Fly-half conundrum leaves England with a difficult choice over Owen Farrell or Toby Flood Two of the three players I am talking about are in Saracens colours, and I will talk first about the man who has decided to stop playing for England and is on the bench: Charlie Hodgson. Throw stones if you will, drag up memories of Ma's Nonu dismantling him physically, but he is the greatest passer of the ball off either hand that England have produced over the past 20 years. Mentally his game wasn't as strong, and at times his goal-kicking demons further complicated his state of mind. Often coaches picked some daft back lines around him. He's not perfect and he wasn't always helped. But ask him to pass and he is effortless, smooth, balanced and always on the money. His international retirement has enabled him to relax even more, and Saracens are benefiting. Firing passes short or long, left or right. In front of men, behind decoys, almost always in the slot. He started this season at 10 for Saracens and has been the man in control of the team and the jersey. But he is no good for England and the irony is that his resurgence has complicated matters for the national team's fly-half and saviour of last year. Owen Farrell is the second component of England's perfect fly-half but he was out of position joining the game in the second half at 12 last week at Sale and will find himself playing there again should Hodgson come on in the second half as expected. Mentally Farrell is a rock. Never takes the field believing in anything other than a victory. Never takes a backward step. Eyeball to eyeball, elbow to face if needed, the hardest of hard edges. Thrown into Six Nations action he carried England for two games, he inspired the team around him to throw themselves forward, to hunt line speed, which from fly-half is almost unthinkable. In Paris, Edinburgh and Rome, cities where you have to earn your touring spurs, he was heroic, bleeding, taped up, hitting anything that moved. As a bonus his goal-kicking was nerveless, keeping the scoreboard ticking over. These attributes set him apart, but there's always more than one way to win a game and while he brings a lot, England also sacrificed a fair bit when he was playing. That's why we need the final special ingredient that is Toby Flood, Leicester's fly-half. I have long felt that his natural position may have been at 12; lean, tall, comfortable in traffic, with the confidence to take contact and offload. Of the three players he is most confident going to the line, taking his backs with him, varying his pace and keeping all his options open. He has a rare spatial awareness of what is on for those around him. And if those options run out, he goes on his own and links well with his scrum-half and back row. Toby stands tall in the contact and looks to get the ball away rather than die with it. He loves a diagonal dart off quick ball as wounded buffalo forwards find themselves stranded opposite him. He plays the attacking threat at 10 better than the other two, he is more of a runner. He brings everyone into the game, sees things early, varies his depth. Charlie used to run until his knees packed up and his armchair got too comfy. Why run when you can pick your runners with his expert delivery? For Farrell this is his missing link, the area he needs to work on; his awareness of alignment and what is on for others and how best to bring it out. Look at the statistics of last season at club level and England's quandary comes into clear focus. Hodgson started 13 Premiership games at 10 and his team scored 26 tries. Flood started 14 games and his side scored 48 tries. Farrell by contrast started seven games and his team scored six tries. So do England go with a player who can attack and is less strong in defence and might miss some kicks? Or do they pick a safer choice in terms of defence and three-point winners, and sacrifice some of their attacking edge? There is still a long way to go to the first Test, and other players can always force their way into the reckoning. But based on past form and performances, England's choice seems to be either or. Unless of course the best fly-halves in England use Saturday afternoon to start doing a very good impression of each other.