It may come as no surprise but those sides with the most settled selection seem to be performing the best in the tournament so far.
And while this may be because we are approaching the end of the often cited ‘4-year World Cup cycle’ where many teams have stopped their experiments and cemented their starting XVs some sides are still glaringly lacking selection clarity.
Scotland v Wales on the weekend is probably the starkest example of this. While there are many reasons for the recent Welsh downfall, coming into the game with five changes to Scotland’s one clearly had an impact on the impressive 28-point win.
Same goes for the latest Scottish victory in Twickenham where a settled side in Scotland came up against a new look English XV.
Often the word to best describe Scotland and particularly Ireland this year has been cohesiveness. Much of this may be down to the well-established Glasgow and Leinster cores to the sides but the synergy of their performances begins with consistency in selection.
Coaching changes for England and Wales has clearly had a bearing on this, as Gatland and Borthwick search for their style and best side but persistent talk of selection changes in a squad can often unsettle the side. Especially in Wales where an overhaul in being mooted.
In contrast there is little doubt what the starting sides will be for Scotland, Ireland and France next round.
This is also the case historically that some of the best sides in the world had settled selection. I could likely name the starting XVs for all of England 2003, South Africa 2007, New Zealand2015, Wales for 2005 and 2012 Grand Slams. And while this may be because the names are etched into history, it is also because these sides had consistent selection throughout their success.
Borthwick looks like he may finally have found what his best side looks like. But now only seven months out from a World Cup, those sides with both consistency in qperformance and selection look like the safest bets to go far this spring and beyond.
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