The underrated Mark Cueto's international retirement is sad news for English rugby

Mark Cueto is a player that wouldn't feature in any one's all time Rugby Union XI. Some would say he hasn't even got a case for being anywhere near an all time England XI.

But today Cueto spoke of his acceptance that he has played his last game for England, and for many England fans this is a sad piece of news as one of our most underrated players hangs up his international boots.

Whilst Cueto claimed he'd never give up on his country, the evidence is clear to see that battling his way back will be nigh on impossible with Ashton, Strettle, Sharples and even an out of position Foden favoured under Lancaster's regime.

When you then look at the Saxons squad and see the names of Biggs, Benjamin, Wade and Monye, one still remains absent, even in the second string.

During his debut season in 2001/02, Cueto's impressive record of 16 tries in 29 club games for Sale Sharks catapulted him to the attentions of the England setup. However deemed to lack the all-round game to suit the nation, it was another 3 years before Cueto finally got the call under Andy Robinson.

Any worries that Cueto would not be up to International level were quashed within his first 10 games where he scored 9 tries against quality opposition such as Australia, South Africa and Scotland. Domestic success also followed with Sale as they won the European Challenge Cup twice and The Premiership with Cueto playing a key role. Cueto was beginning to look unstoppable and was one of the best wingers in the world.

But then came the drop in form. Soon after 2006, Cueto's game changed and the prolific scoring started to slow drastically. As Cueto put it in interviews 'The all round game improved but I was scoring less tries'.

As he developed greater strength and footballing ability the pace seemed to diminish, with many people believing that his game was no longer up to the top level.

Brian Ashton, who had by this point taken over from Robinson, thought differently however and showed faith in Cueto as he started all of their pool games in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

No tries were scored but most expected Cueto to retain his place in the knockout stages after some solid performances but he didn't get another opportunity until Josh Lewsey's injury in the semi-final gave Cueto the chance to redeem himself in the World Cup Final against the heavily backed Springboks.

England started positively, keeping the scoreboard ticking along gently with the accuracy from the boot of Johnny when out of the bloom an England attack reached Cueto to cross the line in the corner for a try! England celebrated, but the stadium remained quiet. Had Cueto stepped out of play before touching down? The replays were shown to the world and to this day it remains a controversial decision not to have given the try.

Cueto could have been a national hero, remembered with the same fondness as Wilkinson is for his drop goal against the Aussie's.

Ask the person on the street who Cueto is now and the likelihood is you'll get a blank unless you're speaking to a member of the Rugby community. After the disappointment of 2007 Cueto went on to pick up more caps under Martin Johnson but he was clearly a shadow of his former self which has lead to his phasing out.

Cueto will have his critics largely based on his performances in his latter years but 20 tries in 55 games, along with selection for the British and Irish Lions is something that should be applauded

image: © unofficialenglandrugby

Connor Jipps

@Cjippsmore stories from Connor Jipps

I'm a young writer and strong supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. Alongside writing for HITC I currently have my own Spurs blog at www.tottenhamtodareistodo.blogspot.co.uk where I discuss all matters Spurs. My writing style is focused on engaging the reader in a debate as opposed to reporting, so I hope you'll find my articles to be of interest.