Are you trying to out 'Elliot Daly' me, knave? I challenge you to a duel!
Careful, or I'll go full fanboy and start banging on about how he should be our starting nine after he stood in there for Wasps a few weeks back!
But as has been said, he's ridiculously deserving of a spot in the EPS and I think most of us are assuming he'll be there.
Now, for a little rant before I go off to play rugby in the rain. We've had a lot of chat about how many young outside backs have appeared recently. In fact its not just TRF who have noticed this. Earlier in the week the Torygraph ran a piece on Charlie Walker not only noting that he is both young and full of potential but that he is just one of a growing number of new 'talent'. If you think about it he have Walker (21), Elliot(21), May (23), Nowell (20), Watson (19), Daly (21), Wade (22) and Yarde (21). Even if you exercise some healthy scepticism in thinking that while all of these guys have potential, some of them will never quite deliver on it (hence the inverted commas around talent earlier) thats still a pretty good selection of fullbacks and wingers, with a few guys who can play outside centre throw in.
However I think looking at this list shows just how badly the continued selection of Ashton and Brown/Foden on the wings has hurt us. Obviously in the short term it was galling because we had, and continue to have, much better options than them on the wings. However it has also put the spanner in the works of what, for now, I'm going to call the wing 'production line'. Ideally by now we'd have Wade and Yarde established as out two wingers, something I think most of us believe they are capable of being. That of course we leave the others competing for places in the EPS, pushing themselves to get into the team and acting as injury cover. The problem is that that hasn't happened. Wade and Yarde are still relatively unproven on the international stage while the others are stuck on the fringes. Not only does this hinder England in the long term (both for 2015 and beyond) but it also means that when we have injuries like we will this 6N we're going to end up falling back on boring, unambitious selection out wide.
This has probably all occurred to you but I thought I'd say it anyway.