England 2025/26

[Rugbyfan564]

Fin Smith: Losing England 10 shirt hurts

Fin Smith admits he has found slipping down England's fly-half pecking order tough to take, with George Ford the first-choice 10 during the autumn Tests.

www.bbc.co.uk

Henry Pollock: Jamie George on England's 'brilliant idiot'

Jamie George says England team-mate Henry Pollock is a personality without precedent in rugby and a "genuinely fascinating" character.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Geordie]

Im curious to see where SB is going with the ten spot.

Fin needs to be nailing down that spot really and we then need the back ups with enough caps to be comfortable if they are called upon.

But Ford isnt going away just yet and what to do with a Marcus.

 

[Scotty]

Im curious to see where SB is going with the ten spot.

Fin needs to be nailing down that spot really and we then need the back ups with enough caps to be comfortable if they are called upon.

But Ford isnt going away just yet and what to do with a Marcus.

I think it's as simple as George is first choice(rightfully IMO but not massively if you get what I'm saying), Fin is second but not a utility and is the least experienced. Marcus is 3rd choice FH but first choice utility back who is primarily a FH,

Fin needs to be patient and learn from Ford as he will be first choice no doubt as likely will start to overtake Ford/Ford will retire. I hope he picks up gametime in the 6N though as if Ford gets injured it hurts us.

 

[Which Tyler]

I think it's as simple as George is first choice(rightfully IMO but not massively if you get what I'm saying), Fin is second but not a utility and is the least experienced. Marcus is 3rd choice FH but first choice utility back who is primarily a FH,

Fin needs to be patient and learn from Ford as he will be first choice no doubt as likely will start to overtake Ford/Ford will retire. I hope he picks up gametime in the 6N though as if Ford gets injured it hurts us.

Yup.
Ford is currently our best FH, so he starts.
Fin is currently our 2nd best FH, but he doesn't provide any utility options from the bench - he could come back into the frame with either a 5:3 bench split, an injury to Ford, or a run of form that moves him ahead.
Marcus is currently our 3rd best FH, but provides cover at FB, making him an option for a 6:2 bench, an also provides a difference is SB needs to change things up. Still requires a lot of mid-match shuflling if he has to come on for an injury though.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Lots of reports suggesting Will Stuart will miss the whole 6N. Big shame if he does but massive opportunity for Heyes and AOF in particular.

 

[Which Tyler]

Lots of reports suggesting Will Stuart will miss the whole 6N. Big shame if he does but massive opportunity for Heyes and AOF in particular.

Yup, sounding like an Achilles rupture.
Remains to be seen if complete (ala Lawrence) or partial.
If complete, then 9-12 months. OL taking 6 months was a miracle.
Classically, you'd expect acceleration to be the biggest strain on an Achilles, but propping is going to be well up there, may risk being career-ending.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'm not confident AOF will be back by then,
Due back in early/mid January but with the predictions for Roebuck and Carpenter being way way out...

Who's next in line? Fasogbon?
He wasn't very good for England A

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'm not confident AOF will be back by then,
Due back in early/mid January but with the predictions for Roebuck and Carpenter being way way out...

Who's next in line? Fasogbon?
He wasn't very good for England A

Think big Trev will be ahead of Fasogbon as an option to actually get game time. If 2 of Stuart, Heyes and AOF were fit then Fasogbon would probably make the squad ahead of Trev as a development option. But with someone being needed to come in and fill the 18 shirt, Davison will likely get the nod IMO.

 

[Scotty]

Not watched a second of Champions or Challenge Cup as i refuse to pay for Premier Sports.


Who is stepping up, pushing for or proving why they have their place for England?.

Shame about Stuart.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

From the games I've seen: no changes in pecking order

Good to see Furbank getting more minutes - he still looks rusty but plenty of time to knock that off

Didn't watch the Saracens game but apparently Daly was very good

Bamber's efforts in Sale's loss were pretty crazy, think he made 35 tackles? Would love to see him make the EPS for the Six Nations but at a minimum another A game start needs to be on the cards

Enough 10s are playing well enough that we really should be binning C.Atkinson off

 

[Scotty]

From the games I've seen: no changes in pecking order

Good to see Furbank getting more minutes - he still looks rusty but plenty of time to knock that off

Didn't watch the Saracens game but apparently Daly was very good

Bamber's efforts in Sale's loss were pretty crazy, think he made 35 tackles? Would love to see him make the EPS for the Six Nations but at a minimum another A game start needs to be on the cards

Enough 10s are playing well enough that we really should be binning C.Atkinson off

What kind of lock is he?

 

[Which Tyler]

Not watched a second of Champions or Challenge Cup as i refuse to pay for Premier Sports.


Who is stepping up, pushing for or proving why they have their place for England?.

Shame about Stuart.

1 match isn't going to change pecking orders, but Ojomoh and Arundell went pretty well in terrible conditions, of the edge-of-squad players.
Spencer majestic, in a way he never shows in white.

SAtkinson and Blake not doing themselves any favours this afternoon

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What kind of lock is he?

Industrious,
Very high work rate, hits real hard, surprisingly soft hands from playing league most of his life (good hands in the tackle/offload). Wouldn't be surprised to see him near, or even at, the top of the tackle charts this season (edit: just checked and he's currently top)
Setpiece is coming along really nicely, but still a work in progress - 6ft9, so that helps

 

[Rinkadink]

Who's next in line? Fasogbon?
He wasn't very good for England A

Probably but George Kloska should be back from injury soon.

Plenty of time to get match fit for the next international block and was set to be included in A/training squad before the injury. Hopefully he gets a chance to show what he can bring.

 

[Scotty]

Industrious,
Very high work rate, hits real hard, surprisingly soft hands from playing league most of his life (good hands in the tackle/offload). Wouldn't be surprised to see him near, or even at, the top of the tackle charts this season (edit: just checked and he's currently top)
Setpiece is coming along really nicely, but still a work in progress - 6ft9, so that helps

What's his carrying like? Because he sounds like a real asset, with all our options in the back row having a 6 foot 9 hard hitting unit st lock sounds good especially if he is going to.

Guessing he would get compared to Martin? Hard hitting lock.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What's his carrying like? Because he sounds like a real asset, with all our options in the back row having a 6 foot 9 hard hitting unit st lock sounds good especially if he is going to.

Guessing he would get compared to Martin? Hard hitting lock.

Solid carrier too tbf, that was what he was known for before rounding out his game this season (he came from a rugby league background, didn't play his first game of union until he was in his 20s, which is why his setpiece is a work in progress - this season the first it's looked like an asset rather than just OK)

Not as heavyweight/bulky as a Martin/traditional tighthead lock - closer to a Coles, from the current setup

I'm hoping he continues to grow into a Kruis-type tighthead lock
He's more naturally athletic than naturally a huge unit, I wouldn't want to pack a few more stone on him for the sake of it and lose his gas tank


Don't want to wax lyrical too much about him, but he's definitely been our best player this season and always shows up big even when we're playing like crap - I'm a huge fan