Martin Johnson Thinks England Are Hugely Lacking In One Key Area

Depth.

World Cup-winning England captain Martin Johnson believes their is currently a serious lack of depth in English Rugby, and has used the arrival of Brad Shields as proof.

New Zealander flanker Shields has been poached from Super Rugby side the Hurricanes, after it was discovered he was eligible to play for England through his parentage. And he now looks set to be fast tracked into Eddie Jones’ side for their South Africa tour next month.

“We should be producing more top-end players,” Johnson told The Times.

“I don’t know what the answer is. There’s more people employed in developing rugby talent in this country than ever before – so why is it not coming through? It is a concern. We don’t seem to have the depth.

“Who’s this guy they’re signing from New Zealand?

“My answer is: there’s a reason they’re doing it [bringing in Shields]. This has been coming for a while. Eddie’s doing it because he obviously doesn’t think he’s got enough talent in England.

Johnson says he is not offended by Shields’ arrival, but rather worried the current state of English Rugby as a whole.

“It doesn’t offend me. It is worrying that he doesn’t think the players are in this country. We should be producing the players to have an international squad and be able to cover the natural unavailability. We don’t seem to have that depth at the moment.

“Guys like Sam Simmonds, Sam Underhill – get in and get injured. You want to see those guys. South Africa will be great for them if they can go and play there.

“I have been worried a while – where are the next players? If you have a team that’s going well and they play until they are quite old, by definition, the next generation are not coming through, not getting a chance.

“I’m sure some people would say they are but that they are not getting a chance to play because the Premiership clubs are just bringing in foreign players.”

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