Rugby Union: Wilkinson at Centre of a Gamble

Whatever anyone thinks of Sir Clive Woodward's Lions Test XV selection, and negative opinions are rife, he is not scared of a gamble. By picking Jonny Wilkinson at inside-centre for Saturday's first Test he has put an extraordinary number of eggs into the same fragile basket and, should the Lions lose badly, it could get very messy.

Even before Woodward welcomed his chosen 22 into Christchurch town hall with stirring music and videos, the sceptics were in full cry. At the front of a lengthy queue was the illustrious former England centre Jeremy Guscott, who described the selection as "robotic" and disagreed fundamentally with the choice of Wilkinson at No12 outside the Wales fly-half Stephen Jones.

Guscott, like almost everyone else, can see only one compelling reason why the Lions would field Wilkinson at second five-eighth, namely to kick the leather off the ball as part of a limited game plan to subdue New Zealand up front.

"I personally don't believe it's the right choice. I would have gone with Gavin Henson," said Guscott, in New Zealand working for one of the Lions' sponsors. "This team is almost robotic in its selection because I think it has been picked to play in a certain way. The pack will stick the ball up the jumper and try to grind out a victory by frustrating and wearing down the All Blacks. But it's not a backline I would worry about too much if I was defending against it."

Woodward, however, is convinced he is not asking too much of Wilkinson, who has not started a Test at centre since England lost to Wales at Wembley in 1999. "I think Jonny's better position is a little bit wider, especially with his lack of game time in the 10 position over the last few months. Personally I don't see a lot of difference between playing 10 or 12, and we are very lucky to have both Jones and Wilkinson. At this level they can fit in. I've given this a lot of thought. We'll know if I'm right on Saturday night."

Wilkinson, for his part, did his best to sound positive without being ecstatically happy. "The No10 on your back really only tells you where to stand in the set-piece phases," he said. "Guys now are so skilled that you can pop up all over the place. If I was left to wander around a field, naturally I'd drift in to fly-half, but I'll have to make sure I focus on what I have to do. Being a No10 I hope I can latch on to his [Jones's] wavelength and what he's thinking."

Amid all the head-shaking it was almost possible to forget that Woodward had also named 14 other starting players, the most contentious being Jason Robinson at full-back after only one mediocre tour appearance, with Josh Lewsey shunted to the wing. Shane Byrne and Ben Kay have earned the nod at hooker and lock respectively, with Ireland's Shane Horgan edging out Wales's Shane Williams for the final place on the bench.

For a game of this significance, however, it is typically perverse of Woodward to hand an unfamiliar role to a player who has not played a full-scale Test since the World Cup final and has seen scant action on tour. There are some potential benefits: it reunites Wales's grand slam-winning half-backs Jones and Dwayne Peel, offers a left-and-right kicking option and ensures Wilkinson's goalkicking is available from the start. But an alternative solution would have been to start with Henson and put Wilkinson on the bench.

No one could claim the midfield triangle of Jones, Wilkinson and Brian O'Driscoll was an unqualifed success against Wellington last week after Wilkinson was switched to centre for the last 18 minutes. O'Driscoll, however, insists Lions supporters should not fret about a centre partnership which, aside from the Wellington experiment and 40 minutes against New South Wales four years ago, has never played together in anger. "It doesn't matter where Jonny plays, he's so good at what he does. His game is one of the most complete in the world. I wouldn't totally expect a kicking game from us."

O'Driscoll also suggested this Lions team was better than the one that beat Australia in the first Test in Australia four years ago. It is certainly longer in the tooth. Apart from Gethin Jenkins, Peel, Paul O'Connell and the replacement Ryan Jones, 18 of the 22 are 26 or over. Exactly half will not see 30 again and 11 played in England's World Cup final win. Woodward is clearly hoping to wind back the clock.