How does it still stand? He has played badly/sub-par in whatever jersey he has pulled over his head. And it's not just the set-ups he has been involved with, you can see in him a player bereft of belief in himself.
Frankly I think that there's not much to trust in because I don't personally believe the coaches are going all out to win this game - I think they know Burns is part of our future plans and they're using the cover of a much publicised depleted squad as an opportunity to try and force Burns into some form. Whatever the score-line, the press will just talk about how England were playing their reserves anyway, so it does give them an opportunity to do what they want.
Whatever hat you put on, the choice of Burns over Cipriani is not a defensible one based on form, and by all accounts Cipriani has impressed in training. There is no reason why Burns should be ahead of Cips except perhaps with the long-term view as outlined above.
As for Jon Callard, I've been saying for a while now that there's something not right there. I don't have much concrete evidence for him being a poor coach but certainly given the resources - the fact that England's second string should really be world top 2 considering our player base - he has performed poorly.
