In news that many England supporters had feared but also prepared for, Manu Tuilagi will play no part against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday.
The Leicester centre has struggled with an ankle injury in recent weeks, dropping out of the Tigers' crucial Heineken Cup encounter with Toulouse over a week ago.
Tuilagi's stock is justifiably high after the best performance of his career so far in the win over New Zealand last November, where his interception try and two assists in the second half swung the momentum back in England's favour.
Naturally if Tuilagi can do that to a side as highly revered as the All Blacks, then the assumption is that he can do so against anybody, making him England's best attacking option.
Taking him out of the equation has certainly weakened England's firepower but does not mean all is lost.
The decision now for Stuart Lancaster, Andy Farrell and Mike Catt is how much they decide to tinker with the back-line from the November Internationals.
In terms of the simplest fit, London Irish centre Jonathan Joseph has had to bide his time for an England breakthrough since making his debut in South Africa last year.
With elusive footwork and a low error count he certainly fits the bill, the only doubt is that he is yet to explode onto the Test scene as many hoped he would initially do so, despite limited opportunities. The Calcutta Cup clash could well be his chance to make a mark.
Brad Barritt effectively secured his inside centre spot with his try against New Zealand after critics had bemoaned his lack of attacking threat. The Saracen offers an invaluable amount in defence, but with Tuilagi sidelined England must decide whether or not to move Barritt outfield to allow more creativity at inside centre.
Moving Barritt would allow the inclusion of Billy Twelvetrees at inside centre, a man earmarked for Test rugby since he burst onto the scene with Leicester back in 2009.
His move to Gloucester before the beginning of this season has paid off, with Twelvetrees racking up the game-time that he missed out on whilst with the Tigers.
Stuart Lancaster expressed at the beginning of his coaching tenure that his preferred midfield combination was to operate with two playmakers, and Twelvetrees - who is uncapped - would appear to have the necessary skill set to fill the role.
One final option would be to take Owen Farrell from the fly-half berth and move him into outside centre, pairing him with Barritt in a combination that is regularly used by Saracens, with Toby Flood coming in at ten.
If Farrell is England's long-term fly-half, as he has earned the right to be for some time after the New Zealand victory, then moving him into the centres would send an odd message.
Flood's form has been questionable in recent weeks and if Freddie Burns was fit then a Burns-Barritt-Farrell combination would have held great appeal.
England therefore certainly have options available, but none that seem immediately obvious.
Whoever Lancaster selects, the loss of Tuilagi is a blow for England - and a boost for Scotland.
by Ben Coles
@bencoles_
Comments
ArmchairGeneral says...
@Pierodelot: harsh on Barritt. With England he's been excellent. Line breaks, ball carries, a try last game, passes + the world class defence he brings. In games vs top 3 teams in the world he's not once come off looking 2nd best.
Posted 14:43 29th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
In other words Rockstars first post is the best and obvious answer.
Posted 12:44 29th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Please Lancaster ignore all suggestions to play people out of position. It's the best way to take the wheels of any progress made. I won't anymore suggest the 10/12/13 selections i prefer if you avoid changing players numbers. Instead I will say: Farrell only 10. Flood only 10. Barritt only 12. 12trees only 12 (possible injury cover for 10 but hopefully not) Manu and JJ only 13. The only positional switch should be a 15 on a wing. Then the selections become quite simply and combinations can be more clearly considered.
Posted 12:41 29th January 2013
pierredelot1 says...
It's about time they gave Joseph a run, he's been unlucky with injuries and is a more consistent player than Twelvetrees at the moment. Not too happy with a player like Barrett at 12 though, wham bang thank you man, but I can't see Lancaster changing two positions. My bettings on Farrell at 10, because Flood is so up and down, yes Farrell isn't the quickest nor the cleverest but he is the most consistent and is used to playing with Barritt. No way will he start with both Twelvetrees and Joseph, though I would like to see them on the park at some time. Hope he keeps away from playing players out of position, utility players never quite make it. The danger from the Scots will be in the pack not their backs, any side that mournes the loss of DeLuca must be struggling for a bit of class and Scotland just don't seem to be producing them at the moment.
Posted 11:11 29th January 2013
Propmelsey says...
No more Flood in the England team hopefully. Although he was the best English 10 in the country for a while, just edging out Hodgson, neither of them are true international class 10s. Pity Cipriani can't try a bit harder ... i'm sure there is a very special 10 in there just gagging for a game!! That said, i hope Farrell .. spurred on by pressure from burns .. makes the grade.
Posted 08:41 29th January 2013
paddy91317 says...
Ah its scotland for gods sake england could bring will greenwood on and still trot home to victory
Posted 18:55 28th January 2013
Chubbylugs says...
If you pick Goode at 15, do you really need another playmaker at 12?
I'd be inclined to pick flood barrit and Joseph. I don't rate Farrell at all. He's getting better, but he goes missing after 2 / 3 phases. He certainly doesn't have the pace to play at 12 or 13
@jamesliveinhope I agree, that was the biggest mistake at the World Cup. We've moved on now, but couldn't understand why they broke that combo
Posted 18:51 28th January 2013
NHsaints says...
Most likely we'll just see JJ move in to the 13 shirt which will be great for his exposure to high level test rugby and have 12trees or Flood on the bench so if things aren't working with BB-JJ then we can try 12T-JJ or stick with the boring old TF-BB-OF/TF-OF-BB. Personally I think that brad and farrel offer nothing in terms of attacking capability when together in the midfield (yes they're good defensively and both can pick a decent line but there's little capacity for something magic like a stepped defender or a crash straight through). Honestly the most important thing is finding our backup midfield pair so that even with injuries we'll always have good centres available. The man for me in 2015 to combine with Tuilagi has got to be Elliot Daly...he's just brilliant, he can step like a winger, kick like francois steyn (from the tee and from hand, admittedly not with drop goals), rarely if ever misses a tackle, dummies like Greenwood and can fend/pick lines like no other 13 in the premiership. The question is do we want him at 12 or 13? 12 he'll give us more wide attacking options than tuilagi but at 13 he'll be free to cause devastation himself...
Posted 18:45 28th January 2013
TVaddict says...
(Since there are two similar articles I'm just going to post the same comment on both)
It's a great shame Tuilagi is injured as we wanted as much continuity as possible going into this, but as others have mentions we have to learn to put together an attack without him.
As for the line up I think we all agree that Farrell deserves to start at 10. Although I wouldn't mind Twelvetrees starting at 12 and Barritt moving to 13, I'd prefer JJ simply to replay Tuilagi at 14. That is simply because I think it would set a bad message to the team that you can play your part, train hard, but ultimately be by passed by someone performing at the same level. So I'd have Flood and Twelvetrees on the bench so that you have the potential to bring on the old Leicester 9, 10, 12 combo (Youngs would be on the bench too).
How about this for an interesting idea. Start with 10) Farrell, 12) Barritt, 13) JJ and have Twelvetrees on the bench as fly-half cover (but with the intention that Farrell will play the full 80 mins). This gives us the option of having an exciting winger option on the bench like Biggs or Wade. We could even end the match with a back line of 10) Farrell, 11) Biggs, 12) Twelvetrees, 13) Barritt, 14) JJ, 15) Brown. Which to me looks much more potent in attack and still very solid in defence. Unlikely to happen, but an interesting thought perhaps looking to the future more.
Posted 17:58 28th January 2013
simojukes says...
the management said they had been running all kinds of options, including flood at 12.
the fact that they have been able to look at flood, farrell, twelvetrees, barritt and jj making up various midfield combinations is encouraging for england.
its times like these where having players who can play multiple positions comes in handy. players who can do that can be very dangerous, a point made by ieuan evans.
chances are, the management will have even thought about someone like goode, brown or foden as an option in the centre too, whether that got much pasting thinking about it is another question though...
Posted 17:48 28th January 2013
stumpy says...
I find it a shame that Elliot Daly is not in the EPS squad. The young Wasp has showed true class for 2 seasons now, with a mixture of strings to his bow and he would have been the best option. Without him, I would hope for either Barrit/Joseph, Twelvetrees/Barrit, and wouldnt even be too frustrated seeing Twelvetrees/Joseph on the team sheet. I know the England camp has also experimented with Flood at 12, but I don't rate him as a great 2nd receiver. I would be disapointed to see Farrell/Barrit as a centre partnership as it offers little attacking threat. They showed in the early rounds of the 6 nations that it doesn't work.
Posted 16:57 28th January 2013
heart_of_oak says...
I'll bet SL goes for Flood, Farrell, Barrett. What I'd prefer to see, given the players available for selection, would be Farrell, Twelvetrees, Barrett. i.e. Farrell at FH, 12trees at IC and Barrett at OC. Doubt we'll get that though. JJ could be picked if Flood's form is not considered good enough.
This shows our over reliance on Manu who is not really the most skillful or creative centre but is effective because he can break through the opposition back line, in a similar way to Jamie Roberts.
Posted 16:50 28th January 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Yes Rockstar me too. Definitely not Fez at 13. No way! 10 or bench. Barritt is 12 or out. JJo 13 or bench.
For combination appeal I would like:
Youngs 9, Flood, 10, 12trees 12, jjoe 13. For smooth transition i think best bet is:
Youngs 9, Farrell 10, Barritt 12, Jjoe 13. Leicester boys on bench. With Barritt you play Goode at 15. With 12 trees its Brown. Foden is 11. Ashton 14.
Posted 16:08 28th January 2013
jamesliveinhope says...
Its a bit of a cliche now but I strongly believe in the adage that forwards win matches, the backs decide by how much.
I cannot accept that a single player is that good that his loss could be the difference between victory and defeat, Tuilagi burst onto the scene in the RWC warm-ups and I felt then that the England coaching set-up had broken a winning combination in terms of the dynamic between Ashton, Tindall and Hape purely to shoe-horn him into the side.
He's without doubt an outstanding player and rightly first choice but, what money that much of Scotland's preparation has been about nullifying Tuilagi's power only to now have to deal with something different.
Apparently the training patterns have had Joseph or Twelvetrees running outside of Barritt.
Posted 16:01 28th January 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
Id prefer,
10, Farrell
12, Barritt
13, Joseph
to,
10, Flood
12, Farrel
13, Barritt
Posted 15:24 28th January 2013