Yarde and Wade primed to add flair to England's Six Nations bid

 
18 November 2013

Wings Marland Yarde and Christian Wade will be asked to give England the x-factor that Stuart Lancaster admits his side lacked as they lost 30-22 to New Zealand.

A hip injury stopped London Irish flyer Yarde from taking his place on the left wing at Twickenham on Saturday while a damaged hamstring kept London Wasps’ Wade out. As a result, England were desperately short of the pace needed to seriously threaten the impressive All Blacks defence.

Having seen his men take a 22-20 lead but then lose to a cleverly crafted second try for Julian Savea that featured a wonderful pass from Ma’a Nonu — something England’s midfield could not conjure up — Lancaster is ready to play Yarde and Wade in the Six Nations opener away to France on February 1 in place of Chris Ashton and Ben Foden.

The head coach said: “The two young wingers were potentially going to be blooded in this autumn series and didn’t get their opportunities. To be a complete team you need high quality across the side and last year Manu Tuilagi created something out of nothing for us. You need that x-factor player — a point of difference — and Marland Yarde showed it for us against Argentina and Christian Wade did that last season.

“It’s about giving those kind of players opportunities in the Six Nations. Attacking wise we still have some way to go.

“We have lost two games out of the last 11 and the nature of the game is that the players now have big Premiership and European games and we won’t meet up again until the end of January for the start of the Six Nations.”

Lancaster needs to get his attack operating with the same efficiency and world-class standard as the England forwards who hammered into the All Blacks and put the team in a position to beat the best in the game.

He talks in terms of a “performance clock” with the aim to be between 11 and 12 o’clock by the 2015 Rugby World Cup and he currently puts the team at 10pm. With South Africa defeating Scotland 28-0 yesterday, England’s bid to usurp the Springboks as the No2 side in the world is on hold.

After the Six Nations, England’s focus turns to the three-Test summer tour of New Zealand. The First Test will not involve any England players who are in the Aviva Premiership Final a week earlier and that could cause serious problems if it is Saracens versus Northampton.

“It is an inherited situation,” said Lancaster. “Nothing could be moved and we will go into that First Test with the aim of winning it. We will take 38 players to New Zealand and they will have a great experience.”

England captain Chris Robshaw is sporting a large bruise above his left eye after clashing heads when making a tackle and must wait to learn if he will be okay to play for Harlequins against Gloucester on Saturday.

The Quins medical team will determine his availability for the match at the Twickenham Stoop and Robshaw said: “I spent most of Sunday holding an ice bag to my eye, which closed over after the match.

“The medics tried to bleed it on Saturday night but it did not have much effect. But I will be fine. The swelling is expected to go down in a couple of days and I hope to be involved for Harlequins at the weekend.”

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