The boy blunder

To plunge Jonny Wilkinson in at centre is so ridiculous it almost beggars belief, to ignore so many form players smacks of prejudice and to go for such a conservative line-up deserves only one thing- failure.

For Woodward last season's Six Nations Championship obviously never happened as he has chosen to completely overlook Wales' march to the Grand Slam last season.

Maybe Woodward has become so deluded that he believes England won the title. He clearly believes England are still in their pomp when, in reality, they are on the slide and came nowhere in the Six Nations.

For he has based his team selection almost entirely on the World Cup which England heroically won, but that was almost two years ago and the game have moved on since then.

Let's deal with the Wilkinson fiasco for a start. To be selected at inside centre when he has had so little experience there is at best a huge gamble, at worst a disgrace.

What sort of signal does that send out to the other genuine centres on the tour? That not one of them is good enough and that they are on the tour purely as makeweight, basically not good enough. Marvellous psychology, Sir Clive.

But Wilkinson is there at 12 when he will only be directly opposed by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga, one of the most fearsomely aggressive centres in world rugby.

And, don't forget, there is still some doubt over whether Wilkinson's suspect shoulder is up to the job in the first place. We'll find out the answer as soon as Umaga gets the ball and arrows straight for him.

It's pretty obvious Woodward made this selection in his own mind before the tour ever got under way. The fact that Gavin Henson is the form centre of the tour has been ignored.

There is hardly a critic or former player anywhere who doesn't believe Henson should be in the Test team. But, as ever, Woodward's arrogance knows no bounds.

Then there's the back row and more preconceived ideas on the part of the coach. Back, Corry, Hill - it has a familiar ring doesn't it? The only variation would have been Lawrence Dallaglio, another Englishman, in the team had it not been for injury.

The justifiable claims of others have been thrown out of the window. Forget the fact that Martyn Williams was voted player of the Six Nations, ignore the footballing skills of Michael Owen and just about put Ryan Jones on the bench when his blistering debut last week cried out for a Test place.

Even Simon Easterby would have been a better choice on tour form than Richard Hill, a World Cup warrior but now past his best, out of the game for almost a year and hardly in peak form.

Woodward has, in fact, squeezed every bit of adventure out of the team. When he could have been bold, when he could have gone for it he has retreated into an ultra defensive shell which sends out a clear message to the All Blacks - the Lions are going to base their effort on a big defence and Wilkinson's boot, which has hardly been effective on tour anyway.

Woodward has even shunned Shane Williams and excluded him from the 22 when, at the very least, he should have had him on the bench to bring him on as a game-breaker.

He is the most exciting runner in the whole squad, yet what has Woodward done? Leave him out. And in favour of Shane Horgan, who is nothing more than a direct runner.

And, just as damning as anything else, Woodward has failed to give his Test side a run-out or any chance to develop the style he clearly wants.

The peril of picking such a large squad is that there is little opportunity to play together because all 45 players, or 49 as it is now, have to be given a start. Crazy.

How long has Wilkinson had in the centre on tour, or for the past six years since he last player there? Precisely 20 minutes.

Woodward is now risking becoming a laughing stock and falling flat on his face. Ignoring Henson and putting Wilkinson there out of position instead - not only is that demoralising for Henson, but it smacks of the English bias I wrote about, and feared would happen, in this column more than a month ago.

And, again, what kind of psychology was it to tell yesterday's team and replacements that they would have no part to play in the Test team?

Surely, Woodward should have left selection open until after the Southland game and given every player involved a chance to make Saturday's side.

That was simply another way of demoralising everyone outside his Test squad.

It's an incredible way to go into the all-important first Test.

How the All Blacks must be sniggering, and if it goes down the pan for the Lions, as it surely will, then Woodward should be on the first available flight home and the Lions ought to put out an SOS for Mike Ruddock.