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Lynagh: Jonny must go
11/03/2008 09:28 - (SA)
London - The growing clamour for England rugby coach, Brian Ashton, to drop Jonny Wilkinson found echo on Monday from one of the game's most respected practitioners in the art of the flyhalf.
Former Australia flyhalf, Michael Lynagh, once the holder of the world points record eclipsed by Wilkinson on Saturday, believes Wilkinson is battling to impose himself in a declining side, reports the Daily Telegraph.
"When you've got a struggling team, bad flyhalf play really stands out," said Lynagh. "Jonny's performance against Scotland was as poor a display as I've seen from him. I think it's time for someone else to have a go.
"The last time this debate flared up I thought he had enough points in the bank not to warrant being dropped. But the whole operation seems so stilted. Saturday was woeful. It looked as if England weren't even trying to score."
Lynagh was at a loss to understand just why Wilkinson's kicking was so awry, or why there was not more purpose in the chase.
'It wasn't that good'
"A lot of the kicking was fairly aimless and pointless, lacking height and distance," said Lynagh, who feels Wilkinson, who has never been dropped by England, has been struggling with his kicking game for some time.
"It wasn't that good at the World Cup. It was almost as if a series of plays had gone wrong and all that was left was to hoof it downfield."
That was certainly Wilkinson's take on it on Saturday evening. He spoke then of "feeling a bit helpless...and short of options".
Lynagh was appalled by England's lack of creativity and wonders if the players themselves know what they're supposed to be trying to do, a complaint that harks back to critical comments made during the World Cup by Mike Catt and Lawrence Dallaglio.
"Scotland are a pretty limited side but they looked like the Harlem Globetrotters out there compared to England," said Lynagh.
"If you do kick, you've got to kick with a purpose. When you're not trying anything, all Scotland had to do was drop three guys back and field the kick. There was no ambition in England's game. I do wonder if the guys out there know what they're supposed to be trying to do.
"As for Jonny, I do feel a bit sorry for him in that the ball he's been getting has not been great. But, maybe his ability to read and control the play, when he hasn't got people around him on the field guiding him, is not as good as we thought it was.
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Rugby
