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The Rolling Maul: No (sur)name Danny fights the Irish

Danny's lost his surname. It's a mark of an ascension. Jonny lost his years ago and since that time, no surname has been needed. This Saturday we have the Danny show, and last week we had the Jonny no-show. However you dress it up, Brian Ashton was utterly compelled to make the change. If Danny had another night out passing on match tickets, then it had to be Charlie Hodgson. If not him, Ryan Lamb or Andy Goode. Jonny has, hopefully just for now, lost the art of making England play.

What can we expect? Not a free ride, of course. David Wallace of Ireland will be hounding Danny, Ronan O'Gara too. There will be more verbals than in a whole series of Parkinson. He has hardly ever met Richard Wigglesworth, his scrum-half, let alone played with him. He is sandwiched between Wigglesworth and Toby Flood, who has been wholly ineffectual so far this season. Danny will be expected to kick start a team that has been immobile, kicking itself. It is all a ferocious task.

But I just have this feeling that Danny could be special at Twickenham. He will change England 's shape simply by being there. He stands flatter than Wilkinson, his hands are quicker, he is slightly less mechanical in his distribution and he is far quicker over the ground. Indeed, Cipriani is one of the fastest men in rugby. At present, he is also a longer kicker out of hand than Wilkinson.

Naturally, we do not know yet if he can achieve the same high kicking percentage at Jonny, especially under pressure in the last few minutes. We do not know if he will be able to cope when the strapping Andrew Trimble and Wallace come down his channel though I have never seen him exposed in defence. We do not know if he can carry his aura into the Test field as did Jonny.

But I cannot remember being so excited about a young player or so admiring of his work ethic, charm and appeal. I conclude that if he does fail on Saturday, it will be for one reason - that he tries too much. He has been known to dip too deep into his box of tricks, to bank on his talent when a conservative option would maybe have been better. To speculate.

What a contrast with staid old England of late. What a prospect. We still love Jonny. But now it's Danny's turn, he deserves it, and I challenge you at Twickers and in your armchairs, not to be drawn to the edge of the seat.

This is part of Stephen Jones's brilliant free rugby e-mail. Read the rest of it and sign up for next week's by clicking here.

The Rolling Maul: Is Cipriani the new George Best?

Stephen Jones debates the biggest issues in rugby union in his weekly e-mail

How much more were we looking forward to Saturday when Danny Cipriani was in the England team? We neutrals would have been craning forward in our seats, especially those of us who regard Cipriani as among the greatest young talents we have ever seen. Some of his play for Wasps this season, even as a kid in high-octane fixtures, has been breathtaking - sometimes fallible, but breathtaking.

Scotland would have been craning forward too. Mike Blair is on record as saying that Cipriani would be targeted under the high ball and that the full resources of Scotland, the team and followers and rain-dancers, would be employed to try to shake the young man to his boot studs. Exactly as it should be.

Now, with his withdrawal from the team for "inappropriate behaviour" there is a sense of loss, and a sense of let-down - and also concern for Cipriani. He is a brilliant talent but you always suspected that there were complications below the surface, perhaps even a dark side, and that his own relentless, driven personality, his supreme dedication, may have an effect, a reaction. He is also a young man, and because of his life as a precocious young player in academies and rugby scholarships, he is someone who missed out on his teenage wastrel years.

The incident will probably double the public and media attention and people will worry that rugby has, if in a different key, its own George Best. Yet I have the strong feeling that Cipriani will hold up under pressure. To me, the sole threat to him is his own character. Off the field he needs to sort himself. On the field he is not in the least inclined, as so many other England players have always been inclined, to let the match slide away from him. He will be bold, he will try to impose himself. But will he time it correctly, or will he become dangerously speculative in his career?

If he copes with his own demons and if on the field he chooses his moment, he could be dynamic and an all-time great. He has a vision of the game beyond his years, he has an authority, he has a superb kicking game which is still improving, and he is tough. And far from the least of his virtues is that he is devastatingly fast - he may well have been the fastest man on the field on Saturday.

People have accused me of double standards, that I always deny the right of callow young men to make Test teams. Wrong. I hate it when youngsters of promise are brought in, just for the sake of youth, before they have a track record. Cipriani has that track record. He has won major matches, he has played in the Heineken Cup final like a veteran. He is ready.

For me, the ability is a given, beyond any doubt. Now the attention switches to his ability to behave properly and to bounce back immediately, toeing the party line. We will sadly miss him on Saturday but at present it is far more important that there will be more Saturdays in future.

This is part of Stephen Jones's brilliant new free rugby e-mail. Read the rest of it and sign up for next week's by clicking here.

The Rolling Maul: Time for Scotland to rise up and see off the invading English

Stephen Jones debates the biggest issues in rugby union in his weekly e-mail 

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Last summer I went to Culloden, which is near Inverness. There is a brilliant museum, exhibition and live act bringing the whole history of the famous battle to life. To wander the battlefield itself, and to take in signposts telling you where each of the clans stood to begin their charge (and where so many were massacred by the guns of the Royal Artillery before they even joined battle) was wonderfully evocative. Butcher Cumberland's triumph over Bonnie (and hopeless) Prince Charlie and the Scots, in what one historian described as a "welter of carnage" marks the day, they say, when the powers of the clans ceased for ever.

There is still the occasional stirring, however, even though the somewhat genteel atmosphere of Scottish rugby seems to be at odds with the kilted ferocity of their rampaging forefathers. Scottish rugby has been quiet for a long time, somewhat apologetic and doom-laden and too often showing minimal resistance on and off the field.

It is usually the arrival of England that stirs Scottish rugby and brings out some of the old beast in them - makes them bloody-minded to play against, gives Flower of Scotland an edge of passion, and which causes followers to rant and rave in columns and websites and in bars at the notion of English superiority and the English media writing them off.

It is always even more of a goad when England come cocky - and big favourites - as they will do a week on Saturday. Suddenly, when the old enmities revive, we are transported, not as far back as Culloden - although that allows us to understand a little of the deeper motivation - but as far back as when Murrayfield was a fortress, a horrible place to come.

When it happens, the whole Six Nations gains in power. What is it going to be this time, Scotland? The easy subsidence? Or the glorious, bloody-minded charge?

This is part of Stephen Jones's brilliant new free rugby e-mail. Read the rest of it and sign up for next week's by clicking here.

The Rolling Maul: Why Ronan O'Gara must play till he is 56

Stephen Jones debates the biggest issues in rugby union in his weekly e-mail 

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Which nation has the best professional rugby system? The debate is conducted with some of the vehemence of that between the communists and the capitalists in the Cold War.

Surely, no-one with a brain in working order doubts that the English and French systems are light years ahead in terms of commercial appeal, gate-taking and success in the main cross-border events. Leicester's announcement of the building of a 30,000-seat stadium and the aspirations of Bath and Saracens to something similar, are evidence that the English clubs just cannot get all their fans in.

The Rolling Maul: the Babbling Broadcasting Corporation

Stephen Jones debates the biggest issues in rugby union in his weekly e-mail 

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BBC - the Babbling Broadcasting Corporation
Do we love Auntie's coverage of rugby? Or not? Opinions vary wildly. We must be fair to the BBC (Babbling Broadcasting Corporation). They are meant to let the pictures do the talking. But the pictures they had to show from Rome last weekend of England's desperate struggle to beat a brave and helplessly limited Italy spoke to no one.

Some of us sat down in the evening to watch a re-run of the whole thing. We gamely tried to absorb the interminable cacophony of spouting experts (and non-experts) which afflicted their telecast. "Effing shut up!" one of my milder pals bawled at one stage, as they handed from people in the commentary box to people on the touchline to people in the studio to the token Italian to a bloke up in the stand, portentously scanning a bank of television screens (wonder what was on? The Western on BBC2?). Trying too hard? Verbal diarrhoea? Whatever, I found it fiercely distracting.

Some of the component parts were fine. People forget how influential John Inverdale, the presenter, has been in broadcasting. When he first appeared, he brought a bedrock of total professionalism and on it lay a warm, different and yet journalistic irreverence which his listeners on Radio 5, one of his old homes, and others engaged with. He set a sparking new tone.

Was Stephen Jones right about Jonny Wilkinson?

In the first of his brilliant weekly e-mails, The Rolling Maul, Stephen Jones predicted that King Jonny was ready to be overthrown.

"The greatness is declining," Jones argued. "If England could only find momentum and direction, then they may well conclude that different hands on the wheel are sorely needed. Well, are we choosing icons, or players?"

Stuart Barnes agreed with his colleague, saying Wilkinson is the problem not the solution and must be dropped.

Then what happens? Wilkinson plays a big part in England's two tries against Italy, passes the 1,000-points mark in international rugby and his replacement, the much-vaunted Danny Cipriani, fumbles his way through a jittery 13-minute cameo.   

So was Jones, The Sunday Times Rugby Correspondent of more than 20 years, too quick to write off England's World Cup winner? Or will he be proved right in the longer term? Get in your opinions now, and Jones himself will respond to the best of them in his next e-mail on Thursday, which you can sign up for here.

Each week The Rolling Maul offers lively debate, Jones's series on "What you need to know about rugby", seven days' news in one minute flat and the hero of the week.

And if that's not enough, it's FREE. And by a former Sports Writer of the Year. Sign up now.

The Rolling Maul: King Jonny on verge of being overthrown

Can you pick a player because of who he is, and not because of what he does? It seems so, otherwise Danny Cipriani would be the England fly-half in Rome this Sunday and Jonny Wilkinson, conceivably, would not even be on the bench.
Ultimately, grudgingly, I have to admit that I would choose him for the Italy game but only by a kind of circumstantial default. Mike Tindall, one of the finest midfield focal points in Europe, is injured. His absence cruelly wounds the rest of the England campaign.
Furthermore, the grisly injury toll means that England have lost four other key men. One more defeat and we are slap bang back into the debate of the early World Cup as to whether Brian Ashton has a clear voice or if it is submerged by clashing philosophies and bickering inside the team room.
For that reason, for a kind of stability, for a familiar face, and because the players around him still seem to believe in him (at least, they say they do at the traditional asinine, self-justifying media burbles which afflict the whole Six Nations), I would choose Jonny for Rome.
But strictly on form? No. Is this a media thing? We built him and now, typically, are we devouring him? Absolutely not. He has lost a considerable amount from his game and my growing anxieties are purely technical. He is the greatest tackler, pound-for-pound, the game has ever seen, bar none. But the eye tells us that he no longer hits so hard and the statistics tell us that he no longer hits so often.
Indeed, his lunge which knocked Jonathan Thomas senseless at Twickenham and which really had to bring a citing, was perhaps a view on a decline. His goalkicking percentage rate is currently fine, but it is lower, it is that of a mere mortal.
His kicking out of hand has become frustratingly conservative. These days, he no longer seems to give the ball a kind of joyous whack with the outside of his boot, which used to deliver it on vast diagonals. He kicks end over end, burying the balls safely into the stands. But often, after his team have won a line-out, his clearing kick gives them another line-out about 15-20 metres up the field but this time, without the throw-in. Compare the length of the kicking of, say, James Hook or Ronan O'Gara.
Opinion as to whether he has declined as a tactical controller depends on your view as to whether he ever was one. He still takes responsibility, but his check-and-go manoeuvre has become samey, and he rarely these days puts people through the gap with aplomb. I have a vast affection for Newcastle Falcons but this season I have seen them too many times, with all the ball in the world, with Jonny, Toby Flood and Mathew Tait in the midfield, fail utterly to pose a threat to the defence. His game at Twickenham last Saturday fell to bits.
His temperament, his aura, and his ice-coolness on the late, fateful kicks are all still magnificent. His courage too. It is marvellous to see him putting in a long run of games after the horrible run of injury. Rugby will never be able to repay him for his appeal, modesty, behaviour and glamour.
But King Jonny is on the verge of being overthrown. The greatness is declining. If England could only find momentum and direction, then they may well conclude that different hands on the wheel are sorely needed. Well, are we choosing icons, or players?

Australia, New Zealand and Ireland would love to be "boring England"

It is always so easy to tell when England’s rugby team are going well, have confounded the world and frankly, wound up members of other nations to high heaven, so much so that they simply cannot hide their hatred and their rampaging jealousy of England, the English and their rugby team, any more.

You can tell by the number of “boring England” observations being made in the media. That is when you know that England are really in business, and not only that, but blissfully unconcerned and even thoroughly amused, by the reaction they provoke. Even we Welsh know it.

Just to prove that not all Kiwis hate me

Even in a city like Paris, there are barely enough restaurants, cafes and coffee shops to accommodate all the rugby people and all the issues under discussion, in this wonderful World Cup. This morning, bleary-eyed and with laptops gently steaming back in the hotel, our little group was grieving for the magnificent Pumas who at their best may well have had the beating of South Africa. Yet when they put their foot on the pedal, they found only will, not power.

There are various large groups roaming the capital - there are the disgruntled French of course, the Australians looking for a party that has already ended for them, plus sundry rump groups of Welsh and Irish. Perhaps the most striking group are the Kiwis marauding around. They do not seem quite sure whether they should wear their black kit when in communal action, or whether they should shout: "Bleck, bleck," (that means Black, Black in English) at the games.

Is rugby one of the most drug-free sports?

Well, are we all fooling ourselves? The International Board has announced that in the tournament to date, there have been no positive returns for performance-enhancing or recreational drugs - and this in one sport in which the pressure, intensity, physicality and demands might be seen as ripe for drug cheats.

Don't cut number of teams at next World Cup

Message to the New Zealand Rugby Union. Please put to bed a shocking idea. Please deny that you want to ban parts of the world from the 2011 World Cup. Please deny that you want to run the event as a cartel of the old boys of the top nations by slashing it to only 16 teams.

Bernard Lapasset, the Frenchman who is likely to be in charge of the sport soon, as chairman of the International Rugby Board, made a staggering assertion today. He said that the New Zealand Rugby Union may indeed want to reduce the number of competing teams at the 2011 World Cup.

The New Zealand debate: Stephen Jones responds

The Sunday Times Rugby Correspondent's piece criticising the All Blacks after their World Cup exit provoked a heated reply from readers. Here, Stephen responds to some of their comments.

Would Stephen Jones kindly explain how he can possibly describe Wayne Barnes as an outstanding referee when with that crucial French try he missed not just one forward pass but two. The first from Traille to Michalak and then from Michalak to the tryscorer Yannick Jauzion. To miss one forward pass is not particulary good refereeing but understandable but to miss two in the same move and which results in a match winning try is diabolical. So c'mon Mr Jones you claim to be an expert back up your comments and explain this one
- Gareth Williams

SJ: Gareth, I would describe that nice Mr Barnes as an outstanding referee on the basis of the 10 or 12 games I have seen him do; yes, it seems there as a clear forward pass in a New Zealand try and one in a French try. What I also would not do if I was a Kiwi, I think, is blame a host of failures on one decision

Too much talent? All Blacks have nothing but arrogance

Trawling through the websites had rarely been as hilariously rewarding as it has this weekend in the wake of the All Blacks' demise. At breakfast in the Residhotel, Marseilles on Monday morning (and I mention the name of the hotel as a public service so you can all steer around six miles clear of it even if they have the last spare rooms in the Northern Hemisphere) my media mates all recommended an article by David Kirk, the former All Black captain.

Greedy French blazers have their comeuppance

If you are interested in the concept of poetic justice then you will love this. The story starts around a decade ago when the Welsh Rugby Union launched a bid to host the 1999 World Cup.

To get enough votes they needed the support of their fellow European Unions. They got it. At a heavy price. All of the other unions bar none blackmailed the Welsh, demanding that they trade World Cup games for their votes. This meant that we had a silly Pan-European event, with little impact. As I have said before, the 1999 tournament was the closest you ever want to come to a bad World Cup.

All-Black away-day does hosts no favours

It would be easy to be too critical of New Zealand for their below-average performance against Scotland at Murrayfield, especially in the light of the fact that every player on the field was wearing the same jersey, making errors and interceptions commonplace.

There was also the demotivating factor provided by the soulless, horrible decision of Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, to field his second team. Scotland are not going to win the World Cup. And the chance Scotland missed to give a resounding performance in the tournament was gilt-edged, especially for a country which has forgotten what top-class professional rugby looks like.

Taking care of the opposition

"It was great fun!"  Which player made this observation recently about a rugby match in which he had played? A young lad in an under-10 mini-rugby match? No. It was none other than Ali Williams, the fearsome All Black lock, talking about a World Cup rugby match - the All Blacks' 108-13 victory over Portugal, in Lyons.

Great fun? Are professional players supposed to have fun? And are not teams like the All Blacks supposed to press relentlessly, mercilessly on until they score every last point - and let's be fair, if New Zealand really did want to score 150 against the wonderfully brave Portuguese, it is possible that they could have done so. Did they let down the concept of Test rugby?

Big boys getting away with murder

Here's a warning to all the so-called smaller teams in France for the World Cup. Big brother is watching you, and ignoring the big teams. He is crippling you, and allowing them to get away with sporting murder.

It is unfortunate for England that Phil Vickery, their captain suspended for two weeks, will be absent when they meet South Africa on Friday. But they will not miss him remotely as much as the United States will miss Paul Emerick, their outstanding centre, who is suspended for five weeks.

French quick to show their support

Allez les Bleus! The chants rang out from the French crowd in support of France at the Stade de France on that supercharged evening last Friday, for me one of the great sporting occasions of all time, with King Agustin on his throne.

The same chant rang out from the French at Parc des Princes on Sunday, in support of Samoa against South Africa. And again in Bordeaux on Sunday evening to encourage the valiant Namibians, against Ireland. Allez les Bleus! Allez anyone in Blue.