England Six Nations Squad 2012

[big ginger 8]

Just seen an interesting comment regarding Clark yesterday (comparing him to O'Mahony) it goes "one played with an edge that makes him a real assest; the other played so far over the edge as to be a liability".

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Just to take it back to the first page where I was wondering why Henry Thomas was named despite being out till April, I've just seen this in an interview with him:

Sharks: So why have England Saxons named you in a squad when they must know you're injured until April? Is it to reassure you that you're still 'in the frame'?

Henry: Well, after the injury I wasn't expecting it, but I've had explained to me that there's a 45-man tour to South Africa in the Summer. It's a mix of first team and Saxons: they can't change the squad, so it's my intention to be ready for that.​

 

[RAWWeyman]

Thinking back to the Six Nations 2011, we did manage to score trys. Even with a very, very one dimensional midfield we managed to score.

Yes, we would have done better and probably scored more with better centres, but we still managed to score.

Therefore, I don't think having a midfield of Barritt and Tuilagi would necesarrily be such a bad idea. Sure, it would be limited in a few ways, but firstly Barritt's distribution is no way near as bad as it's made out to be - he's just not very creative. However, with a back three of Sharples, Ashton and Foden (probable), I think we can afford to play a bit of front foot rugby in our midfield, as we have such flair and talent outside of it.

This kind of game plan would also be made more solid if we had Flood in at 10. He's not the best in the world, but on form he can ignite backlines.

So... for the 6N (post Italy and Scotland, when everyones getting back from injury.)

9. Dickson
10. Flood
11. Sharples
12. Barritt
13. Tuilagi
14. Ashton
15. Foden

20. Simpson
21. Farrell
22. Brown

I'm not 100% sure on this working, but I just think because Barritt is England's best 12, and Tuilagi is England's best 13, the lack of finesse or flair between them won't cause either of them to not start.. Because although I admire Farrell's acomplishments, I don't believe he would be more effective than either of them in the centres.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

That's how I'd play it, though I'd consider Strettle over Ashton on recent form.

 

[j'nuh]

Difficult to say with Strettle/Ashton. Ashton's not played for a while, but that's because of bans and his link with Saracens, and probably not his form. I think England aren't going to get anywhere by looking for anything more than parity in the tight against the best teams, so I'm hoping they'll engage their backs more than they have in the past (which is probably an argument to play a distributor at 12), and I can't think of a better support player in the loose than Ashton.

 

[stus768]

Difficult to say with Strettle/Ashton. Ashton's not played for a while, but that's because of bans and his link with Saracens, and probably not his form. I think England aren't going to get anywhere by looking for anything more than parity in the tight against the best teams, so I'm hoping they'll engage their backs more than they have in the past (which is probably an argument to play a distributor at 12), and I can't think of a better support player in the loose than Ashton.

I agree that the move to Sarries and maybe the way it was handled might have a lot to do with him not playing this week. But it is his fault that he was suspended and he has been out of form when he has played. Such as dropping the ball against Scarlets (i think it was them) and not trying to scoop it back up.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ashton leaks more penalties though, and is a worse defender - in a tight game I'd rather Strettle.

There's not a lot between them though, I agree.

 

[B10]

Narraway confirmed as replacement in Six nations squad while Wood is injured.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Lose openside flanker to injury:
Call up number 8

However I'm happy to see Narraway in there, I'd start him vs Scotland, tbh, then give Morgan a go vs Italy.
I expect this means Dowson is being considered at 7 then...

 

[gingergenius]

sigh

 

[Darwin]

you do realise that picking Narraway has curse on the England team,

in Narraway's 7 matches England have lost every match apart from one against Italy, and that match was a dreadful 23-19 win which I think might have been Borthwick's "fantastic" match

and the other 6 matches include two drubbings from the dreadful 2008 tour to New Zealand, a loss to Scotland, two to Wales, and the loss to Ireland when Johnson flipped out after Care got sin binned, not vintage performances

http://www.espnscrum.com/statsguru/...ass=1;template=results;type=player;view=match

I remember the England loose-trio (Haskell, Rees, Narraway) being about the only positive thing to come out of that tour from an England perspective. I was quite surprised to see how quickly Narraway fell out of favour with the England selectors after that tour. Incidentally, what ever happened to Tom Rees? He looked an international quality 7 - has it been injuries or a lack of form that has keep him out of the England setup in recent years?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Rees has been injured since leaving the womb, pretty much.
Shame as he could/should have nailed down the shirt for his own by now.


I don't really mind about Narraways past, it's like saying lets put Tindall in at 12 over Anthony Allen because he's got a WC winners medal whereas Allen has a 100% loss record in an England shirt.

 

[Peat]

I remember the England loose-trio (Haskell, Rees, Narraway) being about the only positive thing to come out of that tour from an England perspective. I was quite surprised to see how quickly Narraway fell out of favour with the England selectors after that tour. Incidentally, what ever happened to Tom Rees? He looked an international quality 7 - has it been injuries or a lack of form that has keep him out of the England setup in recent years?

Tom Rees has nearly had more injuries than Wilko and Simpson-Daniel combined. Which is really, really gutting.

 

[j'nuh]

On Narraway, of those 7 games he played, 2 were losses to NZ, one was a close loss to the grand slam six nations winners, and the rest of the games were played from the bench. He's in good form for Glos atm too. I'm happy if either he or Morgan started for England.

I really hope Wood gets back asap, but if he doesn't and we end up playing without a breakdown specialist, it is worrying but not the end of the world. We've had significant problems at the breakdown in the last year which we shouldn't have. Most came from players in the pack not supporting their ball carriers fast enough. Croft, for example, often stands too far out in the backline (often on the wing) to clear out rucks. Our first-choice pack is an athletic one and shouldn't be having these problems to begin with.

 

[Darwin]

Rees has been injured since leaving the womb, pretty much.
Shame as he could/should have nailed down the shirt for his own by now.

Tom Rees has nearly had more injuries than Wilko and Simpson-Daniel combined. Which is really, really gutting.

Thanks, that explains his absence! I was getting worried a few years back when England had Rees in the team, as having a genuine open-side competing at every breakdown is one of the keys in international rugby, especially against teams that thrive on fast ball such as the All Blacks (or Australia).

 

[psychic duck]

I don't really mind about Narraways past, it's like saying lets put Tindall in at 12 over Anthony Allen because he's got a WC winners medal whereas Allen has a 100% loss record in an England shirt.

yes of course, but just saying Narraway never really impressed me when he played for England, pretty sure England have some better players

 

[Peat]

yes of course, but just saying Narraway never really impressed me when he played for England, pretty sure England have some better players

He was standout when we were getting dicked on by NZ.

Also, we don't. Our 8 choices are really poor at the moment. There's a reason Easter got so many games for us, although Narraway should have had some of those.

 

[psychic duck]

He was standout when we were getting dicked on by NZ.

Also, we don't. Our 8 choices are really poor at the moment. There's a reason Easter got so many games for us, although Narraway should have had some of those.

Waldrom, Easter and Morgan are all better in my opinion

 

[Peat]

Waldrom, Easter and Morgan are all better in my opinion

I disagree, but can't be arsed to argue, as unless Morgan makes a very complete and swift transition to international rugby/Narraway refinds his NZ form, we're arguing about who's the prettiest fat girl.

More than a few journos speculating that it will be Robshaw.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

So we'd be looking at Croft at blindside flanker, Dowson at blindside flanker and Robshaw at blindside flanker.
Tidy.