Twelvetrees gives Lancaster selection dilemma

England coach Stuart Lancaster admitted he had been given a selection headache after Billy Twelvetrees made an impressive debut in the Calcutta Cup triumph at Twickenham.

Gloucester centre Twelvetrees powered over for a second-half touchdown as England ran in four tries and fly-half Owen Farrell kicked 18 points in the 38-18 triumph against Scotland.

Now Lancaster must decide whether to stick with 24-year-old Twelvetrees for the crucial clash against Ireland in Dublin next Sunday, when star centre Manu Tuilagi is expected to have recovered from injury.

Lancaster said: “It is a big step up for any player to make his debut, particularly at Twickenham.

“We are delighted with the way (Twelvetrees) took it to get the try but his confidence and composure has been good all week. It shows he is ready to make the step. This time last year we had seven players making their debuts and with Billy making his we have a young side. We are bringing on 20-odd-year-olds and it is great for us as a squad.

“There are a few selection debates to be honest. Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes did well when they came on. (James) Haskell was outstanding. Across the board and with Manu (Tuilagi) coming back into consideration there will be some selection decisions to make.

“We need to knuckle down to what will be a massive game against Ireland.”

Lancaster said: “People underestimate how much it takes to pull together a cohesive team. Over the last 12 months we’ve had some ups and downs but we have learned as we have gone.

“The last two weeks have been invaluable in going over the lessons we learned in the autumn.

“We felt prepared going into the game and while we are not satisfied with everything I thought our cohesion was excellent and it has given us a foundation to go into Dublin.

“Clearly we will have to (step up for Dublin). Ireland are an outstanding side. They have quality players across the board so it is a big step up.

“We need to make sure we are ready mentally physically and mentally and technically.”

Disappointed Scotland interim coach Scott Johnson admitted his side were outplayed.

He said: “We were disappointing in the areas we need to work on.

“We can dream away about how we’d like to play the game of rugby but the reality is in the modern game, if you don’t get the contact area right, you can dream all you like, it’s fantasy, fairytales won’t come true.

“We lost the battle of field position because of our inability to stop them. So the contact area, with and without the ball, was poor. Simple.”

“That’s all you can do. Can’t dress it up. Dad always used to say: ‘if it looks like a pig, it’s a pig’.”