[2023 Six Nations] England Squad

[MarkyH]

Ah no Ted Hill. That's sad, been great for Bath since joining them.

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

No Anthony Watson? Is he injured?

 

[MarkyH]

1. Genge, 2. George, 3. Sinckler
4. Isiekwe, 5. Itoje
6. Willis, 7. Earl, 8. Dombrandt
9. JvP, 10. Farrell
12. Kelly, 13. Daly
11. Murley, 14. Freeman, 15. Steward

Rodd, Walker, Heyes, Chessum, Simmonds, Youngs, Smith, Mallins

That was a struggle to pick, I don't mind B Curry coming in at 6/7. Don't mind Chessum or Lawes at 6 either. Farrell is going to start. Kelly has to have a chance to make 12 his own then I wanted pace and creativity outside that, but I'm also a fan of Marchant and Slade. Was tempted to put Tuilagi on bench. But for once a XV and replacements I'm struggling to pick.

 

[TommiG88]

No Anthony Watson? Is he injured?

Went off injured a couple of weeks back, haven't paid attention since

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

With my Worcester head on would've liked to have seen T Hill and Ollie Lawrence in there but this is a good squad

With my Bath head on, same.

 

[Geordie]

01. Genge
02. George
03. Cole
04. Itoje
05. Hill
06. Lawes
07. Earl (but Willis will have a good shout)
08. Dombandt

09. JVP
10. Farrell

11. Freeman / OHC
12. Kelly
13. Slade
14. Murley
15. Steward

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Really disappointed at no Ted Hill. He'd have been my starting 6.

But with Ludlam, Willis, Earl and Curry all in there, perhaps Borthwick isn't as obsessed about a huge lineout 6 as we all thought. He won't have picked all 4 of those just to be 7 options.

No Lawrence is disappointing; I'd have had him over Marchant. But I don't see Marchant getting much game time anyway so I suppose the point is a bit moot.

Otherwise, pretty happy. Borthwick won't take any **** when it comes to set piece so hopefully he can go some way to sorting out Mako's scrummaging and if not, I can't see him lasting in the squad for long.

Edit: is May injured or has Borthwick just dropped him? Pretty big call to not even have him in the squad.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

No Lawrence, No Hill, Mako over VRR....i give up...

Most positive England fan.

 

[Reiser99]

Also got to remember that Borthwick is limited to the number of changes outside of injuries so not as simple as just picking who he wants.

 

[Geordie]

Most positive England fan.

Some good selections in the squad but once again genuine quality and form is ignored in certain areas.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Edit: is May injured or has Borthwick just dropped him? Pretty big call to not even have him in the squad.

Started for Gloucester this weekend, so gotta just be dropped

Not mad at it tbh - always been a fan of May, and he had that run of being absolutely incredible under EJ, but think it's time to look at the youngsters now

 

[Reiser99]

Overall, happier than I expected to be. However, while the selection overall is a positive for me it more depends on other areas.

Will the team selection be balanced and work together? I still always felt that Jones was selecting players first and then worried about positions and tactics. Want to see a team that looks right from 1-15.
Will we see the basics executed correctly? Some stuff in the Autumn was abysmal. I don't care about sparkling attacking rugby yet, I want players doing to basics to a high standard.
Will we see some flexibility and players adapting to the game around them? This is where I am disappointed because I don't think Farrell is a good leader when it comes to changing tactics and adapting to things going wrong. However, that may have been a by product of EJ's coaching.
Will we see players looking like they care? Too many just seemed to be turning up and not giving their all.

I'd love us to win a GS before the world cup, but if we can at least win 3 and look competitive against France and Ireland I'd take that as a minimum.

 

[TopTen2003]

Staggered that Farrell gets the captaincy- he has been a major reason with Youngs as to why we play such a good awful slow tempo predictable game in the back line.

Faz at his best is a very good player but I'm not sure he's anywhere near his best, hence not only should captaincy be questioned, but also his place in the side.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Started for Gloucester this weekend, so gotta just be dropped

Not mad at it tbh - always been a fan of May, and he had that run of being absolutely incredible under EJ, but think it's time to look at the youngsters now

No I'm not mad at it either but it's a very bold call to go with 4 wingers who have ~10 caps between them.

OHC, Freeman and Murley all fully deserving of being there though. I'm really unconvinced that Malins has the goods at international level but I'm open to being proven wrong.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

No I'm not mad at it either but it's a very bold call to go with 4 wingers who have ~10 caps between them.

OHC, Freeman and Murley all fully deserving of being there though. I'm really unconvinced that Malins has the goods at international level but I'm open to being proven wrong.

Maybe Daly starts there...

Honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Daly and Steward start and interchange at wing/fullback

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Maybe Daly starts there...

Honestly wouldn't be surprised to see Daly and Steward start and interchange at wing/fullback

I wouldn't be surprised by that and honestly, I wouldn't hate it.

I don't know that it would work, but I'd be curious. Steward's great but there are weaknesses to his game; I'd like to see more passing/playmaking from him. Having Daly rotate off the wing and into the 15 slot where he could fill that playmaking role during phase play could work well.

 

[LIONSxv]

Overall the squad is an improvement. I am however worried about the lack of X Factor type backs. I would put Lawrence, Radwan, Watson and Arandall in this category.
We should of binned Young's years ago but he would seemingly be our starting 9
It would appear that will start a lock at 6 , which has been a weakness as opposed to a strength. Particularly as we have played 3 locks and our lineout has still been out played !
Ted Hill and Ben Curry must wonder what they need to do to get called up. Both of them on Fire
Tom Willis over Simmonds for me too
Mako is another strange one

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ben Curry must wonder what they need to do to get called up.

Ben's been called up!

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I have to see it this way to make sense of it.

LH Prop
Ellis Genge
Mako Vunipola
Bevan Rodd

Hooker
George McGuigan (Gloucester Rugby, uncapped)
Jack Walker (Harlequins, uncapped)
Jamie George

TH Prop
Dan Cole
Kyle Sinckler
Joe Heyes

Locks
Ollie Chessum
Nick Isiekwe
Jonny Hill
Maro Itoje

Blind Side
Courtney Lawes
Ben Curry

Open Side
Ben Earl
Jack Willis

No.8
Alex Dombrandt
Sam Simmonds

All Back row - Lewis Ludlam


Scrum half
Alex Mitchell
Jack van Poortvliet
Ben Youngs

Fly Half
Owen Farrell
Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
Marcus Smith

Inside Centre
Dan Kelly

Outside centre
Henry Slade
Manu Tuilagi
Joe Marchant

Wing
Max Malins
Tommy Freeman
Cadan Murley (Harlequins, uncapped)
Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish, uncapped)

FB
Freddie Steward
Elliot Daly

Initial thoughts are who starts at 6 & 7, that will be key and who starts at 12. With only Dan Kelly being the proper 12 in the group will we see Manu or Farrell (or even Slade seen as a 12. Hopefully we get some tactics which match the selection, you can create quite a few good teams from that squad.

For me i'd have:

Genge Georege Sinclkler
Itoje Chessum
Lawes (but probbaly Isiekwe) Earl
Dombrant

Jack VPF Farrell
Kelly Manu (torn between slade and Manu)
Freeman Malins
Steward

Hopefully that's enough experience and new faces and then ease in some of the new caps on the bench.

 

[Geordie]

Also got to remember that Borthwick is limited to the number of changes outside of injuries so not as simple as just picking who he wants.

There's 5 changes plus any injury related changes..yes very true