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England 2021/22

Sounds like Nic Dolly has picked up a bad knee injury. Sad news for him, but surely opens the door for McGuigan? Hate to say this for Dolly, but could be a good thing for England.
 
BPM said:
Sounds like Nic Dolly has picked up a bad knee injury. Sad news for him, but surely opens the door for McGuigan? Hate to say this for Dolly, but could be a good thing for England.
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honestly not sure I would say that a 22 year old getting an injury that will prob see him out till prob Christmas (if it is as bad as it looks) for a 29 year old as that much of a good thing.

I certainly think McGuigan would be excellent 3rd choice potential but very much wait and see.

That being said Blamire needs to look at moving because at 24 he's better than people give him credit for.
 
It's a silver lining kinda situation if it means McGuigan gets a proper crack - age doesn't matter this close to the world cup, as long as they're gonna still be playing by then - but realistically that ain't gonna happen - Blamire is definitely in EJs good books, think we'll tour with George starting and Blamire bench, McGuigan (or whoever gets called in for Dolly) third

I saw that Baxter reckons LCD might be fit to tour though, so he will if he can walk and that's shunts the third choice out of the equation
 
You're probably right. Blamire is definitely in favour and McGuigan would likely need to leapfrog him in order to be 3rd choice.

Personally I think McGuigan is comfortably the 3rd best option with the most well-rounded skill set so I'd like to see him get a chance. Who knows? If he shows up well in this camp and plays well against The Barbarians, he might well get a tour spot.

Blamire might be the better player in the long term, but I don't think he will be by next October and I'd argue that's what is most important right now. LCD is fairly injury prone so we need a reliable 3rd and 4th choice who we'd be happy to become 2nd and 3rd choice if needed.
 
Launch injured?

Rather Ribbans was getting a look.

Google says Richards is a lock/6. Very Eddie.
 
Ribbans is injured. Hasn't played since April.

Richards is out of left field, but he's quite a promising player. Way too many Bath players involved now though. Madness considering the season they've had.
 
Old Hooker said:
Much as I've been a fan of Slade, the 13 discussion should now be starting and finishing with Marchant. Been consistently impressive for some time and not just the highlight reel stuff.

Inside, well whisper it quietly, but it looks like Farrell has rediscovered some form.
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Any 'form' Farrell may or may not have, is at 10 with a beefy pack. This 100% does not mean he can play 12 not that he's actually even a good 10. He's still not a well rounded player.

Notwithstanding the above, I really don't know who else they play at 12 though as Manu will 100% be injured.
 
Old Hooker said:
And let's just move the conversation on from Manu.
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Why? He's easily the best option we have - like head and shoulders above anyone else
If he's fit he tours and he starts

He's injured a lot, sure, but you still have him there on the off chance he can string a few games together
 
He's 31 with a horrendous injury record (unplanned substitution due to a tight knee at the weekend). Most of his best international rugby was several years ago, even as far back as a decade.

I've not seen that much of him at club level recently but when I have there's been the odd standout moment, but he's seldom been the dominant figure over the course of a game that the mythology suggests.

If he's fit, and that's a huge IF, then it's a bonus and there's a role for him, maybe from the bench. But history clearly tells us that we shouldn't pine for him or build a team or game plan around him. And there's also no point in looking for like for like replacements because we don't have them.
 
Old Hooker said:
He's 31 with a horrendous injury record (unplanned substitution due to a tight knee at the weekend). Most of his best international rugby was several years ago, even as far back as a decade.

I've not seen that much of him at club level recently but when I have there's been the odd standout moment, but he's seldom been the dominant figure over the course of a game that the mythology suggests.

If he's fit, and that's a huge IF, then it's a bonus and there's a role for him, maybe from the bench. But history clearly tells us that we shouldn't pine for him or build a team or game plan around him. And there's also no point in looking for like for like replacements because we don't have them.
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But when fit, he's still the best option, even at 31 and with a horrendous injury record. His best intl rugby may have been and gone, but he's still better than anyone else at doing what he does, and by miles.

If he's fit, play him and he will be a point of difference every time
 
Not Mike Brown's Sock said:
But when fit, he's still the best option, even at 31 and with a horrendous injury record. His best intl rugby may have been and gone, but he's still better than anyone else at doing what he does, and by miles.

If he's fit, play him and he will be a point of difference every time
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For me let him rest over the summer so he can try and stay fit as long as possible. He can easily slot in for the world cup as he's that good. Instead use the next two tours and Six Nations to find alternative combinations in the likely event he is still crocked and so we don't get to the world cup going "Well Manu's ****** again, now what do we do?"
 
Reiser99 said:
For me let him rest over the summer so he can try and stay fit as long as possible. He can easily slot in for the world cup as he's that good. Instead use the next two tours and Six Nations to find alternative combinations in the likely event he is still crocked and so we don't get to the world cup going "Well Manu's ****** again, now what do we do?"
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This is fair - fundementally, a team should be able to have more than one game plan to go to anyway
 
Not Mike Brown's Sock said:
But when fit, he's still the best option, even at 31 and with a horrendous injury record. His best intl rugby may have been and gone, but he's still better than anyone else at doing what he does, and by miles.

If he's fit, play him and he will be a point of difference every time
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I recall when he was a year or 2 on the international scene and England's gameplan revolved around "give it to Manu". At that time we played some of the most stodgy, turgid rugby we have for years and the ball very rarely reached the wings. Not a fault of his but I think this mythical status of his damages teams more than helps them if the whole gameplan ends up revolving around his presence. He should be a nice to have in an otherwise well functioning system rather than someone we simply must throw back in the second we can.

Personally I'd prefer we moved away from using him and, when we do, as a bench option. He'd be naturally approaching the tail end of his career anyway. Nonu was 33 when he got his last cap and I'd say he was far more integral to the NZ team than Tuilagi has been to us.
 
Ollie Lawrence has come back from his long injury playing well. Not a like for like with Manu, but hes been carrying hard etc. Maybe hes got the bit between his teeth now.
If he's fit maybe theres a place for him on the tour.
 

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