England Post-WC discussion

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Little 1min interview with Eddie on Facebook,

Wilko coming in as an informal coach to help with kicking coaching,
.

Bring in gin Wilko and Smith ohhhh that would be interesting.

 

[Wendigo7]

Underhill is set to play for England whilst in Wales under Exceptional Circumstances ruling.

 

[Maverick1987]

Hey guys just wondering if anyone thinks we can actually win this 6N ? My heart is desperate for a grand slam but my head says Ireland and Wales have much more settled squads . Just interested in other people's perspectives

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I don't think there'll be a Grandslam this year.
Think Wales and Ireland have a better chance than us, but we're definitely in the mix.
I'm feeling pretty optimistic, but I'll reserve full hype for after the opening game - I was reasonably confident of getting to the semis in the RWC until about halfway through the Fiji game

 

[Peat]

Underhill is set to play for England whilst in Wales under Exceptional Circumstances ruling.

Source?

Hey guys just wondering if anyone thinks we can actually win this 6N ? My heart is desperate for a grand slam but my head says Ireland and Wales have much more settled squads . Just interested in other people's perspectives

Possible but outside hope.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just had a quick look on twitter and the buzz seems to be Underhill will be brought in for the summer tour.
Hopefully it's because he's moving to a premiership club next season...

Steffon must be on suicide watch :lol:

 

[ratsapprentice]

Source is Foy from the DM - pretty solid.

Seems reasonable... just await the incoming wrath of Steffon supporters, who probably won't be able to grasp the difference in circumstances.

 

[Tony Manx]

Source is Foy from the DM - pretty solid.

Seems reasonable... just await the incoming wrath of Steffon supporters, who probably won't be able to grasp the difference in circumstances.

Out of interest what is the difference?

 

[McTallshort]

Strange but I was really against bringing in Armitage but see bringing Underhill in a something really positive. Im such a hypocrite.

 

[Maverick1987]

Underhill is set to play for England whilst in Wales under Exceptional Circumstances ruling.

Oh my god . The relief I'm feeling now is unbelievable . I hope it's true

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ru...Sam-Underhill-join-summer-tour-Australia.html

There's the link if anyone wants it

I'd love to see him smash it against the likes of Pocock and Hooper

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Out of interest what is the difference?

There aren't any, really.
I suppose you could say:

Underhill is really young, he'll be around a while. But Steffon, at the time people wanted a recall, easily had enough in the tank for two world cups (15 and 19, bar any major injury).

We want to lock him down for England - If he wants to play for Wales instead of England then i wouldn't want him playing for England.
Also will he be locked down by the end of the summer? We tour with an "England XV" side rather than Saxons, and i don't know whether he'd be used in a test, so probably would come back still eligible for USA and two years from Wales.

 

[Maverick1987]

There aren't any, really.
I suppose you could say:

Underhill is really young, he'll be around a while. But Steffon, at the time people wanted a recall, easily had enough in the tank for two world cups (15 and 19, bar any major injury).

We want to lock him down for England - If he wants to play for Wales instead of England then i wouldn't want him playing for England.
Also will he be locked down by the end of the summer? We tour with an "England XV" side rather than Saxons, and i don't know whether he'd be used in a test, so probably would come back still eligible for USA and two years from Wales.

I believe the games on tour in Australia in the summer would be the England first team irrespective to whom Eddie decides to pick . So if Sam Underhill wants to play for England he would be locked in by that tour . Imo he would be better off playing for England simply because we don't have the quality 7s there are in Wales.

Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric are still reasonably young . I'm not sure he would want to wait to force his way past them . Also as long as Gatland is in charge of Wales I can't see Warburton getting dropped . He's Gat's right hand man

 

[Peat]

I believe the games on tour in Australia in the summer would be the England first team irrespective to whom Eddie decides to pick . So if Sam Underhill wants to play for England he would be locked in by that tour . Imo he would be better off playing for England simply because we don't have the quality 7s there are in Wales.

Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric are still reasonably young . I'm not sure he would want to wait to force his way past them . Also as long as Gatland is in charge of Wales I can't see Warburton getting dropped . He's Gat's right hand man

There'll be England test games and mid-week games featuring (probably) an England XV though; that's what Olyy was getting at. Only featuring in the test games will lock him in. I'd imagine they'd go for a cheeky twenty minute cap at the end and put him in the midweek games, but you never know, and even if not locked in, the knowledge he's definitely wanted by England should keep him focused.

Although, really, I think everyone's worrying too much about his eligibility. He's only eligible for one Tier 1 nation and that's us. Him wanting to play for anyone else would be a long, long distance away. I'm far more interested about getting him into the set-up early than locking him in, it's the former which matters.

 

[McTallshort]

There'll be England test games and mid-week games featuring (probably) an England XV though; that's what Olyy was getting at. Only featuring in the test games will lock him in. I'd imagine they'd go for a cheeky twenty minute cap at the end and put him in the midweek games, but you never know, and even if not locked in, the knowledge he's definitely wanted by England should keep him focused.

Although, really, I think everyone's worrying too much about his eligibility. He's only eligible for one Tier 1 nation and that's us. Him wanting to play for anyone else would be a long, long distance away. I'm far more interested about getting him into the set-up early than locking him in, it's the former which matters.

Are Scotland tier 2 then?

 

[Peat]

Are Scotland tier 2 then?

Tier 1 and a half.

 

[ncurd]

BBC reporting Hartley will be named captain on Monday.

I remain skeptical this something like the third times its been reported with no comment by Jones himself.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Out of interest what is the difference?

Underhill has moved out of the country for his education (by all accounts temporarily) as a teenager and is a potential target for poachers, Steffon just wants to live in/play for Toulon.
As far as I can tell his move to Wales has been done in full cooperation/communication with the RFU, with Richard Hill still being his mentor.

 

[ncurd]

Plus if he has a planned move to the Premiership in the winter he is merely technically unavailable for the Summer and would be for the AI's.

Not saying he has just that would be fair use of exceptional circumstances as the rules are stopping the selection of a player between clubs.

 

[ratsapprentice]

I think he's unlikely to be signed by a prem club at the moment, unless he were to be immediately loaned back to the Ospreys.

 

[Tony Manx]

Underhill has moved out of the country for his education (by all accounts temporarily) as a teenager and is a potential target for poachers, Steffon just wants to live in/play for Toulon.
As far as I can tell his move to Wales has been done in full cooperation/communication with the RFU, with Richard Hill still being his mentor.

Sounds to me like such a technical difference that is no difference at all....he could have gone to one of the, too, many so called universities in England unless he is studying Welsh?!!