Australia vs England - 3 Tests - June 2016

[welshglory]

Good to see player welfare being considered with Underhill and Owen Watkin as examples.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

http://www.englandrugby.com/news/marler-pulls-out-england-squad/

Joe Marler has pulled out of the summer tour, deciding instead to take a full summer off and uninterrupted preseason.

Fair decision after the last couple of seasons I think.
Who'll start at loosehead then?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Makes sense,
I hope Mullan gets a decent shot.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Good effort, Joe... I hope Eddie's well-wishes are sincere.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Good effort, Joe... I hope Eddie's well-wishes are sincere.

Eddie doesn't come across as the sort to say something he doesn't mean

 

[ratsapprentice]

Let's hope so.

 

[Peat]

Vunipola would be next cab off the rank but I'd be quite tempted to promote Mullan to the starting berth and let Vunipola continue to be impact sub. 50-50 on that one.

Eddie doesn't come across as the sort to say something he doesn't mean

That's quite the opposite of the way he's come across to me - Eddie says what's right for the occasion, not what's right.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Mako will be next in line to start at loosehead. But I question how much he will have left in the tank if, and I expect, that Sarries reach and win the Aviva Premiership final.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

EPS
Vuni
Mullan

Saxons
Hepburn
Genge

?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Alex Waller will be in one of the squads.
I'd be surprised if Genge made the Saxons considering the amount of top flight rugby he's played, and the dark clouds over his Bristol exit (Eddie, apparently, talks a lot to club coaches about players and he's not well thought of down there) - has played well, and if he has a good playoff run then you combine that with Marler being unavailable then he could well be on the plane to SA

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Alex Waller will be in one of the squads.
I'd be surprised if Genge made the Saxons considering the amount of top flight rugby he's played, and the dark clouds over his Bristol exit (Eddie, apparently, talks a lot to club coaches about players and he's not well thought of down there) - has played well, and if he has a good playoff run then you combine that with Marler being unavailable then he could well be on the plane to SA

Tigs Man always has a tigers bias so he probably doesn't mean Genge whose had less top flight rugby than Will Greenwood this year!

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Only saying that considering Waller is snubbed from the Wider training squads despite not being in the top 4.

Also said he wants the Saxons to be players who are 5th and 6th choice.

Assuming
1) Marler
2) Vunipola
3) Mullan
4) Waller
5) Hepburn
6) Auterac (Injured)

I can't think of that many players after those who would be considered development players @ LH esp those still in the top 4 maybe McIntyre would be a good shout.

Also RE Genge and Bristol I don't know what happened there but cockers seems to really like him soooo.... and Eddie seems to want players with a bit of fight.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Smart move from Marler. I'll bet half the squad would love to do likewise.

I hate the idea of Ollie Le Roux style specialist subs, but I can see that becoming Mako's role in time. He just never seems quite the same player with 1 on his back, but I think he will start down under. I'd have no probs if Mullan started, but Waller might be interesting to see. It would be a wasted trip without the odd experiment.

 

[j'nuh]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/36326560

Is it right for Jones to be taking sides?

I want a coach who will pick the player, not the club. I was hoping Jones might put aside his past at Saracens when taking up the role...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Don't see any issue with that,
You'd expect the England coach to want the English side that's stacked with England players to win.
It's not like he's commenting on Saracens vs Wasps, or anything like that.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Yeh nothing wrong in that for me.

Eddie will have plenty of time with the sarries players after this weekend though.

 

[ratsapprentice]

No idea what you're referring to when you say he's "taking sides".

 

[j'nuh]

No idea what you're referring to when you say he's "taking sides".

Hoping that a particular team wins/dominates seems to suggest that he has taken their side.

What I was hoping for with a SH head coach (or any head coach really) is someone who would come in with a completely fresh and professional perspective, that would judge the players purely on their playing abilities, rather than which club they played for.

So far, Jones' record has been to appoint a Sarries-heavy coaching team, with a lot of Sarries in his team and has now stated he wants Sarries to, in effect, dominate. What I want to know is whether this sentiment comes from his time as the Sarries coach. Does he have a bias towards the Sarries, and will this cause problems at a later date?

atm, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. The Sarries players in the England team generally deserve to be there, and probably account for some of our better players. And he did drop Barritt completely. And he did win the grand slam, and has proven successful so far. Still, I suspect having a Sarries bias may not always go so smoothly for Jones, if/when Sarries aren't performing particularly well.

 

[ratsapprentice]

"It's winning habits. Hopefully we will see the same with these Sarries players,"

Players, not the team.

 

[j'nuh]

Seems to be a fairly clear subtext to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯