England coaches forced to explain surprise decision to drop in-form wing Semesa Rokoduguni for Argentina match
Wing Semesa Rokoduguni’s surprise England axing is because he is less suited to facing Argentina than Gloucester’s Jonny May, says defence coach Paul Gustard.
Bath flyer Rokoduguni has been left out of the squad to face the Pumas on Saturday at Twickenham despite scoring two tries in a man-of-the-match display against Fiji last weekend.
May, who started against South Africa earlier this month but was omitted for the Fiji match, is set to replace him on the right, with Elliot Daly of Wasps set to be retained on the left.
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“We’ve seen this before between week one and week two of the autumn. Jonny May had a good game against South Africa and scored a try," defence coach Paul Gustard said.
“We have to pick a team that we think is most appropriate for the threats we are going to face and the opportunities we want to exploit. He [Rokoduguni] along with several others miss out this weekend.”
England are currently on a 12-match winning streak but Gustard insists there remains room for improvement, having conceded five tries in their two matches this month.
“We have shipped a couple of unbelievably soft tries, which is disappointing,” he added. “We’ve not quite hit our straps yet. We know we can be better and we will be better on Saturday.”