Ashton knows clock is ticking

Brian Ashton's first year as England head coach has been such a blur of activity that yesterday's flight home from Italy was a rare chance to sit back and ponder precisely where his squad go from here. If the first two weekends of the 2008 Six Nations have proved anything it is the adage about building houses on shifting sands. The most consistent thing about Ashton's England is the ever-changing nature of his workforce.

At least the situation is not quite as bad as one local newspaper columnist suggested last week when he memorably scolded England for "a Jekyll and Hyde performance on a biblical scale". But is it any surprise England blow hot and cold when there is such uncertainty in terms of personnel? Ashton has used 65 players in 19 Tests since last February. The figure increases to 67 if Anthony Allen and Jason Hobson, who have each sat on the bench as a replacement without being called on, are included.

There have also been six captains in nine months. No wonder England have become such a hard side to second-guess.

It is impossible not to sympathise with Ashton's predicament when wading through the list of names. The statistics are obviously affected by last summer's tour to South Africa, when dozens of contenders from Wasps, Leicester and Bath were unavailable, and no one could possibly have foreseen the sheer number of injuries, illnesses and retirements which have also peppered the past 12 months.

The double whammy of Phil Vickery's bruised calf and upset stomach last weekend summed up England's season: how often does your captain suffer two unrelated ailments on the eve of a Test match?

France, admittedly, have thrown any number of names up in the air and emerged with wins in their opening games. There is even talk of them lobbing an unknown centre from the outer reaches of the Stade Francais squad to face England in Paris on Saturday week.

But, equally, there has been a method to Marc Lièvremont's apparent selectorial madness, a stated desire to pursue a certain style at the expense, initially, of obsessive result-driven orthodoxy. He has identified the sort of players he wants and thrown them in without hesitation. Ashton, in contrast, has had little option other than to fill the gaps when they crop up.

Soon big decisions will have to be made. Ashton has been around long enough to know that all good rugby teams are built around a solid spine, starting at hooker and incorporating a ball-carrying number eight, two alert half-backs and a top-class full-back. In a perfect world they will learn to communicate with each other almost instinctively.

Compare, for instance, the telepathic understanding of the famous Richard Hill, Neil Back, Lawrence Dallaglio triumvirate with the backrow England fielded in Rome. James Haskell had never played with either Nick Easter or Michael Lipman at any level. In the circumstances England's loss of fluency in the second half was less startling than the brief momentum they achieved in the first quarter.

Which is why Ashton needs to settle on a core of players who will be together for longer than the next couple of weeks. By his own admission he has had no choice but to accelerate his rebuilding plans in the absence of the established players - Mike Tindall, Martin Corry, Jason Robinson and Josh Lewsey.

It might seem a risk to drop Mark Regan and Andy Gomarsall from the starting XV to face France but suddenly the clock is ticking. Four of England's next five games are away from home, including two Tests in New Zealand in June. If Regan, for example, is not going to make it to Christchurch and Auckland, it would surely pay to discover as soon as possible what the London Irish hooker David Paice is made of. The same applies to the Sale scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth. Similarly, for all Jonny Wilkinson's continued points-scoring value to England, Danny Cipriani simply has to start one of England's remaining three Tests.

Ashton needs to have the courage of his convictions and assemble a complementary team capable of playing the faster-tempo game he craves. It has to be a better bet than a cobbled-together outfit which seems to be falling between two stools. Only then will England have any chance of becoming an 80-minute side and escaping their identity crisis.

Guardian Service