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Bates slams Ashton
NEWCASTLE Falcons caretaker
coach Steve Bates has slammed
Brian Ashton's decision to drop
Jonny Wilkinson for this weekend's
RBS 6 Nations contest as
ridiculous'.
Wilkinson has been relegated
to the replacement's bench for
Saturday's Six Nations clash
with Ireland at Twickenham as
a consequence of England's poor
performance in the 15-9 defeat to
Scotland
Bates made it known the 28-
year-old fly half, who became the
record international points scorer
with his three penalties
against Scotland, has been made
a scapegoat for England's inconsistent
Six Nations campaign
and believes Ashton has made an
error of judgment.
The 44-year-old coach acknowledged
Wilkinson did not
have the best of games against
the Scots but pointed out that he
should not shoulder the whole
blame for the reversal.
"I was very surprised he was
left out and it was a ridiculous decision
in terms of the performance
as a whole," said Bates,
who discovered Wilkinson's talent
when he taught at Lord
Wandsworth College in Hampshire
in 1997.
"Making one change makes
the implication that he (Wilkinson)
was to do with a major part
of the problem - it was a crazy decision.
"It seems to me that the decision
is about saying this is a
symptom, rather that treating
the actual cause of the problem.
"The cause of the problem was
that the pack did not play very
well and didn't control the ball.
They gave away too many penalties,
most of which were the forwards,
and it allowed them to
kick territory and goals.
"The conditions were dreadful
and difficult to play in. If you
look at their kicking game, it was
pretty awful. I think he will be
the first to admit it wasn't his
finest game, but in very difficult
circumstances you can only play
if you create the opportunities to
play. And even in the wet that
means doing something up front
- and they weren't doing anything.
"You have to understand those
games will be won on penalties.
It is not going to be a 40 points to
30 victory so you don't give anyone
a chance to kick penalties.
"Scotland wouldn't have
scored a try if they were still
playing now, maybe England
wouldn't have either. But some of
the penalties given away, certainly
in the first half, were crazy.
"They have a world-class goal
kicker and the only way they are
going to score is through the
posts.
"Scotland aren't a good team.
It is not like you're playing the
All Blacks, where you have the
ball and you're in trouble.
"The discipline of the forwards
was the route cause and that
made it more difficult to get out
of their territorial stronghold."
Wilkinson's place is to be filled
by London Wasps fly half Danny
Cipriani. But while Bates recognises
the precocious talent of
England's newcomer, he does not
believe Saturday's fixture is the
right time to blood an inexperienced
20-year-old.
"It is not going to be an easy
game for him," said Bates. "I
don't think his talents are particularly
suited to playing Ireland
in the Six Nations at Twickenham.
I think he'll find it a real
challenge. He is a great talent but
it will be a tough baptism.
"Maybe they're thinking lets
have a look at Cipriani in a game
that does not matter much.
"If he has a complete nightmare
then they might say, we've
seen enough, go on Jonny."
11:07am Thursday 13th March 2008
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