England EPS 2016/17 season.

[Scotty]

Anyone got a full list of eps players injured for the six nations? I heard marler is also out now.

 

[Ddanno]

Anyone got a full list of eps players injured for the six nations? I heard marler is also out now.

Got a bit of discussion (not a full list, feel free to add) on it here

http://www.therugbyforum.com/threads/38591-2017-Six-Nations-England

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Underhill is signing for Bath at the end of the season, as a Bath and England fan this makes me happy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38582151

 

[ratsapprentice]

Bit late, pal.

Stick to the crayons.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Bit late, pal.

Stick to the crayons.

Go away you swine, I don't normally read the transfer thread.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Underhill is signing for Bath at the end of the season, as a Bath and England fan this makes me happy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/38582151

The "analysis" by Emyr Lewis is laughable. A blow to Ospreys but how is it a blow to Wales when Underhill had no intention of playing for them.

 

[Every Time Ref]

Bit late, pal.

Stick to the crayons.

Is that a reference to Banahan? Me and my mates call him Crayons because of his **** tattoos

Re Underhill - Learning from Louw has to be a good thing for him and by extension England

 

[Scotty]

Heard abit but not alot about underhill. A friend compared him to kvesic but he can actually carry and tackle. How good a player is he and is he close to england level dispite his age ( thinking get in young like itoje)

 

[Ddanno]

He's got similar hype. The closest comparison I have is probably Hooper at the same age. Very promising but as others have said, remains to be seen whether he can fulfil his potential in the face of so much attention and the way the premiership plays.

 

[Scotty]

Am hoping with exeter signing matt kvesic then rob baxter can do what he has done with a few players and get the best out of them. Chiefs fan but never been a kvesic fan really he needs to develop an alround game before he can push for england, if he can get it then from what i heard about underhill we might have 2 out and out 7s. Hopefully one of them becomes england level over next couple of years

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

How's Itoje been going since his comeback? I haven't seen much of him, but what I have seen hasn't wowed me.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

How's Itoje been going since his comeback? I haven't seen much of him, but what I have seen hasn't wowed me.

He's young and even top players don't stand out every game. He is a lock who plays like a flanker and he showed that even against Scarlets, securing 2 or 3 turnovers I believe and messing up a lot of Scarlets ball. I wouldn't say he has done much magical but for his age, he is playing very well and easily competing with far more experienced locks.

 

[BPM]

TRP are reporting that Exeter will be looking for Kvesic to take on a more attacking role.

Baxter has said: "some of the qualities he had at Worcester will be some of the ones we want to reignite ... we'd like to see him become a bit more of an attacking player for us".


Personally, I don't really recall him standing out in attack at Worcester TBH? I definitely don't think of him as a carrier/link man.


In fairness, that may be because it was a few years ago or it may be because he's always shone at the breakdown, but either way it's positive to hear that Exeter are looking at developing his game. At 24, he's still surprisingly young and as much as Eddie doesn't like him now, I wonder if more of an attacking element to his game would tip the balance in his favour?

With the Underhill, the Curry twins and Evans coming through, the competition for England's next 7 looks really healthy, but I still think Kvesic has a lot to offer.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

He used to be a pretty strong ball carrier didn't he?

 

[ratsapprentice]

He's a great linking player, it's one of the qualities that makes him the most well rounded 7 in the country, IMO.

 

[BPM]

To be honest, I don't recall having seen that side of his game at Gloucester and as much as I recall being excited by him in his Worcester days, I don't really remember it being down to his attacking qualities.

In any case, it's encouraging to think that Baxter is looking to develop him as a player. This season has been a write-off for him at Gloucester, so I can only imagine that he's keen to get to Exeter ASAP.

The only downside for me is the impact on Sam Simmonds' chances of seeing much game time. Simmonds has looked great every time I have seen him play and at 22, he's overdue a proper breakthrough IMO.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

He used to be a pretty strong ball carrier didn't he?

He played 8 for England U20s, so presumably, though very possibly that was as much a development thing as anything else.

 

[ratsapprentice]

He does it for Glos, he's done it very notably for England too.

- - - Updated - - -

He played 8 for England U20s, so presumably, though very possibly that was as much a development thing as anything else.

He played a lot of (most?) games there for Wuss too.

 

[j'nuh]

Best analogy I can think of is that Kvesic is an excellent middleweight, but most of the other England flanker options are heavyweights. He gets a lot out of his body... perhaps more, pound-for-pound, than the others. But he sheds at least a stone on most of the other England options and I think it's quite telling when they run into one another.

I was hoping he'd develop his pace and footwork and play a little looser, take a leaf out of Tipuric's book. His size disadvantage doesn't have to be a limitation if he isn't running into forwards all game.

 

[Every Time Ref]

He's a great linking player, it's one of the qualities that makes him the most well rounded 7 in the country, IMO.

Seconded