Ugo Monye for Mark Cueto

Does any one else agree that Ugo Monye would be a better wing choice then Cueto to go to the WC?

His strike rate over the season has been better then Marks, but even without this i'd put him on the plane as in my view he'd better compliment either Ashton or Sharples (as the likely 14's). He's very strong in defense, lightning quick and physical at the breakdown. Although not a creator he chases kicks well and has surprisingly good feet, i remember an incredibly try he scored against Toulouse in the 09/10 season where he stepped about 4 guys from 20 metres out to score.

As to his kicking game, well get a copy of the Munster v Quins game and see some of the beautiful touch finders he launches. It's definitely something he's worked on and improved.

Assuming that Ashton is a cert and Armitage and Foden go, i'd be looking at Monye and Sharple (if he plays well) as the other wingers and then maybe Banahan and Tuilagi as centre/wing squad cover.

Better try scorer, but not better at setting up tries.

that try against toulouse was great and was scored when he was playing full back (something which people like to forget he did very well for quins, and only played one and a half games there for england).

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Better try scorer, but not better at setting up tries.

as a side point, i'm not sure that's cueto's strong point either. i remember the barbarians game a year ago and samoa last autumn as two particular games where he was in a position to provide a try assist numberous times and kept running it himself.

the flipside to that of course is that it was his good work appearing off the blindside wing on flood or hape's inside shoulder that led to him making the break and being in the threatening position anyway.

tomathy wrote:that try against toulouse was great and was scored when he was playing full back (something which people like to forget he did very well for quins, and only played one and a half games there for england).

Let's not forget why it was only one and a half games though.

I think Cueto had a real monkey on his back about his International try drought, which could have effected his decision making when he was 50/50 for the line with a better positioned team-mate, and he ended up backing himself a couple of times.

I think it's an interesting question posed, we'll see how both men go when given their chances in the next couple of weeks.

Cueto is currently in the side because he has an excellent left boot and outside of the half backs our backline is pretty devoid of anyone with any tactical kicking ability (tactical kicking is all about accuracy). He offers a handy alternative kicking option when the half backs are under pressure. As soon as someone else offers this he will probabley find himself out of the first team.

robbo277 wrote:

tomathy wrote:that try against toulouse was great and was scored when he was playing full back (something which people like to forget he did very well for quins, and only played one and a half games there for england).

Let's not forget why it was only one and a half games though.

I wasn't forgetting it, but people go on about it as if johnson should have been sacked just because of that. Monye had been playing well at full back for quins while brown was injured, Foden had played very little there at this point (and has since admitted he had extra sessions since then teaching him to play the position properly) and Armitage was injured. It was a perfectly reasonable selection decision to make that just happened to go badly.

Oh, it was a logical call. I'm just not sure if Johnson could ever play him there again. He seemed to get peppered relentlessly and just seemed to fold. I'm not sure if he's mentally up to the switch again, and if Johnson did play him there again and he failed again, then Johnson would look like a bit of an idiot.

OK Monyes not a starting fullback, but if Armitage is going noone going to ask him to be anyway.
Cueto would hardly be a first choice there either to be honest.

Theres no way that Cueto isnt going to go on the plane though, same with Foden.
Monyes chance is that Banahan isnt considered a center. Its then up to him to prove hes worth a place in the team, on the bench or as a starter.

robbo277 wrote:Oh, it was a logical call. I'm just not sure if Johnson could ever play him there again. He seemed to get peppered relentlessly and just seemed to fold. I'm not sure if he's mentally up to the switch again, and if Johnson did play him there again and he failed again, then Johnson would look like a bit of an idiot.

I wasn't saying he should do it again at all. I just think it was a reasonable decision to make at the time, and people getting upset about it nearly 2 years after the event just remind me of Captain Hindsight from South Park.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Better try scorer, but not better at setting up tries.

I don't think any of our wings are good at setting up tries, all of them are finishers really. Either through pace-Monye/Sharples, power-Banahan or guile-Ashton.

Ashton gets closest to being a creator, but seems to always blow the pass/kick.

Agree Monye shouldn't be a fullback, but nore are Ashton or Banahan and a lot of people have said that Sharples is a good full back so if he went then maybe he's an option?

Watch how many players Cueto ran round last season and tell me he didnt create and of the England tries.
ESPN have him down as joint top for assists in the 2011 6 nations.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Watch how many players Cueto ran round last season and tell me he didnt create and of the England tries.
ESPN have him down as joint top for assists in the 2011 6 nations.

Really?

Shows how much i know i suppose, i just got the impression that he didn't create much, i know he catches a lot of high balls and runs a lot back but usually he goes in to contact.