England 2021/22

[Reiser99]

Big difference between Smith and Quirke is that Smith has proven himself extensively at club level. Quirke looks fantastic, but he hasn't had a whole season as the no.1 player in his position and shown he can cope with the pressure. I'm sure he could, but he's still too fresh to completely be thrown in the deep end at international level like that. Smith has proven himself and so I think should start with the experience behind him.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Big difference between Smith and Quirke is that Smith has proven himself extensively at club level. Quirke looks fantastic, but he hasn't had a whole season as the no.1 player in his position and shown he can cope with the pressure. I'm sure he could, but he's still too fresh to completely be thrown in the deep end at international level like that. Smith has proven himself and so I think should start with the experience behind him.

Smith's proven himself at club level but is still finding his feet internationally so Youngs makes sense for now. 6N tends to be more about game management than the showreel stuff so if Smith does get the nod we should get a pretty good idea if he's putting down a long term claim on the shirt.

 

[Jimbo]

Smith's proven himself at club level but is still finding his feet internationally so Youngs makes sense for now. 6N tends to be more about game management than the showreel stuff so if Smith does get the nod we should get a pretty good idea if he's putting down a long term claim on the shirt.

Let's be honest Smith has risen to every challenge thus far and more than proven himself, I don't really see too many others putting their hands up, Faz let's face it has simply **** the bed more often than not recently, Ford is in great form but not a long term option, but the two do seem fairly interchangeable without really changing the game plan, then there is Simmonds but he hasn't proven himself anymore than Smith and is almost always behind a dominant pack, IMHO Smith would need to have a real dip in form for any real reason to be excluded.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

2022 AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES
England v Argentina Sunday 6 November 2022
England v Japan Saturday 12 November 2022
England v New Zealand Saturday 19 November 2022
England v South Africa Saturday 26 November 2022

RFU

www.englandrugby.com

Not a bad schedule, that

 

[EdBirch]

Very tasty indeed

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

We should get a pretty good idea of where we stand with that set of games.

 

[Goodey]

2022 AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES
England v Argentina Sunday 6 November 2022
England v Japan Saturday 12 November 2022
England v New Zealand Saturday 19 November 2022
England v South Africa Saturday 26 November 2022

RFU

www.englandrugby.com

Not a bad schedule, that

It's mint

We haven't played the All Blacks as much as we should have in these series (and probably played Australia too much)

One issue is that according to the Beeb, the SA game is after the international window, so that one might be a bit weird.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

England: Owen Farrell, Jamie George & Manu Tuilagi set to play in Six Nations

England are expected to have captain Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Jamie George available for the Six Nations following injury.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Manu back just in time to get injured during the 6N and us never see him again <_<

I think they should take it slow with Farrell, maybe keep him in rehab for a few more months...

George a big boost though, autumn showed us the Hooker stores a pretty bare atm (should never have let Ashman look north)

 

[BiggusLaddus]

I think they should take it slow with Farrell, maybe keep him in rehab for a few more years...

Agreed.

 

[Mr Burns]

George a big boost though, autumn showed us the Hooker stores a pretty bare atm (should never have let Ashman look north)

I don't think they're that bad, LCD and George are great and then you have a number of promising young guys behind such as Blamire/Dolly/Singleton/Oghre before getting to guys like McGuigan who could do a job.

I see there's some talking up of Collier by the papers as a potential bench TH prop due to his form this season, reasoning being that if you want a pure scrummager he's the best available in the PL as Stuart's form has been patchy. He did ok on the Argentina tour in 2017 but whether Eddie sees any benefit in a prop who doesn't massively contribute outside the scrum I don't know. Still feel he jettisoned Brookes too soon as he was excellent for Wasps the past few seasons before he went to France.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I don't think they're that bad, LCD and George are great and then you have a number of promising young guys behind such as Blamire/Dolly/Singleton/Oghre before getting to guys like McGuigan who could do a job.

Blamire had a really poor autumn,
Dolly is good but nothing about him really screams international (yet? Still very young)

Oghre is nowhere near international level - Singleton has a lot of the skills needed but it's hard to wash away the taste of sine of his actively-throwing-the-game-away level performances

Whilst I'm more than happy to see guys get game time from the bench, having George in the rotation improves our side massively, especially as it feels like LCD picks up injuries with increasing frequency these days

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

George is the only one I'd really like to see back in the side for the 6N

Farrell - Don't want him in the side at all
Tuilagi - Still feel he has a place but has got to prove fitness before running out for internationals. I feel we also need to look more at our gameplan without him as we just can't rely on him being available.

Which of course means we will miss George and Tuilagi and Farrell are rushed back in...

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I see there's some talking up of Collier by the papers as a potential bench TH prop due to his form this season, reasoning being that if you want a pure scrummager he's the best available in the PL

If he's our best scrummager he should be starting, not benching.

 

[Scotty]

Faz will go straight in at 12, as he will be obsessed with smith faz together

 

[TW27BA]

Faz will go straight in at 12, as he will be obsessed with smith faz together

I really hope not, but we all know EJ thinks the sun shines out of Farrell's backside, whatever his form.
Like players and captains before him, Owen has had his day and when he's in the side, he holds us back.
I don't wish ill of the man, but I never want his name mentioned with regard to England again.

EJ has shown he can be brutal in dropping players nearing the end, Robshaw, Haskell, etc. Can he possibly show the same treatment of Farrell?
I highly doubt it.

 

[BPM]

Blamire had a really poor autumn,
Dolly is good but nothing about him really screams international (yet? Still very young)

Oghre is nowhere near international level - Singleton has a lot of the skills needed but it's hard to wash away the taste of sine of his actively-throwing-the-game-away level performances

Whilst I'm more than happy to see guys get game time from the bench, having George in the rotation improves our side massively, especially as it feels like LCD picks up injuries with increasing frequency these days

Did he?

I thought he was fine coming off the bench in the first two games and then held his own vs. the Boks.

Oghre is a very good rugby player. I'm just not sure his basics are up to scratch and he's a bit small.

Singleton has been good for Gloucester. His move to Saracens was a disaster, but I think he's come back well.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Farrells been a dead weight for England for some time now. Don't want him back at all in the 6 nations and if he doesn't show improved basics then I don't want him back ever.

Farrell and Youngs together is like playing in slow motion. Just too slow for this level.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Did he?

His lineout was awful - imo setpiece work trumps absolutely everything else when it comes to forwards,
I know I'm in the minority for that these days, but there we are


Singleton does look better at Gloucester than at Saracens, but I remember him pretty much single handedly losing Gloucester the game vs Exeter with his lineout throwing (3 in a row on the 5m that went awry?) - so it's the same as above, really.
Can't trust the set piece: no thank you

 

[BPM]

Harsh. I'd agree Blamire's lineout throwing was sub-standard for an England hooker, but I wouldn't say it was awful. Don't forget he was up against a side who pride themselves on the lineout. Even if you're an experienced test hooker, that must be pretty intimidating.

I also value set-piece ability above how a hooker does in the loose, but I don't think you can say Blamire 'had a really poor autumn' purely because his lineout throwing wasn't brilliant. That dismisses everything else he did which just isn't a fair reflection of his performances.

That doesn't mean that I don't regard the lack of strength in depth behind George and LCD as a concern though. The fact that Blamire rarely starts for Falcons suggests that he probably shouldn't be 3rd choice for England. With Montoya back, you could say the same about Dolly.

Prior to this season, I thought Tom Dunn had been hard done by. He was playing well and was a good 'nuts and bolts' hooker and a good defender. I'm not sure whether his alarming loss of form is a Bath thing or individual, but it's probably a moot point as it appears Eddie never really rated him.

I would have capped McGuigan before now, but if the rumours of him heading to Munster are true, that ship has probably sailed.

Jack Walker has started well at Quins and as a former age-grade England captain may yet make good on his early potential. He's another who seems a little bit shonky from a lineout POV though. It's serviceable but a noticeable step down from Baldwin.

Leftfield, but I wonder whether Dan Frost can build upon the great start to his Wasps career? He seems to have a good set piece game and is great around the park.