To be honest i think it's pretty difficult to say that attempting to rely on Care and Youngs is a good idea given how horribly inconsistent they have been throughout their international careers.
They are almost as bad as 36 in that regard.
The only conclusion I feel it is sensible to draw regarding those 3 is that they aren't as good as we think / previously thought they could be. There's no other legitimate conclusion for players who are so consistently inconsistent.
Ben Youngs is the worst really. He's the kid with the older brother, who bosses people around until you meet the older brother and find he's really not that terrifying at all... Youngs will, until the end of his career, will continue to look one of the most exciting scrummies around when his pack on top, and the most clueless when the pack struggle. Yes, true to some extent of most scrum halves, but the more significant point is that Youngs retains zero influence in these situations, whereas Murray could exert the sort of control to get his team back on top. However, I don't think there's an answer for England except to stick with Youngs until the next generation come through. Wigglesworth looked sharp today, but that doesn't make him the right man to start games, necessarily.
If anyone has brainwaves regarding what England's gameplan today might have been, please PM me, because I'd be delighted to hear theories. For example, our kick-offs made no sense, insofar as they were uncontestable and allowed Zebo to run it back from deep. I don't think Ford had a good game today to be honest, though he wasn't helped by those around him. There's no point beating about the bush; I rate Ford hugely and he'll bounce back, but it's dishonest to pretend sometimes having such a small guy at 10 doesn't make a difference in defence.
@goodNumber10 is right about this issue in general, as it was clear to see Ireland make ground every time they ran at Ford today.
We know that most teams have a guy they rely on disproportionately; for Ireland that's Sexton, as we've seen. For Wales, that's Halfpenny and arguably Roberts. I'm starting to think that for England, that's Mike Brown. No way on earth would Ireland have scored that try with Brown at the back. Guscott actually made a good point when saying that Mike Brown actually 'attacks' the high-ball - he lands and is already on his way past defenders. Goode on the other hand, is static and aims purely to catch the ball. England have come to depend on go-forward ball, and Browns ability to beat the man is key. Goode doesn't have that, and for my money if Lancaster and co can't spot this they need better analysts / eyes.
Our execution was pretty poor and Lancaster can feel angry at this, but at the same time if he can't see the deficiencies of certain players he has only himself to blame.
