As an international coach, the most important thing to master is selection.
Sometimes it’s who you don’t choose who makes the headlines. And that’s exactly what happened this week with Marcus Smith.
It is not an easy thing to do, but it comes with the territory for the player and the coach. As a coach, you must have the courage of your convictions. If you think you have made the decision for the right reasons, you need to stick to it.
This is what Steve Barthwick has to do after having put Smith on the bench for the six -nations essential on Sunday with Italy.
Barthwick should have sit with Smith and have an incredibly difficult conversation. It would not have been pleasant for one or the other of the party.
It could be a pivotal moment for Smith, Barthwick and this team from England. You could forgive Smith for hurting it. He was asked to play out of position.
Sometimes it’s who you don’t choose who makes the headlines. And that’s exactly what happened this week with Marcus Smith
It could be a central moment for Smith, Barthwick and this team from England
From the great-back, Smith beat France and ended the Bogey race of England against Scotland
And from the back, he beat France and ended the Bogey race of England against Scotland. He has in no way distant the tournament, but he still affected the game well.
I cannot change an insignificant feeling that Barthwick sends a message. Smith has the potential to be a superstar, but as a coach, if you even get the slightest impression, a player is distracted, you have to act. Sir Alex Ferguson was the master.
I just can’t shake the visual of the opening episode of the two of Netflix series Six nations: full contact of Smith climbing in a flash car and organizing meetings with his agents. In the end, I speculate only. But I don’t think Smith has met well there.
As a coach in England, I had two great moments when I decided to drop the players.
The first was for the 2003 World Cup semi-final where I chose Will Greenwood and Mike Catt as central matching and left Mike Tindall.
Catt had been superb in the victory in the quarter -final on Wales, leaving the bench and turning the tables in our way when we had serious problems. I wanted him to start against France in semi because of his strong kick game and the forecasts of wet conditions.
It was a more than interesting conversation with Tindall.
Fortunately, there was a silver lining. And it’s 100% a true story. After telling Tindall that he would not start, he was obviously furious, but he knew that for the good of the team, it was not time to make a drama. His attitude was brilliant in what was very low for him. He came out for a few beers with friends to explode steam. It was that night, he met his Zara, now a woman.
I had to tell Mike Tindall that I let him down for Mike Catt in the 2003 semi-final
Fortunately, there was a silver lining – it was that night, he met his Zara, now a woman and became part of the royal family!
I called Catt before the final to tell him that he was back on the bench. It was another difficult conversation but I will always remember that Catt was smiling when I asked him in a room
So, really Tindall owes me one – it’s because I dropped him that he is now a member of the royal family! So things worked well for him at the end.
After defeating France to reach the final with Australia, there has never been any questions in my mind, Tindall would return to the XV. His work consisted in shooting down the giant Mortlock Wallaby Stirling center. It was the right call to make. Even Catt has accepted.
I called Catt before the final. This was another difficult conversation because he had played so well in the two previous matches with direct elimination. But I will always remember Catt smiling when I asked him in a room.
“I’m going to make your job easier and start on the bench,” said Catt. “So I will come and win the World Cup.
It was Classic Catty. He was one of the most intelligent players I have ever trained. He already knew what was going to happen. He also launched the ball to death for the last game of this final with Australia to secure the William Webb Ellis trophy for England.
It’s funny how things work.
The other big selection call I made was when I dropped Lawrence Dallaglio. It was in an autumn campaign and we had just beat New Zealand in Twickenham with a rear row of Richard Hill, Neil Back and Dallaglio. For the next match against Australia, I wanted to bring even more pace in the trio forward.
So, I dropped Dallaglio, moved Hill to No. 8 and brought Lewis Moody. Again, for me, it was undoubtedly the right decision.
I will never forget the face of Lawrence Dallaglio when I told her that I dropped him on 49 caps
It was Dallaglio’s mom whom I really had to worry when I dropped him!
I will never have forgotten Dallaglio’s face when I told him. The conversation in a play by Pennyhill Park did something like this:
Dallaglio: “Can I be absolutely clear?” We have just beat New Zealand and now I am abandoned?
Me: “Yes, it sums up Lawrence quite well! I want to bring more pace to the team.
Dallaglio: “OK. So, I’m rested, not dropped?
Me: “No Lawrence, you dropped. But you get it back.
Dallaglio: “If you think I’m crazy, wait to talk to my mother!”
I told Martin Johnson after already talking to Dallaglio. I will never forget Johnson’s reaction.
“You know it’s his 50th cap this weekend,” he said about Dallaglio.
Martin Johnson must have told me exactly what I had done by dropping Dallaglio a little shy on the milestone
I had no idea! Dallaglio must have had photos in his mind to direct the team and everything! This made my decision not to choose it even more difficult to take.
And not surprising that her remarkable mother is indeed livid! With hindsight, I am always very proud of these two decisions.
They were made for the right reasons and I still wouldn’t change them now. It was a mark of strong culture that we had with the team of England at the time that, even if Tindall and Dallaglio were bored, they finally made the decisions well because they were made for the good of the team. This is what this team from England must do now.
They must put the move from Barthwick to Bench Smith and leave aside Henry Slade in their minds and fully focus on the beat of Italy.