The absentee England full-back shares the prevalent opinion that Wales will be favourites at Twickenham
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES?
Played two, won two. England's start to the Six Nations is the same as it was a year ago, although they sat at the top of the table after the opening rounds rather than in second place behind their next opponents, Wales.
Has all the upheaval been worth it? The victories over Wales in Cardiff a year ago and against Italy at Twickenham were achieved with more flourish and panache than was evident at Murrayfield and Rome's Olympic Stadium this month, but England are starting over in 2012 having been well established in last year's Six Nations.
When Martin Johnson took over as team manager in 2008, his first campaign was the autumn Test series; Australia, South Africa and New Zealand lying in wait after the Pacific Islanders. England tried to move the ball against the Wallabies, but failed to create space and they went back to basics in the Six Nations.
Little was seen of England as an attacking force in Edinburgh or Rome this month: two matches, two chargedowns, two tries for Charlie Hodgson. Otherwise the boot of Owen Farrell, discipline and defence have taken them through. Scotland and Italy were not the most resourceful sides and there will be an increase in the quality of opposition over the next three rounds for Stuart Lancaster and his team.
Wales are showing a chutzpah that was once, long ago, familiar. England are digging in, but Lancaster may feel that, if he is to have a strong chance of becoming the head coach on a permanent basis, his players will need to show their creative side, even if it took Johnson and his management team a lot longer to accelerate from plodding to running.
Lancaster jettisoned players who were well established in the Johnson regime. Some looked as if their international careers had come to a natural end while others, including Mark Cueto, seemed to be sacrifices, dropped before their time for the greater good, the need for a catharsis after all that had happened during the World Cup and in the fallout.
"The World Cup was disappointing, but I still feel a lot was blown out of proportion," said Cueto, whose place on the left wing has been taken by his former team-mate Chris Ashton, a player who has made his reputation on the other side of the field. "Going into the tournament we had had our best period since we had won the World Cup in 2003, playing some excellent rugby and winning the Six Nations.
"I accept that you cannot disregard what happened off the field in New Zealand, [yet] we finished at the top of our pool and unbeaten, conceding one try and scoring 20. We did not play particularly well in the quarter-final against France, but we were good enough to progress further. To make massive changes on the back of that was tough.
"I do not know if Martin Johnson wanted to keep the job or not, but I have no doubt that he was the man for it. He had developed in experience and I thought we could look forward to the next World Cup under him. England have had to scratch this Six Nations, and they may have to do so again in the summer depending on who gets the job of head coach."
Instead of preparing for the encounter against Wales at Twickenham this week, Cueto was taking an ESPN rugby masterclass at his club, Sale, part of an event organised by the Premiership broadcaster that takes in leading clubs, grassroots teams and schools and provides coaching to coaches and players.
"I would like to think I could play for England again, but I am realistic," said the 32-year old, who has won 55 caps. "I have struggled with injuries since returning from the World Cup and have not played consistently for Sale. I just want to get fit again and start playing week in, week out. I am not holding my breath about playing international rugby again.
"England have made a positive start to the Six Nations. You cannot have too many arguments about picking up two wins away from home, never mind how they were achieved. How many people expected England to be unbeaten at this stage? I thought the way the boys came back against Italy said a lot for them: they showed character in difficult conditions.
"Wales will be a step up, but the game is at Twickenham and we always tend to play well at home against them. Will Carling tweeted this week that Wales will be the favourites and that he reckoned the last time that was the case, he was still playing.
"Wales should be the favourites. They are playing well and will be full of confidence, but the Six Nations often confounds. England have not tried to play too much rugby and for any new coaching team defence is easier to put in place than attack. At the moment, we are not playing a huge amount of rugby in our own half. We are getting field position and Owen Farrell is kicking his goals. It will build confidence and the move to more attacking rugby will come."
England did run a bit under Johnson, but the perception is that his side were functional, slave to a gameplan. "I think that from the autumn of 2010, we played in a way that England had not for years," said Cueto. "We were not a team who stuck the ball up our jumpers or kicked to the corners: we ran from everywhere and, perhaps, teams had worked us out by the end of the last Six Nations.
"Our attitude was that if it was on, we would go for it. I think a problem in English sport in general, and this may be an issue when it comes to the full-time appointment of the head coach, is that criticism seems to be deemed more acceptable than applause. If you do something well, the opposition are no good; do something badly and everyone jumps on board. It was so negative during the World Cup; things could have been different."
So what about Ashton as a left wing? "I did not expect to see him there," said Cueto. "I have not spoken to him recently, only sent him a couple of texts to wish him good luck, so I do not know why the switch has been made. I suppose something had to give, with David Strettle also preferring to play on the right. Most wings chop and change during a match, but it does surprise me Chris is not on the right."
This is an extract from The Breakdown, the Guardian's free weekly rugby union email. Sign up here.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/feb/16/breakdown-mark-cueto-england-six-nations
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