Anthony Watson has more to offer England at full-back than Mike Brown, according to former Bath and Lions' number 15 Matt Perry.
Speaking on the latest edition of The Offload, Perry, who was capped 36 times for England, put forward his case for Eddie Jones to select Watson ahead of Brown in the number 15 berth.
"So much of the game now is counter-attacking and Watson's [got the] ability to get into the space," said Perry.
"He's got so much pace that he can go wide, he can come off the 10, he hits the blinds well and he just has that lasting pace to get in behind defenders and I think he can develop as well.
"But Brown, he runs great lines but straight lines! Watson can run in and then deviate and offload very quickly, which makes it very different."
Debate over the future of the England full-back position has been stirred by Watson's recent performances in the number 15 shirt for Bath, most pointedly his eye-catching two-try performance in Bath's 26-21 Champions Cup victory over Toulon at the weekend.
And with one eye on the World Cup in Japan in 2019, Perry said: "The one thing for me is he [Brown] is 32 and by the World Cup he'll be 34, and I just think he's losing that pace. I mean you look at New Zealand, they have Olympic standard pace on the wings and at full-back.
"I just think Watson's ability to get into the space and score tries supersedes Brown. World Cups are big tournaments, who would you want scoring a try in a World Cup final or creating an overlap? At the moment I'd want Watson."
Making the case for the incumbent Brown, former England star and Sky Sports pundit Will Greenwood said Perry was playing fantasy rugby.
"I still think when you are looking at a back three and your individual firepower, no question, he's one of England's best attackers," said Greenwood. "But so is Elliot Daly, so is Jonny May, so is Jack Nowell.
"But in terms of balance, one of your back-three players has to have total command of the air. The ball must never hit turf, must absolutely dominate that aerial contact and with it you can control the backfield. I don't care what you say, the best in England at that is Mike Brown."
When asked if there was a better defensive full-back in England right now than Brown, Perry said: "Probably not, but he [Anthony Watson] is working on it. Nothing has shown me since he's come into a more solidified position of full-back at Bath that he is defensively weak.
"He's getting better at communication and if you think about it, as a full-back you need to have two players backfield who are marshalling the backfield and I just think he is getting better and better in that area."