Daly could put the sting in England's 12 shirt

Robbie Henshaw’s rise to international rugby has been one of the least talked about success stories of the last year.

The natural full-back, who was moulded into an outside centre at provincial level by Connacht, has been a hit at inside centre for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland. His transition to the game’s highest level was seamless during the autumn internationals and the 21-year-old then backed up that early promise with a very encouraging Six Nations campaign.

With the England 12 jersey still very much up for grabs, could Stuart Lancaster hit a similar home run by taking a gamble on his very own versatile outside centre/full-back, Elliot Daly?

The former Whitgift pupil was at his dangerous best against Toulon in the European Rugby Champions Cup quarter-finals and was impressive enough to warrant some special praise from his Director of Rugby, Dai Young.

“Elliot Daly has just gone from strength to strength this season, again. He will win you games. You get the ball in his hands and things happen. For any team who wants to score tries, for any team who wants to cause other teams problems he is a constant threat when he has the ball” stated Young.

The quote was part of a string of comments from Young, who was urging England to look to Daly (and scrum-half Joe Simpson) ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Whilst it’s not unusual for a DoR to come out in support of his own players in regards to international selection, Stuart Lancaster could do worse than to heed Young’s advice at this point.

England’s inside centre position remains in flux. Owen Farrell will likely get another shot at the jersey when he returns from injury, whilst Luther Burrell and Kyle Eastmond have enjoyed mixed fortunes when trying to fill the void. Billy Twelvetrees is another player who Lancaster trusts, whilst Manu Tuilagi is the elephant in the room, with his outside centre berth currently in the very capable hands of Jonathan Joseph.

Daly may not have much experience of playing as a second receiver, but he does boast a number of attributes which Lancaster has publicly stated he likes to see in his inside centres. The Wasps midfielder has the distribution skills to act as second playmaker in the back line, whilst his kicking game from hand is nothing short of exquisite. A cannon boot, capable of hitting penalties from well over 50m, and footwork comparable to some of the world’s best are two further strings to Daly’s bow.

It’s difficult to name another English centre who has that combination of skills, with Farrell probably the most obvious comparison. That said, Daly is far more lethal with ball in hand, capable of beating defenders with a potent combination of footwork and searing acceleration. His defence however is not quite at Farrell’s level, and given England’s susceptibility to ship points during the Six Nations, may be the biggest factor working against Daly.

There’s no doubt that an England midfield of Daly and Joseph would offers oodles of attacking threat, but as with most positions, finding a complimentary and balanced partnership is the key to success.

It would not be surprising to see England continue their experiment of Farrell at 12, or to even try Tuilagi there, when they meet again for their RWC warm-up matches later this year, but a strong end to the season could help push Daly into contention. He has already made an excellent start to the season’s conclusion, having picked up the Aviva Premiership Player of the Month award for March.

To go from Premiership outside centre to international inside centre in just a few months is a daunting task, but Daly certainly has RWC bolter potential. His ability to cover both outside centre and full-back, as well as being well-suited to what Lancaster wants in an inside centre, makes him one of the most versatile options currently available to English rugby.