Aside from the one game plan issue. I think this push to make more “hybrid” players with the idea of bringing depth, is watering down the specialist skill focus.
The odd one is the insistence on trying to turn one of the best wingers on the planet into a middling centre who barely gets ball in hand. I'm also not a fan of how he's set the back row up (and that one has been a problem for a long time) with both Underhill and Earl showing today both their strengths and the limitations they bring. Earl played well but, as with picking Spencer, if you play him at 8 you force yourself into either playing a game that suits him or him being their purely for his defensive work. Today mostly turned into the latter other than for the few minutes where we pushed a few holes at the gainline. He is a very good defensive option but if you aren't going to let him carry however he likes and deal with the consequences (i.e. build your play around supporting him) you take away most of what makes him an international player. As has been the case many times, in many sports, I think we might be a better team without him, despite him not really doing anything to deserve to be dropped.
