England squad for SA tour

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Well its that time near the end of the season where people like to talk about who will go on England's summer tour.

So who is the squad going to be?

i Would sugggest these players should deserve an oppurtunity

Joseph, Wade, Miller, Wood (Gloucester), Johnson (Exeter), Garvey (London Irish), Launchbury, Burns,Armitage (Toulon)

Those are the players on top of the six nations EPS id love to see go.

Any other 45 man squads?

In my opinion Wade's a no-brainer to tour. I know some people believe it's too early, but in my opinion if you're ready to be the top try scorer for the majority of a season, you're ready for anything. Wales recently have shown that young players can step up to international rugby when put in a good team. We shouldn't be wary of doing it just because Mathew Tait was thrown into a sh*te England team with little natural talent. Launchbury should also tour, but in my opinion even though he's a 6 we should factor him in as a versatile lock, since we have plenty of 6's. I won't try and blag the other guys as I haven't seen much of any of them

 

[Teh Mite]

YOu are BG8, Seymour is a metaphor for "Healy" AICMFP.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

In my opinion Wade's a no-brainer to tour. I know some people believe it's too early, but in my opinion if you're ready to be the top try scorer for the majority of a season, you're ready for anything. Wales recently have shown that young players can step up to international rugby when put in a good team. We shouldn't be wary of doing it just because Mathew Tait was thrown into a sh*te England team with little natural talent. Launchbury should also tour, but in my opinion even though he's a 6 we should factor him in as a versatile lock, since we have plenty of 6's. I won't try and blag the other guys as I haven't seen much of any of them

If, for the midweeks, we had 11. Benjamin 14. Wade, 15. Miller you'd have the top 3 tryscorers from the prem (1st Miller, 2nd Wade, 3rd Benjamin, who is level with Sharples)

 

[Wilko's left boot]

Well its that time near the end of the season where people like to talk about who will go on England's summer tour.

So who is the squad going to be?

i Would sugggest these players should deserve an oppurtunity

Joseph, Wade, Miller, Wood (Gloucester), Johnson (Exeter), Garvey (London Irish), Launchbury, Burns,Armitage (Toulon)

Those are the players on top of the six nations EPS id love to see go.

Any other 45 man squads?

Jonny May as well surely?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Johnny May's a tough one - he's not really a fullback, he's a winger. There's already Ashton, Strettle and Sharples as givens.
Then there's Wade (hopefully) too - It could come down to him vs Rob Miller for a bench "versatile" spot.
Having said that, May is already in the Saxons and Miller only got called up as an injury replacement for the trip to Scotland so he could be ahead of him from that.


Will be interesting to see what team we put out midweek, presumably it'll be a Saxons side + a couple of bench/fringe EPS players.

I'd like to see something like:

1. Joe Marler
2. ??? We're running low on hookers atm. Are Brooker and Gray injured? I know Webber is. Probably Lee Mears.
3. Paul Doran-Jones
4. George Robson
5. Courtney Lawes/Tom Palmer (whichever isn't in the test side)
6. Carl Fearns
7. Hopefully Seymour, with Wood and Saull both out.
8. Waldrom
9. Ben Spencer
10. Freddie Burns
11. Johnny May
12. Billy Twelvetrees
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Miles Benjamin
15. Rob Miller

16. Jamie George
17. Henry Thomas
18. Kearnan Myall
19. Matt Garvey
20. Karl Dickson
21. Ryan Lamb
22. Delon Armitage

 

[j'nuh]

May's a bit weird in that he's got the assets that you would nail down for a winger, but at this point he's got more experience at fullback (because of Olly Morgan's injury really) and from what I gather, he spent a hell of a lot of time at 13 when younger. With JSD and Sharples on the wings at Gloucester, Morgan at fullback and Trinder at 13, there's no natural slot for him in the XV. With Mills covering 10/12 from the bench, it'll be up to May to cover the rest, so I'm guessing he probably won't specialise for a while. Expecting him to do something similar in the England set-up.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Smith has turned down the England role to stay close to his parents in NZ.

Also Wood, Croft, Lawes, Sharples, Webber and Simpson will all miss the tour.
I expected Webber and Simpson to be out, and Wood was announced last week, but Croft, Lawes and Sharples all missing out is pretty crappy.

Will be interesting to see who is brought in for them, as they're all EPS players.
Presumably more from the Saxons will tour, but we'll probably see new players brought in as well - hopefully Robshaw will be able to move back to 6 and we can have Armitage or Seymour at 7.

 

[Teh Mite]

Of those pair it has to be Armitage. Although he always seems to be playing number 8 when I see him on telly.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Toulon often put Armitage at 8 on scrums as he's a great carrier off of the back due to being small, round and remarkably fast

 

[j'nuh]

Also Wood, Croft, Lawes, Sharples, Webber and Simpson will all miss the tour.

+ Clark

Leaves us with 3 backrowers from the six nations squad left. Will be interesting to see who comes in, because at least one of them will be involved in SA.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Had forgotten about him - I think Saull is also out injured, and Gaskell is out for the summer too - so that's 5 from the EPS/Saxons.

Could just be that they take the remaining flankers from the Saxons (Tom Johnson, Carl Fearns, Waldrom and Will Welch) and leave it at that, with Fearns and Dowson able to play across the backrow (though both of them are 6/8s and shouldn't be anywhere near a 7 shirt!) there's enough cover, though you'd probably need one more (Armitage) to make it two full backrows.
You could have 6. Dowson, 7. Robshaw, 8. Morgan, 19. Armitage for the test side, 6. Fearns, 7. Welch, 8. Waldrom, 19. Johnson for the midweek.

 

[psychic duck]

Had forgotten about him - I think Saull is also out injured, and Gaskell is out for the summer too - so that's 5 from the EPS/Saxons.

Could just be that they take the remaining flankers from the Saxons (Tom Johnson, Carl Fearns, Waldrom and Will Welch) and leave it at that, with Fearns and Dowson able to play across the backrow (though both of them are 6/8s and shouldn't be anywhere near a 7 shirt!) there's enough cover, though you'd probably need one more (Armitage) to make it two full backrows.
You could have 6. Dowson, 7. Robshaw, 8. Morgan, 19. Armitage for the test side, 6. Fearns, 7. Welch, 8. Waldrom, 19. Johnson for the midweek.

is that the back row you would select or the back row you predict the coaches will select?

 

[swalsh1]

Is there any particular reason Haskell can't be included in the squad? It's the super rugby break so his commitments to the highlanders wouldn't be questioned. I know the RFU has rules about non-uk based players being picked unless the circumstances are extreme, but surely he has as much of a chance as Armitage?

 

[Teh Mite]

The non-UK based players rule went out the window at the same time Jonno did.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Super XV is still running, so Haskell won't be available.

is that the back row you would select or the back row you predict the coaches will select?

Predict.
I think I'd have 6. Robshaw, 7. Armitage, 8. Morgan, 19. Fearns

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I always thought Fearns was a natural 7 made to play 6/8 due to injuries? Although i might be thinking about someone else?

What about that Worcester lad Kvestic? i know he was playing well earlier on but is probably injured now!

I can't see Armatige getting a look in at all, with all the options available and playing in england i doubt they will go for someone not playing in england and not that young anymore. I for one will also be happy for england to learn to live without croft, no more useless back row player standing on the wing every other phase!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Nah, Fearns is the opposite - started life as an 8 who played 6 as well, but then last season we lost Seymour and McMillan at the same time so Fearns got shifted across to 7.
Kvesic is with the u20s at the moment, definitely one for the future though.

 

[Peat]

The top14 final is the same day as the first test against SA. The semi-final is just a week before. That is a serious impediment to picking Steflon.

I read a newspaper report yesterday saying that they were seriously considering taking Tom Youngs out there as a hooker. I think we might see a few off the wall and seriously future looking selections this tour - George Ford and Elliot Daly are both missing from the U20s squad. Might be injury, might be senior squad.

In the back row...

I want to see Jamie Gibson and Luke Wallace travel. Gibson is the closest like-to-like to Croft we have, with serious credentials as a 7 as well, while Wallace has played really well when he's had the opportunities. James Scaysbrook has apparently been really good this season, so might go. I, uhm, don't feel really good about the quality of player going at this point though tbh...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I have a feeling Elliot Daly is injured (might just be because he plays for Wasps though, and they all are pretty much).
I don't like Youngs Sr. whatsoever. He's decent enough hooker, but his reputation is absolute s**t. Apparently one of the dirtiest players you're like to come across, in his time in the championship last season. But then who else is there?
Hopefully Jamie George will go. Apart from that everyone else seems to be injured, and we'll have Hartley and Mears as our test hookers, with the barrell scrapings for midweek.

Agree on those three choices, Scaysbrook has been on great form for the Chiefs, and Gibson and Wallace have been playing very well too.

 

[psychic duck]

I have a feeling Elliot Daly is injured (might just be because he plays for Wasps though, and they all are pretty much).
I don't like Youngs Sr. whatsoever. He's decent enough hooker, but his reputation is absolute s**t. Apparently one of the dirtiest players you're like to come across, in his time in the championship last season. But then who else is there?
Hopefully Jamie George will go. Apart from that everyone else seems to be injured, and we'll have Hartley and Mears as our test hookers, with the barrell scrapings for midweek.

Agree on those three choices, Scaysbrook has been on great form for the Chiefs, and Gibson and Wallace have been playing very well too.

Wasps ought to sack their physio

obviously not preparing their players properly for the impact of professional rugby

their injury count is mad