RUGBY UNION: Mixed reaction to the games of half and half

The debutants at the hub were let down by those around them, argues Steve Bale

Jack Rowell said repeatedly after England had unsatisfactorily beaten Western Samoa that his priority was to find a pair of half-backs willing and able to put his theory of dynamic rugby into practice.

Though the manager did let slip a few words of praise for Matthew Dawson's and Paul Grayson's debut contributions, it was less than outright acclaim. "There are no pairings or individuals who are outstanding in their claims to take over either of those places," he said.

He added: "Subject to us getting a couple of half-backs, I think English rugby is getting up and running." Rowell also pointed out that Rob Andrew had needed 20 Tests before he had a good one and altogether downplayed one of the more encouraging aspects of a discouraging afternoon.

Grayson ran the ball from stand-off three times, kicked five times and passed 18; Dawson ran only once, kicked seven times and passed 35. This is a huge ratio - certainly compared with the Andrew-Dewi Morris days - of passes to kicks and it is a salutary reflection on England's present state that Rowell would actually prefer them to kick more.

Of equal significance is Dawson's apparent reluctance - like that of his predecessor, Kyran Bracken - personally to take on defences at close quarters. With Morris it was a matter of instinct as well as necessity, since outside him Andrew never posed a threat, but in the ideal world of Rowell's imagination England need two half-backs with the self-confidence to seem selfish.

That said, if Grayson and Dawson are to flourish individually and in tandem they need more assistance than they received on Saturday when English forwards' propensity, to the point of obsession, for running into tacklers led to the slowing-up of possession and their other habit of inserting themselves in or around the half-backs did little more than get in the way.