Topsy Ojo column: Mark Atkinson should fill Manu Tuilagi void for England in Ireland Six Nations clash

It isn’t too difficult to put your finger on why England aren’t scoring as many tries as they want to right now.

On Saturday, they really struggled to get quick ball and that was a combination of their carriers not doing enough in the collisions and Wales being very clever in their defence. A combination of double tackles, holding the carrier up and then pressure in the breakdown meant England couldn’t get the ball speed they desperately needed.

During the week England probably based a lot of their game plan around having Manu Tuilagi, but going forward they really need to identify the style they want to play when he isn’t there.

If they want a big, ball-carrying 12 then they need to find two or three players that can do that role, or they need to tweak their game plan because more physicality is coming when they take on Ireland and France.

England are at a crossroads. Either they build a team without that ball-carrying 12, or they start to blood two or three players who can do that role - not just Manu.

The issue is, for that physical style, outside of Manu who are the options? Mark Atkinson was given a quick run in the autumn and then left out of the most recent squad for the Wales match altogether. There are some injured centres too who could be options going forwards, such as Ollie Lawrence.

Mark is the obvious candidate though. He has been in the squad during this Six Nations and has been playing really well for Gloucester. He has got that carrying threat, but he can distribute as well as offload through contact.

I think right now he would be the closest replacement to Manu if that’s what England want.

After the first three rounds of the Six Nations, and given what lies ahead, I would say why not put Mark in? England are going to need front-foot ball against Ireland with their blitz defence and definitely against France.

They are going to need to make some tweaks and that might mean adding size elsewhere too, not just in the centres.

England, aside from Manu and Mark, don’t have much size or power left available to them right now when it comes to the backline. Dan Kelly at Leicester Tigers is still young, but he’s one who could do that job in the future.

You could look to bring in Ollie Hassell-Collins on the wing to add some size, or Adam Radwan for more speed and footwork.

But Ireland and France are two big games and neither have really had a look in so far. Joe Cokanasiga filled that big winger void last summer, but he’s only just come back from injury.

It means you are probably looking at the forwards as a way to bring some size to the team and that ball-carrying threat.

If it was me, I would put Courtney Lawes back in the second row and start Alex Dombrandt and Sam Simmonds in the back row. I would also look at involving Joe Launchbury and Alfie Barbeary in some way.

I would get Atkinson into the centres, because you have got a two-week build-up now to the Ireland game.

Get him in the training camp, tweak whatever you need to get him up to speed, and basically say: “Right, this is yours now. You’ve got two games back to back to really show you are the man to take us forward.”