Eddie shuffles deck to find room for Farrell

In trying to shoehorn captain Owen Farrell into the England team to face Australia on Saturday, I can’t help feeling that Eddie Jones is messing with what was beginning to look like an extremely potent backline.

Picking Farrell at inside centre, thus forcing Tuilagi onto the right wing, really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Who knows, it may very well work – Jones is, after all, eminently more qualified than I am when it comes to these matters.

But ask yourself these questions:

Is Owen Farrell the best 10 in England? Answer: no, Marcus Smith (selected) is better right now, as is George Ford.

Is Owen Farrell the best 12 in England? Answer: no, that would be Manu Tuilagi.

Is Manu Tuilagi the best 14 in England? Answer: no, and you could justifiably pick several others ahead of him in that position.

Arguably Farrell is England’s best goalkicker, but Smith is not a million miles behind. Many also cite Farrell’s leadership, but I would argue that the England team does not currently lack leaders.

Smith at 10, with Tuilagi and Slade in the centres and May and Radwan on the wings and Steward at fullback is the obvious way to go.

But as we all know, Eddie doesn’t do obvious.

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was