The Contenders to Be England's Wingers for the 2014 Autumn Internationals

England kick off their 2014 Autumn Internationals against New Zealand at Twickenham on 8 November with an eye firmly on laying down a marker for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. With the rest of the team fairly settled, it is the wingers who will have to fight hardest for places in England’s Elite Performance Squad (EPS), to be announced on 22 October.

Injuries have cost Marland Yarde and Christian Wade dearly over the past year, while Saracens pair Chris Ashton and Dave Strettle are in fine form. Wade, Ashton and Strettle all gave timely reminders of their ability in the first weekend of the new European Rugby Champions Cup. Similarly, Semesa Rokoduguni’s flying start to the season has propelled his claims, while Jack Nowell and Jonny May started all of the matches in the 2014 Six Nations.

England have plenty of options, but they must decide between various styles of wingers, find a combination and determine whose profile best fits the team as a whole.

Semesa Rokoduguni is a Fijian-born winger who is starring for Bath this season. He is relishing the club’s attacking philosophy and making a strong case for an England call-up.

Rokoduguni, who was included in the England Saxons squad earlier in the year, has also represented his adopted country elsewhere: in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan. Lance Corporal Rokoduguni may drive tanks, but it is his power and quick feet that have attracted the attention of English rugby.

In the clip above, Wasps’ Italian full-back Andrea Massi has no answer to Rokoduguni’s side-step in the five-metre channel. He may still be raw and need to work on his kicking game, but on current form, Rokoduguni is the most exciting winger in England.

Christian Wade, the diminutive Wasps wing, is electric. He also has a vocal set of supporters among rugby experts. Former England centre Jeremy Guscott, writing in The Rugby Paper, was left purring at Wade's qualities at the start of the year, just after his long-term foot injury sustained in December 2013:

Christian Wade is simply scintillating…Wade has a skill set and speed that means he will be more of a handful for the opposition than they will be for him…Last season Wade was joint top scorer in the Aviva League and made the most clean breaks. In all areas of attack he’s in the mix as the best statistically…His sheer speed can make any of the best defenders in the world appear average. One-against-one over 10 yards I would back him every time to beat the defender. He has an eye for the gap himself and an eye for a teammate, which tells me he understands the game very well, and that he’s generous for a winger.

After a great individual score against Leinster on Sunday in the European Champions Cup (see video above), Wade received plenty of praise on Twitter:

That is a world class, world class try @ChristianWade3

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) October 19, 2014

But doubts remain about whether Wade fits into Stuart Lancaster’s England plans. As breathtaking as he is in attack, because of his height, he is susceptible to the cross-field kick.

He will hope his X-factor, not seen in an England shirt since the retirement of the great Jason Robinson, will be enough to earn a place in the EPS and the Autumn Internationals.

Dave Strettle burst into contention for England with two excellent finishes in Saracens' hard-fought win against Clermont Auvergne in the European Rugby Champions Cup on Saturday. The second was the pick of the two: a sharp side-step was followed by a clever one-handed touch-down (see image above).

Anticipating the concern that he is not the evasive runner he once was, Strettle spoke out on Monday, saying as per the BBC:

Experience means you might not score the wonder try because you do not back yourself, but more often than not you've made the right decision…And those older players are the best players. They might have lost a yard or two - like Brian O'Driscoll did - but they know what's happening that split second earlier and they react to it.

His comments appear to be directed firmly at coach Stuart Lancaster in reference to the two men mentioned in the last two slides. Strettle is not a flyer like Rokoduguni or Wade, but with Lancaster favouring the collective effort over individuality, Strettle may find himself earmarked for a recall against New Zealand.

Chris Ashton continues to divide opinion among fans. Is he one of the best poachers in the game, a player who reads support lines like few others? Or is he a liability in defence who remains prone to ill-discipline? For Saracens against Clermont, he exhibited all of those traits. For his first try, the right-winger scored in the left-hand corner, capitalising on a knock backwards from Wesley Fofana.

I cant see how Lancaster cant select @ChrisAshton1 and @David_Strettle their performances have been exceptional for @Saracens #sarriesfamily

— Colin Garrett (@cheekycol) October 19, 2014

But, in defence, a mis-judgement of a Clermont grubber-kick almost cost his side five points. Then, a collision with Clermont fly-half Camille Lopez after the latter had made a clearing kick could have resulted in a needless yellow card.

Ludicrous boos from handful of @sarcens fans. Hit from @ChrisAshton1 was a yellow card all day long. Endorsed by @matt9dawson @btsportrugby

— Martin Gillingham (@MartGillingham) October 18, 2014

If Stuart Lancaster, who dropped Ashton for the Six Nations, can trust his concentration, then the Saracens man could be well-placed to earn a spot in the matchday 23. However, that is a big if.

Marland Yarde, 22, is the man in possession of the left-wing jersey following his two tries in the three-match series against New Zealand in June. That took his tally to four tries in five matches following his brace against Argentina in 2013 (see video above).

Yarde was singled-out for high praise by Sir Ian McGeechan, writing in The Telegraph, in his season preview:

Marland Yarde is one of my players to watch this season. Quins will be the perfect environment for him. He will be one of England’s wingers this season, and he can develop his relationship with full-back Mike Brown at club level while getting a good understanding of his defensive responsibilities.

Yarde may have only scored twice since his move to Harlequins, but the club’s director of rugby, Conor O’Shea, was quick to praise his attitude, something Stuart Lancaster looks very favourably on. As per The Telegraph, O’Shea commented:

His professionalism has been unbelievable. He was ill during the week but he had been watching our training online and he sent me a text asking me about a play we had run during the session. That to me says a huge amount about a bloke and where his mind is at.

Yarde is not in the form of Rokoduguni, Wade, Strettle or Ashton, but he does offer England continuity and an excellent international strike-rate. His power from the left wing could balance the trickery of the right-wingers who are under consideration.

Jack Nowell started every match in the Six Nations, but he only crossed the whitewash once, in the 52-11 drubbing of Italy.

Nowell is a whole-hearted winger, but his enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of him. In the Six Nations, he was guilty of giving away penalties or kicking away possession when England were well placed. Put this down to naivety. As Paul Hayward, wrote in The Telegraph after Nowell’s debut against France:

Nowell still smiles as he talks, which is a sign of his youth, his good nature and his refusal to be discouraged by those forensically reported errors early in his debut against France in a 26-24 defeat in Paris last Saturday.

And why should he be disheartened, despite fumbling the ball from the kick-off, which led to France’s opening try after 29 seconds?

For his 65 minutes on the field, Nowell was England’s leading ground-maker, with 87 metres (Alex Goode was next, with 69). He was second on the tackle list to Tom Wood, a flanker, and third on the chart for ball-carries with 10, behind Billy Vunipola (17) and Chris Robshaw (15).

Unfortunately for Nowell, England cannot wait for the 21-year-old to mature. He has a great attitude but lacks the X-factor of Wade or Rokoduguni, the finishing of Strettle or the support lines of Ashton.

Jonny May also struggled in the Six Nations. Against Ireland, poor body positioning cost England an early try (see video above). In such a close match, the outcome could have been decided by such minor details. For a winger, such errors severely blot the copybook.

As per Irish Rugby, Jonny May beat the second-most defenders of any player in the Six Nations. The problem is that he beats them sideways rather than running forwards. If metres gained were measured as metres run with the ball, May would have fantastic stats. But there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics.

England ran in 14 tries in five matches, per ESPN, but one stat that does not hide anything is the number of tries May scored: none.