The professional game changes, and quickly. The players involved have a huge amount to do with that due to the way they have evolved as physical machines but the game has also adjusted.

Nowhere is this change more obvious than in the centres. It is frightening to see the power that the modern day player has, and not just those shaped like Manu Tuilagi. Jonathan Joseph and Elliot Daly are two immensely powerful players in their own right and are competing ferociously for the England No.13 shirt.

England coach Eddie Jones chose to play a ball player -- Owen Farrell -- alongside Joseph in midfield against Scotland last weekend, giving his side the ability to play in different areas of the field and find space quickly and effectively. Most centres in recent years have had good hands and an ability to run with the ball but this role has certainly changed and become a key focus for coaches when developing play.

Having played as a fly-half I know how hard it can be. One second you are looking for the ball as it is fired in your direction from the breakdown, next you are assessing the game situation, attempting to pick the correct option, all while assessing who is running at you defensively.

Gone are the days when the 10 was the complete general, his information comes from a variety of sources including the centres outside him. He needs more help in a game where decision-making time is disappearing.

You often see teams lining up with a ball player next to the fly-half at the set piece. In these situations players are encouraged to 'forget the number on their back' as their strengths are used to fit into the attacking system. If you want to go to the width then you need to hold the midfield defence by fixing it not with 'decoys' but with genuine running threats.

Your scrum-half and fly-half are probably the only two who are confined to their roles. Having two different types of centre gives a team more options to go to. Take Jamie Roberts, for example.

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Roberts' job description is fairly simple; run as hard as you can and as straight as you can at the defence. It is an invaluable tactic for Wales and so, so simple. Roberts 'sits down' defenders and not just in contact but by 'sitting down', I mean he rocks them onto their heels, holding the defence, causing it to be stretched elsewhere.

He will get the ball on occasion and if he is coming that fast and with the power he possesses you don't want to be anywhere but in the correct position. Tuilagi would fulfil a similar role for England, as Robbie Henshaw does for Ireland. The clash between him and Roberts on Sunday was shuddering.

I like what Jones is trying to do though. You can't have one decision maker and a back line full of runners. You need more than that. If you have two runners in the centre, there is not enough ability to get the ball into the right areas when needed. Guile, game understanding and an ability to read what will happen next are required.

Look what happened to England when they had Henry Slade playing before and during the Rugby World Cup. England looked dangerous with a control that allowed them to move around the field well. I see those performances differently to the last game of last year's Six Nations when England beat France 55-35 and threw caution to the wind in an attempt to snatch the tournament.

A Ford-Farrell axis is something similar to what Jones would have if Slade were fit. Similar, but not the same. You could have George Ford, either Slade or Farrell, with a runner filling the other spot in midfield. What number they wear doesn't particularly bother me. Put them where they suit the team best for set-piece situations. Once one phase has passed it's all on anyway.

Sides will very rarely go from touchline to touchline due to the defence being able to fly up and cut the attack down. However, that option is made more possible -- as are kicking options -- when there is a ball-playing centre who is one space further out. One pass (from first receiver to second receiver) brings the defence forward and means the second decision to be made after the pass can be made more clearly; the defensive weakness is more visible.

Someone of Slade's ability a bit further out would be great to see. Even though he didn't get the opportunity that much with England, I know Jonny Wilkinson enjoyed that second receiver role too as it allowed him to use his playmaking skills in situations which have a yard and a second more space and time.

Ford is the future for England at fly-half even though he is struggling for the form he showed in this championship last season. Farrell has experience and can fill the second receiver role well, which was shown in Jack Nowell's try at Murrayfield.

Ford passed to Mako Vuniploa who actually did something many props wouldn't and gave Farrell the ball on a run around. Farrell then drew one defender into the other and gave the ball to Nowell in space. That is exactly the shape that Jones wants to cut open defences, and it worked.

There is also no doubt that Ford will enjoy having another kicking option on the field next to him. It allows time and breathing space when he knows there are other people to take the ball.

I would stick with that same axis this weekend against Italy. Murrayfield wasn't the time to start shifting the ball all over the place, the breakdown was the mess that Scotland wanted and you certainly don't continue with Plan A if it's not working. Switch to Plan B -- at least we now have one.

This pairing might not be for the long term but it allows England to get used to a new style with two guys who can play.

Most players who are in with a shout of playing for England in the centre are also good defenders and can tackle. Defence is something the side must do but is more simple to get right than the at-tack.

Games are won through scoring tries. We need to flip the 'defence wins games' mantra on its head. I know what coaches mean but it sends the wrong message - go out and win a World Cup or a Six Nations, don't defend for your lives not to lose it.

England have the capability to play with Ford, Farrell, Joseph and Daly and should back them-selves to do so. It will be interesting to see how that evolves over the next couple of months.