Rugby Union: It seems to me that allowing tactical substitutions in internationals is potentially the most important of all the recent changes

Rob Andrew recently wrote in another newspaper that he did not see the point of having Jonathan Davies on the substitutes' bench. A player of Davies's stature and experience, Andrew went on, should be either in the team or out of it. I hesitate to disagree with someone who is very nearly Davies's equal as an outside- half, but I do.

It may be that Andrew is too close to the problem. He puts himself in the position of Davies and imagines that Jack Rowell has asked him to shadow Paul Grayson (restored to the England side against Scotland), on the bench. Presumably he would not like it one little bit. I cannot say I would blame him.

Davies, by contrast, seems perfectly happy to act as Arwel Thomas's rugby uncle. In the game, he has done everything, as indeed has Andrew. In fact, Andrew has done more: he has played for the Lions. This is Davies's one remaining ambition. If the Lions' manager, Fran Cotton, has any sense, he will take him to South Africa in the summer, whether as an outside- half, as a full-back or as a utility threequarter.

I do not, however, want to discuss the composition of the Lions party at this stage, but rather the question of substitutes. It seems to me that allowing tactical substitutions in internationals is potentially the most important of all the recent changes. It makes the coach or manager even more influential than he is already.

To a certain extent, admittedly, tactical substitutions have always been made, ever since substitutes were allowed. A player who was not performing well might suddenly go down with a mysterious injury to his ankle. I have even seen an out-of-sorts kicker being replaced by someone else who, by happy chance, is also able to take pot shots at the posts.

Such subterfuges will no longer prove necessary. At any rate, one hopes not. Against Scotland, Davies came on as an old-fashioned substitute for Scott Gibbs, who had injured his ribs. Considering the damage Gibbs had inflicted on the ribs of assorted Scotsmen, this was justice of a kind. But Kevin Bowring, the Welsh coach, also substituted Craig Quinnell for Mark Rowley and Gwyn Jones for Colin Charvis.

I should have expected the last change at least to be reflected in the team to play Ireland. Last season, after all, Jones was - with Ian Smith, now restored to the Scottish side - regarded as one of the best open-side flankers and a virtual certainty for the Lions. And Charvis, though he has had several impressive outings for Wales, did miss a gift of a try against Scotland, when he knocked on (or rather, simply spilled the ball) with no one to impede his passage to the line.

Whether players who, like Charvis, have borne the heat and burden of the day should be penalised for one mistake is an arguable question. I tend to take the unsympathetic view that only the front five forwards should be exempt from the obligation of being able to catch the ball in reasonable circumstances such as those in which Charvis found himself. Even this concession may be out of date in these more stringent times.

Manifestly, Bowring does not take this stern view. He has retained Charvis against Ireland and picked an unchanged team, with Davies, Jones and Craig Quinnell back on the bench. After his marvellous display at Murrayfield, Thomas's retention was inevitable and right. But Wales are very fortunate to be able to put Davies on the field in his place if things go wrong, as they did in Dublin last season. They are even more fortunate that Davies is prepared to accept this situation with fortitude, equanimity and even a degree of cheerfulness.

Substitutions can also be used deliberately to introduce new players to international rugby. Five I would nominate are Huw Harries and Nathan Thomas (already capped as a substitute) for Wales, and Will Greenwood, Austin Healey and Alex King for England.

England's equivalent of Jonathan Davies is Jeremy Guscott. Whether he is taking it so equably I rather doubt. He certainly has reason to feel piqued. He is the finest centre England have produced since Jeff Butterfield or, if you count him as a centre rather than a wing, since David Duckham. Yet Rowell is not only failing to pick him in his best position, outside centre: he is also picking two inside centres in Phil de Glanville and Will Carling. I am afraid I cannot always keep up with Rowell's mental processes.