must be some truth to that, when you have established players with the stature of Jonny May and Ben Youngs talking about it.
It's a worry because you play rugby to get your hands on the ball and you cannot spend all your time doing lineout drives, set pieces and working on kicking and defending. There needs to be a balance to it, even though people talk about attack being the last thing to come.
The excuses wear thin after a while and hopefully we are going to see some real evolution and development in our attacking game.
The RFU Should ‘100%’ Contact Shaun Edwards if His Fallout With Fabien Galthie Is True
The RFU should 100% be testing the waters to see if Shaun Edwards would leave France. They should be on the phone to him now; whether he is in contract or out of contract, whatever.
If you are not having these conversations and understanding where people are, you can't be reactive in this situation and wait for people to get sacked.
*England are 10/1 to win the 2027 Rugby World Cup per the latest rugby betting at BoyleSports.
You have got to be proactive. I remember there was an interview from Nigel Redman and he spoke about having all these coaches in the world and their CVs listed in the 'War Room' at the RFU HQ and they went with Steve.
So they've not really looked too far around. Now, I'm hoping that they have learned from that and they are actively scouting. There are people like Wayne Smith in New Zealand, or Steve Hansen who won the World Cup in 2011 and 2015.
There are experienced people out there you could bring in to help Steve, and Shaun Edwards would be one. If there are issues in France, then that is the first thing the RFU should do. There is also no smoke without fire when it comes to those rumours.
What is the problem with someone from the RFU contacting Shaun and asking what the situation is? If it is all rosy, that is fine but they should be willing to talk if things change.
Maybe those things are going on, we don't know, but it has happened plenty of times before in different environments and I'm sure it will happen again.
The RFU Can’t Sack Steve Borthwick – But He Needs To Bring In Experienced Assistants
I don't think he is under pressure at all because of what they paid to get him out of his contract at Leicester! It is a four-year contract as well.
Do I think Steve is the right man for the job? Well they have made the decision that he is and I think he needs someone very experienced in his camp - someone with a lot of Test experience.
Steve has experience as an assistant coach, but you need a bit of a visionary sometimes. Felix Jones has a huge amount of experience having won 2 World Cups and worked with Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, so he will add significant value to it.
But if you look at the other coaches; my mate Richard Wigglesworth doesn't have a huge amount of experience, Tom Harrison the scrum coach hasn't got a huge amount of experience, and I think Steve needs some help.
The RFU aren't going to get rid of him, let's be clear on that. But his experience as a Head Coach isn't huge either at Leicester, with a brand of rugby that won't beat the best teams in the world.
I do think Steve needs some help from an experienced campaigner. If you look at almost every other Union, with Rassie at South Africa, Gregor Townsend at Scotland, Warren Gatland at Wales, Scottie Robertson at New Zealand, Australia now with Joe Schmidt and Steve Borthwick just does not have that with him.
I'm not advocating getting rid of him, I didn't think he was the right man for the job initially, but now the RFU have gone down that route and made him Eddie Jones' successor. I just think he needs an experienced coach alongside him, but I also know Steve.
I know he will not want that experience next to him, because he likes to control things his way. That's the battle the RFU have and perhaps need to take away from Steve.
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