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<blockquote data-quote="Leonormous Boozer" data-source="post: 1218832" data-attributes="member: 45598">It&#039;s old but I think most will still be available in 2027 of those not retiring. Henshaw, Aki, Furlong and Bealham are my biggest worries but provided not all of them don&#039;t make it I&#039;m not massively worried. I said after the last world cup that 2031 will be our next realistic chance to have a proper top side going into the competition like last time though and I stand by it. We had a bit of a talent drain for awhile and there&#039;s very few players in the 26-29 age range but then had 5 good 20s teams in 6 years from 2019 to last year 20s, the best of those are currently in the match day squad or on the peripheries. Could see us having the oldest squad at the next world xup and one of the youngest at the following one.My biggest worry is that the game might have changed that players need to be playing regularly with their clubs from 20 onwards, this has never been an issue before but if you look at the age profile of recent Feench sides maybe the learning curve has become so steep that being eased in isn&#039;t optimal. Then again, the French side could be so young because there&#039;s no shortage in talent and we&#039;ve only seen the first wave of a golden generation and older players burn out sooner with higher demands.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Leonormous Boozer, post: 1218832, member: 45598"] It's old but I think most will still be available in 2027 of those not retiring. Henshaw, Aki, Furlong and Bealham are my biggest worries but provided not all of them don't make it I'm not massively worried. I said after the last world cup that 2031 will be our next realistic chance to have a proper top side going into the competition like last time though and I stand by it. We had a bit of a talent drain for awhile and there's very few players in the 26-29 age range but then had 5 good 20s teams in 6 years from 2019 to last year 20s, the best of those are currently in the match day squad or on the peripheries. Could see us having the oldest squad at the next world xup and one of the youngest at the following one. My biggest worry is that the game might have changed that players need to be playing regularly with their clubs from 20 onwards, this has never been an issue before but if you look at the age profile of recent Feench sides maybe the learning curve has become so steep that being eased in isn't optimal. Then again, the French side could be so young because there's no shortage in talent and we've only seen the first wave of a golden generation and older players burn out sooner with higher demands. [/QUOTE]

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