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Stuart Barnes has taken a swipe at Wales by claiming Warren Gatland’s team are built to win the Six Nations and “not a lot else”.

The former Lions and Bath outside-half urged new England coach Eddie Jones not to go down the Welsh road and instead pick high-risk players like Chris Ashton and Danny Cipriani when the Australian names his squad for the European title race in less than 48 hours time.

Read more:WRU reject claims Wales will be without four of their World Cup stars for the pivotal summer tour to New Zealand

“If England aspire to greatness, talents such as Ashton and Cipriani need welcoming into the Jones era,” Barnes wrote in The Times.

Comment:

“If England set their sights on something less ambitious, say a team like Wales, bred to win Six Nations and not a lot else, they are probably luxuries that Jones can do without.

“What are England’s ultimate ambitions? The extremist opinion wants the old guard out, the new in with a long-term vision for World Cup glory in Japan. The more conservative element will settle for one game at a time.”

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Barnes called on Stuart Lancaster’s successor Jones, who guided Australia to the 2003 World Cup final and Japan to the biggest upset in the history of the tournament when they beat South Africa in last autumn’s tournament, to pick potential game-breakers like Saracens wing Ashton and Sale Sharks outside-half Cipriani, despite worries over their defensive capabilities.

“Where is the ability to beat opponent in a phone box that Nehe Milner-Skudder, the New Zealand back, possesses, or the brute finishing power and exquisite running lines of Julian Savea?” asked Barnes.

“These are the standard-bearers against whom internationals should be measured.”

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Barnes compared Ashton’s running lines, tracking of the ball and timing to them and praised the vision and ability of Cipriani to unlock defences.

“A person capable of shaking the game up like a kaleidoscope is worth a punt on an eight-man bench,” he wrote.