England v Japan - 24/11/2024 (16.10)

[OllyM97]

The most pointless game ever.

 

[IT157]

Come on Eddie and the Brave Blossoms!

 

[TommiG88]

If Japan play the super quick ball and take their chances, they could tear this defence apart. I could see Japan putting 30 points on us, but I see us putting more points on them

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

This game is of no consequence, unless we lose, which isn't going to happen. Bit of a no win situation, unless your name happens to be Eddie Jones.

Hope all the fringe players who have been holding tackle bags for weeks get to play. We'll learn nothing from playing Genge, George, Itoje etc. The likes of Fra and the Boks have been busy getting game time into a broader pool of players. Be stupid if we don't do likewise.

 

[BPM]

The most pointless game ever.

Well that entirely depends how we use it.

If we go all-in on rotation and give some of the fringe players a chance to impress, it might be worthwhile.

If we just play the same 23, there's no real gain. There won't be any great credit for a win and a defeat would be disastrous.

I'd pick:

1. Baxter
2. Cowan-Dickie
3. Stuart
4. Itoje (c)
5. Martin
6. Hill
7. Underhill
8. Willis
9. Randall
10. F. Smith
11. Ibitoye
12. Lawrence
13. Freeman
14. Sleightholme
15. Furbank

16. Dan 17. Opoku-Fordjour 18. Heyes 19. Isiekwe 20. Cunningham-South 21. Porter 22. Dingwall 23. Roebuck

Time for some who should be more involved, a few of deserved promotions from the As and a good chance to try Freeman in midfield. I was tempted to juggle the second row too, but the options aren't attractive enough to do it without Chessum.*

I'd be very surprised if the 23 is anything like that though.

My main ask would be 'don't pick George, Cole or Slade' for this game. We know everything we need to know about those three and will gain nothing by playing them on Sunday. Yes, George might be captain but given leadership has been a big issue, we need others to develop their captaincy credentials.

*Side note - pleasing to hear Clark impressed in the A game. He could become a good asset. Probably helps being coached by a decent former lock.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

You learn nothing at all from these games. Even fringe players playing well doesn't really mean anything as it's only Japan.

Would rather we stuck the entire a team out there. Seems like we only organised this game to get our win ratio up. Imagine if we played Argentina and lost 4 from 4

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Best part of the game is going to be the crowd reaction every time EJ is shown on the screen

I'd be very surprised if the 23 is anything like that though.

You've got 5 players who aren't in the squad, tbf, so I too would be very surprised

 

[BPM]

True. It's what I'd like, not what I expect to see. They are in the A squad though, so there's an outside shot - it's not like I'm picking Seb Atkinson.

 

[Geordie]

If we cant promote any A squad lads etc then id go roughly

1 Baxter
2 Dan
3 Stuart
4 Itoje
5 Martin
6 Ted Hill
7 Underhill / Ben Curry - depending on wanting a beast or a breakdown 7.
8 CCS

9 Randall
10 F.Smith
11 Sleightholme
12 Lawrence
13 Freeman
14 Roebuck
15 Furbank

 

[BPM]

Underhill is a tricky one. We don't learn anything by playing him but he definitely doesn't deserve to be dropped.

We miss him when he's not there, it's as simple as that. Still blows my mind how few caps he actually has.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

If we cant promote any A squad lads etc then id go roughly

I'd be very surprised if they did, they've been training separately to the main squad so would only be in camp for 3 days before team selection

My side would largely be the same but I'd go Curry/Underhill flanks with Hill on the bench - though i'm not that fussed at who starts at 6/7, main thing I want to see is CCS at 8
Would love to see Freeman at 13 and Lozowski at 23

 

[Geordie]

Im a huge fan of Freeman but he had a quiet Autumn really. Im just think a move to 13 is better in my opinon.

 

[Geordie]

I'd be very surprised if they did, they've been training separately to the main squad so would only be in camp for 3 days before team selection

My side would largely be the same but I'd go Curry/Underhill flanks with Hill on the bench - though i'm not that fussed at who starts at 6/7, main thing I want to see is CCS at 8
Would love to see Freeman at 13 and Lozowski at 23

Yeah that would work...with some impact off the bench.

 

[Derpus]

The most pointless game ever.

The point of this game is to try and put over 100 points on Japan because **** Eddie Jones.

 

[BrokenWing]

We'll learn nothing from playing Genge, George, Itoje etc.

We could see if they can play 80 minutes without making the most stupid, basic errors.

 

[Scotty]

I'd like to see Dan get a start, with LCD on the bench, I'd actually like to see Martin and CCS off the bench to add real impact with Underhill Earl Curry back row. (CCS not for underhill)

I'd start JVP the guy made mistakes which cost us but is massively inexperience and needs gametime. I think him and Mitchell will be 9/21 going forward. I don't think we will ever play expansive enough for Randall to be truly effective.

If IFW is fit then I'd be happy to see Freeman at 13(still think wing is where is he best/FB if he gets real prem time there)

So I'd go
Baxter Dan Stuart
Itoje Isiekwe
Curry Earl Underhill - Earl won't be dropped what ever we sat.
JVP FSmith
Lawrence Freeman
Sleightholme Furbank IFW

LCD
Genge
AOF-give him a shot. Is he TH or LH?
Martin
CCS
Randall
MSmith
Slade

If the power on that bench means it SHOULD give a real platform to Randall Smith and Slade to get the ball moving.

No point going massive changes from the 23, we still need to build this team and give as much time together as possible.

 

[Saintjay]

You learn nothing at all from these games. Even fringe players playing well doesn't really mean anything as it's only Japan.

Would rather we stuck the entire a team out there. Seems like we only organised this game to get our win ratio up. Imagine if we played Argentina and lost 4 from 4

If we win it'll take a win ratio to our whopping 42% for the year. Best put out the big dogs XV.

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Pretty sure it's going to be more fringe players. Tommy Freeman on his social media for example sounds like he is done for the autumn.

 

[Geordie]

Cadan Murley called up ... interesting.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Cadan Murley called up ... interesting.

Bit of a shame not to grab a few others that impressed on the weekend/should be there already - but not sure what the EPS rules are when it comes to the A squad