Former England and Lions star Guscott is a BBC rugby union pundit

It was another exciting weekend of European action but it was not a good few days for England, who have lost their entire first-choice front row for the November internationals.

Jerry casts his eye over the limited options available to boss Martin Johnson in this week's Q&A.

He also gives his views on the gap between the northern and southern hemispheres, the potential boost the Olympics will give women's rugby and how to lift the chins of a struggling under-12s side, among other topics.

If you have a question for Jerry you can submit it by using the form in the top right-hand corner of the page and he will answer as many as possible next week.

With Lee Mears, Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery injured, who would be in your front row for England in the Autumn internationals?
Ash, England

Well, this is my field of expertise!

To be honest I don't think it's too difficult to pick the replacements. The hooker position is between Dylan Hartley and George Chuter and I think they'll go for the former.

Chuter is a bit smaller and after the problems Lee Mears had in South Africa I think coaches will go for the bigger, bulkier hooker.

When it comes to the props I'm going to go against my usual train of thought, which is to go with youthful potential.

International rugby is about winning and even though he is 36 I think Julian White will be the tight-head because he can still lock out the scrum and cause people problems, with Tim Payne on the loose-head.

Once you get past these guys I'll freely admit that as a former centre I'm out of my comfort zone because the front row is a different world and long may that continue, but I think Bath's David Flatman is worth a mention for a possible recall.

Do you think that by putting rugby sevens into the Olympics, the female game may now become a more recognised sport?
Katie Richards, England

There can be no better shop window for the women's game as the whole world will be watching.

Players like England's Sue Day will get to play on the highest stage

It's a great platform for female rugby players to say to the world 'this is a great game and we also love playing it. We have got the skill and physicality to do so'.

The England women's team has done very well over the past few seasons, reaching the World Cup final and winning Grand Slams, and it is a great chance for them to shine on the world stage.

I'm all for equality and I look forward to watching more women's rugby.

How big is the gap between the northern and southern Hemisphere sides? Is it any closer than five years ago? Also, how do we get more competitive with them and start turning them over on a regular basis? How long do you think it will be before this happens?
Dave Morgan, Wales

The Lions tour is a good measure of the gap between the two hemispheres.

I know the Lions is a combined team but it showed that as a group of nations were are getting closer to the southern hemisphere teams.

Not since England in 2003, and the preceding couple of years, has a northern hemisphere team dominated the southern hemisphere teams and that is something I have been looking for Wales and Ireland to do.

The defining moment for these northern hemisphere teams will be when they go away and beat South Africa, New Zealand or Australia.

Wales and Ireland are already good enough to beat them at home more often than not and I'd like to think they'd be massively disappointed if they didn't.

Would it not be beneficial to the game to consider stopping the clock on scrums if it goes down first time, and then have 'time on' when the scrum-half moves the ball? This has been mooted and would stop the blatant time-wasting by forwards and scrum-halves alike. Do you think referees should free-kick scrum-halves more when they don't feed a perfectly good scrum and just hold onto the ball? It's very annoying!
Sean, UK

This is a ridiculous idea, not because it isn't a problem - I agree with Sean that it's annoying - but because it is one that needs to be sorted out by better refereeing.

The problem with the suggestion is that if you stopped the clock it would just give the front rows more time to wrestle and mess about.

As my BBC TV colleague Brian Moore pointed out in his newspaper column, 16-25 minutes per game are taken up with scrums, but the buck has to stop with the referee.

If we get to the stage where the referee has had enough and starts awarding penalties, then so be it.

What we want is 'crouch, touch, pause, engage'. Then in goes the ball and on goes the game - referees should make sure before kick-off that teams know what he expects.

As for the second part of the question, yes I do think referees should free-kick scrum-halves more when they don't put the ball straight into the scrum - it's very simple to referee and should be refereed much harder.

What's the best way forward for that most electric of talents, James Hook?
Owen Lucas, Wales

Hook may have to move clubs if he wants to play fly-half

If Hook wants to play fly-half then he will have to leave the Ospreys because Dan Biggar is playing very well.

He's the younger man and he's consistent because he's not massively adventurous - he's a good steady number 10 and if anything he's going to improve.

Cardiff would bite Hook's hand off to play him at 10 because they're struggling in that position, in fact lots of sides around the world would love to have him at 10.

If the Ospreys carry on winning then he may learn to enjoy playing at inside centre - he's a skilful enough player to play 10, 12, 13 and 15.

If he wants to concentrate on one position and it's 10 then he won't get that chance at the Ospreys unless Biggar gets injured or loses form.

You recently commented that a modern centre needs to be able to break the gain line when discussing James Hook. Where do you think you would fit into the modern game?
Josh Matthews, USA

I think I'd still play outside centre. I suppose I could be targeted in the modern game because my playing weight wasn't spectacular - 85 to 90kg or 13½ to 14 stone - but I think my speed would allow me to still play OK.

I look at the modern game and there's props and second rows, and even some slow back rowers, in the defensive line.

They should be easy pickings and I'd relish the opportunity to face them - I'd definitely fancy my chances.

If I was playing now I wouldn't want to be any bigger than I was then, because there is a balance between weight and speed and I thought I had it right - I didn't want to get any bigger because I didn't want to lose any speed.

When it comes to defence you can compensate - just don't tackle head-on. Tackling is all about technique and you can use the attacker's weight to push them any way you want.

Can you give us any advice on lifting Lydney under-12's? We have a squad of 20 players but we need a lift and would appreciate any encouragement from yourself because the team have played their first two games and received a bit of a thumping. How do you keep their heads up at this tender age?
Gary Imm, Glos

Lydney aren't too far away from Gloucester and they should ask for some help from the Premiership club.

They should try and get some of their high-profile players along to offer some encouragement.

Coaching's never easy at any level if you're not winning, but you have to keep training upbeat and exciting and keep the enthusiasm there.

Look for those tiny improvements and when they do come you've got to praise the team and the individuals.

I would write a letter to Gloucester asking is there any chance of sending along Mike Tindall, Lesley Vainikolo or Carlos Spencer to give us a little training session? That would certainly boost their confidence.

Lee Byrne is now ruled out of the autumn internationals. As the Welsh injury list grows should we turn to experienced international players or bring in the younger players? Also, would having Stephen Jones at 10 and James Hook at 15 work out well?
Nick Charlier

606: DEBATE Join the discussion on Jerry's Q&A here JS

There's been a lot of talk about the Scarlets' Daniel Evans, who is still only 20, as a possible replacement for Byrne.

He did well on the summer tour of north America and scored at the weekend and could be the right choice to replace Byrne.

The question you have to ask is 'where are you Gavin Henson?' He could easily slot into that 15 shirt.

If they don't go with Evans then they could go with Leigh Halfpenny or even Hook, but I would go with Evans.

I much prefer someone at full-back who plays in that position rather than chucking in a winger, although Hook and Halfpenny certainly have the ability to play there.

At the weekend Stade Francais' big centres out-jumped Nick Abendanon and while Halfpenny is a good footballer you could take advantage of that height difference.

Has the time come for Ronan O'Gara to be looking over his shoulder with regard to his long-standing reign as Irish fly-half? Surely with his recent under-powered performances and the excellent form of Ian Humphreys and Jonathan Sexton he'll be pushed very hard to retain the green shirt in the coming weeks? Mo, Edinburgh

He is certainly being pushed by Sexton and Humphreys is playing well for Ulster, but I can't see O'Gara being dethroned this season unless he plays unbelievably badly.

He's a consistent player and he'll be looking to get back into that Ireland jersey and putting behind him the last international he played in Sough Africa because that's a memory that needs erasing.

Why do you feel that Harry Ellis, almost set in 2007 to be England's next long term scrum-half, doesn't seem able to get back to his best? Also, now that his defence is getting better and more consistent, what are your thoughts on Noah Cato? Bryan, England

Ellis has struggled to hit the heights of a few years ago

Ellis, who is out of action with a knee problem once again, hasn't been the same player since he injured his knee before the World Cup in 2007.

Before then he was undoubtedly the best scum-half in England but now he's got big competition because Danny Care and Paul Hodgson have both emerged.

It is difficult to choose between them but right now I would pick Hodgson for England.

The reasons for Ellis not quite hitting his previous heights must be a little bit physical and a little bit mental.

As for the second part of the question, I've been impressed with Cato, he's got some good wheels. He's been OK this season - he hasn't done anything amazing - but he will have caught the eye of the selectors.

It has to be said there are a lot of good wingers around these days.

I know Graham Henry has advocated a penalty should be reduced to one point, so what are your thoughts? Personally, I think a try should be six points, conversion one point, penalty kick in opposition half one point, penalty kick from own half two points and drop-goal to remain at three points. I believe the emphasis really needs to be toward a team scoring tries.
Jeremy, Whitchurch, Cardiff, Wales

I like things the way they are. There's not a lot wrong at the moment, and that includes the points system.

You should be penalised heavily if your team is negative and kills the ball so three points is correct for a penalty.

The reason why I disagree with changing the points system is that if refereeing was consistent the game would be more open and freer anyway.

They need to control the breakdown better and not be afraid to use the yellow card - they have to be tougher.

They should tell teams beforehand about what they are going to be strong on and at the first infringement with a player slowing the ball down in his own 22, even if it's the first minute, he's got to go.

Don't even give him a warning. It should be a case of 'you know the rules, you know the way I'm going to ref it, come back when you want to play properly'.

While some of Jeremy's ideas are trying to encourage teams to score tries, the laws pretty much allow for that as they are, provided the game is officiated firmly.

Do you think allowing rucking would assist quick ball?
Lee, England

I want to launch a campaign on bringing back rucking. It should be allowed back into the game, provided it is carefully refereed.

There are some players who flop on to the wrong side of the ball and they should be rucked out of the way.

The emphasis is on the tackled player to get out of the way - there is nothing wrong with helping him out of the way.

There are effectively three referees refereeing the game now, with the assistants, so it should be possible at every breakdown to check the rucking.

Anything below the shoulders is fair game. Of course you don't ruck the head, that would be ridiculous, but it would free ball up a lot quicker and I don't see why rucking shouldn't be in the game.

This is where I think the lawmakers have got it wrong because if you spoke to most rugby players, I believe 99% would like rucking back in the game.

As the 2009 year nears an end who would be your World Player of the Year nominations so far?
George, England

The players who have caught my eye so far this season are the two South Africa fly-halves Ruan Pienaar and Morne Steyn, and the whole of the Ireland team, although if I had to pick one I'd go for Tommy Bowe.

He's continued where he left off last season and been very consistent.

There is no doubt in my mind that when it comes to the player of the year nominations there should be at least one Irishman nominated.

Jerry Guscott was talking to BBC Sport's James Standley

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