Rugby Union: Ashton Concedes England Must Beef Up for World Cup

In all the expeditions England have undertaken over the past decade, they have never endured the sustained bad luck that has pursued them across the High Veldt on their short sojourn in South Africa. Even yesterday morning there was no end to the discomfort as Brian Ashton, the latest victim of the ever-present stomach virus, made an emergency dash to the nearest available toilet before his final press conference. This tour has been a test of fortitude in every conceivable respect.

At least an ill-starred trip has helped to clear Ashton's mind. If he did not suspect it before, he now knows for certain that international rugby has moved on. It was not so much the two predictable Test wallopings administered by the Springboks that left an impression, as the manner of them. England were quite simply pummeled by giants who made them look like Lilliputians. In three months Ashton must somehow inject a bit of beef into his team or risk being hanged, drawn and quartered again at the World Cup.

Given Ashton has always been an advocate of players who seek space rather than contact, it was hard to ignore the disconcerting sub-text contained within the head coach's end-of-tour reflections. "We've got to be able to match them physically. That does not eliminate the possibility of having a couple of quicker, more skillful players who are not as big as some of their opposite numbers. But we can't afford to go on the field against South Africa with half a team who are going to be physically outmatched." In other words, if England don't eat more spinach or recruit some additional muscle this summer, they have no chance in France.

This partly explains Ashton's olive branch to Lawrence Dallaglio who, he hinted strongly yesterday, would be one of the 40 or so names announced on Wednesday week for England's summer training camp in the Algarve. The Wasps captain may be less fleet-footed nowadays but, as he proved in Wasps' surge to European glory, he still has the strength of sinew and character that Ashton badly needs if England are to prosper against their Pool A rivals South Africa and Samoa.

As Dallaglio has been studiously ignored by England for 15 months during which, admittedly, his club form has frequently been modest, this represents quite a U-turn. He may also be a touch fortunate the management opted to leave him at home this summer along with a raft of other Wasps and Leicester candidates. Exposure to Pierre Spies and Schalk Burger makes clay-footed mortals of just about everyone in world rugby at present.

Ashton has no realistic option other than to change direction. While he has several fine back-row forwards, the nearest equivalent to the dynamic Spies is Dan Ward-Smith. Sadly, the Bristol forward's fitness is uncertain following knee surgery. Nick Easter performed admirably in both Tests but James Haskell has more explosive pace. With Tom Rees on the open side, an all-Wasps back row could easily start the opening World Cup match against the USA on September 8.

In the next few days, too, Ashton has much thinking to do in other areas, notably the midfield and in the back three. By his own admission he has only five starting XV certainties in mind and two of those are at prop, where his nominated captain Phil Vickery and Bath's Matt Stevens would appear to be nailed on. Rees, Jason Robinson and Jonny Wilkinson are probably the others, although Ashton's evident keenness to rush Charlie Hodgson back into his training squad - "Charlie should be up and running by the time we go to Portugal" - suggests the option of playing Wilkinson at No12 if Mike Catt is unavailable is not entirely dead.

Otherwise the field is open with Andy Farrell, Josh Lewsey, James Simpson-Daniel and Steve Borthwick among those in need of a decent Twickenham warm-up performance against either Wales or France prior to the 30-man World Cup squad being finalized. "It's quite important that the combinations we want on the field against the USA play together as often as possible before then," confirmed Ashton. "I'll be picking as close to the strongest side as is sensible. Time is running short, I'm well aware of that."

He will also pray Mike Tindall is fit enough to be considered and the news that Mark Regan did not suffer a fractured wrist on Saturday was another plus. If anyone has catapulted himself up the rankings in the past fortnight it is the doughty Bristol hooker, although Ashton also reserved a special word of appreciation for the two Browns, Mike and Alex, and Dean Schofield who all played in Bloemfontein in the grip of the debilitating stomach bug. "How they managed to run around for 10 minutes let alone for 60 or 70 I haven't the faintest idea . . . they showed terrific character," Ashton said.

The England management, in the final analysis, also believe they discovered more about South Africa than the Bok coach Jake White did about them. When the respective coaches shook hands after the game on Saturday neither man conceded anything. "I said 'We look forward to seeing you in September and we'll reverse the tables'," revealed Ashton. "He sort of looked at me and walked off." It has been a tough tour but the final chapter has still to be written.