England must score four tries against French 2nds

THERE is always a danger in making too many changes at the international level and still expecting a team to function smoothly.

- JEREMY GUSCOTT

We see it all the time in the Six Nations when you see leading teams put out a second-string mix against Italy, and it takes at least 15 minutes for them to reboot and start to connect together.

It just looks messy. The players may know each other well on the training field, but in a match it is different, and they have not had enough time to develop the instant understanding that’s required.

Eddie Jones likes to have his 700plus caps on the pitch for England, and he appears to take the view that it is always better to be winning games, although planning and development are also key.

You can question whether some players will be as competitive in three years’ time as they are now, and people will be saying that where there are question marks, rest them sometimes and give other players a chance. I understand that, but if someone is going strong at Test level, a coach will always be reluctant to change something that’s working.

We saw this when Jones moved Tom Curry to No.8 at the start of the last Six Nations and there were a lot of voices saying that Alex Dombrandt should be given a chance to show what he could do.

Eddie saw it differently. There are clear standards that he has in his mind that you have to be a certain level in terms of fitness, decisionmaking, and rock-solid defence before he will bring you into the starting side. Players have to give him that light-bulb moment, and that’s why some of the guys in the wider squad remain, and others go back to their clubs.