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England 6 Nation squad 2024

Mercer having a cracker in the Prem game.....2 fingers to SB....

7 Earl
8 Mercer

Now that would be fun...

Tuima showing his power...but dear me Painter looks like he's running in mud everytime...he's so old school..he won't be considered I wouldn't have thought...
 
Mercer having a cracker in the Prem game.....2 fingers to SB....

7 Earl
8 Mercer

Now that would be fun...

Tuima showing his power...but dear me Painter looks like he's running in mud everytime...he's so old school..he won't be considered I wouldn't have thought...
Isn't old school kind of SBs MO though?
 
Mercer having a cracker in the Prem game.....2 fingers to SB....

7 Earl
8 Mercer

Now that would be fun...

Tuima showing his power...but dear me Painter looks like he's running in mud everytime...he's so old school..he won't be considered I wouldn't have thought...
It's like watching a school game where the obviously gifted kid runs rings around the other 29 plodders.

(To be fair, Atkinson is having a good game.)
 
And why is Josepha Scott in the A team...what a waste...why not just put one of the U20 tightheads....its Portugal A team not even the world Cup players.
 
I'll be at Murrayfield on Saturday, a first for the 6N.

I'd put Scotland as firm favorites. England don't seem to have many in either the backs or the forwards that can break the gainline and pressure a defence. Tuilagi coming back I don't think is going to offer that, later career he seems to be more of defensive hitter than the breaker of tackles he once was and looks like he's slimmed down a lot probably to help combat the chance of injuries. Most sucessful international sides tend to have at least one physical presence in the midfield and with George Ford at 10 our current midfield is too lightweight both sides of the ball.

Backrow balance seems a bit off too. I like Underhill in theory he should be coming into his prime but don't think his game is well rounded enough in this current set up, he's not much of a carrier or link man IMO. I'd probably see Earl at 7 with Tom Curry not looking likely to be back anytime soon (if at all with the nature of his injury) but can't see it the 6N as no other credible options have been in the first two 23's othet than a very green CCS.

Roots seems like a good honest player, Admittedly I've not seen much of him for Exeter but he strikes me as a bit of a poor man's Dave Ewers. I'd rather take a punt on someone with a higher potential celling. Shame Pearson has been given a run, I reckon at 6 we need a player in the Lawes mould to replace him, taller line out option that can carry in heavy traffic. It's not really just down to the backrow IMO causing the imbalance or at least its being highlighted by the lack of dynamic carriers on the tight 5. We've looked much better on that front when Theo Dan has come on and Genge when he came off the bench against Wales, but the tradeoffs elsewhere are probably currently too big.

Interested to see of Borthwick sticks with the same side this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if Martin and Maybe Tuilagi come back in , potentially on the bench. Can't see LCD coming onto the bench, injury has really done him. It doesn't seem that long ago he was >George.

Will be a successful tournament if England can pick up a win over the next 3 games. Not sure what Borthwicks ideal XV would have been? Not sure if Marcus Smith would have started over Ford? A fit Lawrence would have made a big difference.
 
This could go in any number of threads.

Ireland are averaging 5.8m pass length so far in this year's 6N.

Against Italy they had 122 passes of less than 5m. No other team last week exceeded 66. This is all about support lines, continuity and taking opponents out of the game. Something they work on a lot with the forwards in particular. It's quite an easy game really…..

There's a time and a place for the long miss pass. But it's soul destroying how often they just stall momentum and cut down space.
 
This could go in any number of threads.

Ireland are averaging 5.8m pass length so far in this year's 6N.

Against Italy they had 122 passes of less than 5m. No other team last week exceeded 66. This is all about support lines, continuity and taking opponents out of the game. Something they work on a lot with the forwards in particular. It's quite an easy game really…..

There's a time and a place for the long miss pass. But it's soul destroying how often they just stall momentum and cut down space.
They've been building together a long time plus the Leinster cohesion helps alot. You know where your teammates will be and what they do.
They also have a very good set up where behind them everything is geared for the National side.

This is the level all other teams at the moment are striding for.

We can only dream of playing like at the moment...
 
I still feel we have too many players getting injured during camps compared to other nations. Would love to see some stats to see if it's true.
 
They've been building together a long time plus the Leinster cohesion helps alot. You know where your teammates will be and what they do.
They also have a very good set up where behind them everything is geared for the National side.

This is the level all other teams at the moment are striding for.

We can only dream of playing like at the moment...

I was thinking about this the other day and I can't see England getting anywhere near Ireland for a number of years in the 6N. This is where IMO a big player pool can be counter productive, but Irelands ability to manage the players workload is a huge factor too. Credit to the coaches as the systems seems to allow fresh faces to come in and changes to be made without much impact.

On England shame about Mitchell he's been a consistent performer and one of the few instances a stand out performer has been given a run all be it with some good/bad luck involved.
 
Yeah shame about Mitchell...not a fan of Randall but willing to be corrected if he actually gets on and performs.
 
So if Randall has been promoted to the senior squad, who comes in to the A side? Deserved chance for Warr?

@TRF_Olyy?
 

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