By Zinzan Brooke Former All Black

England drop Dawson

Thanks to a large coincidence I was with Matt Dawson on Monday after he was kicked out of England's elite squad for missing a training session.

In fact I was on Matt's team filming A Question of Sport, which was the reason he could not make the session.

One thing I can tell you is that he is determined to win his place back.

I can understand where Andy Robinson is coming from.

As he has just taken over as England coach on a temporary basis he is trying to show a bit of muscle.

But I have to say my sympathies are with Matt because he had agreed to film the shows before the training sessions were arranged.

Dawson keen to make his mark

I think at the moment England need someone like Matt Dawson because they're not blessed with that much experience.

They have now lost six England captains since the World Cup and they need someone like Matt to cement the team because these are difficult times for England.

I think the decision to drop him is a little bit dictatorial and it could have been managed better.

It will produce a lack of harmony in the squad and they should have managed the situation more subtly because it is a long season.

The session was right at the beginning of the campaign - it's not like it is the day before a World Cup final - and it is a poor way to get things started.

I doubt it would have been too strenuous on Monday.

Robinson on England hold

I imagine they would have been talking about technical stuff and what they were going to be doing in the future, rather than getting involved in anything too physically intense.

Matt could probably have attended the morning session and then flown up to Manchester to do A Question of Sport - that might have been more sensible.

Now Dawson's out you have to look round and ask who else is there? In my mind Dawson is still England's number one scrum-half.

Andy Gomarsall is a good player but he's no Matt Dawson, and without either Dawson or Kyran Bracken to push him there is a danger his standards could slip.

If Dawson gets left out for the autumn Tests he will have to work very hard to get back.

But if Robinson does recall him before November it will make the acting coach look quite silly, so why drop him in the first place?

It would make a bit of a nonsense of the decision.

I think they should have talked it out and come to a more sensible conclusion - it is an overreaction.