England v New Zealand

[TRF_Olyy]

Simpson-Daniel is in the Saxons, so if there's an injury to a winger he may get promoted (though it's more likely to be Monye, i think) - Ojo's not even in the Saxons, despite being in good form.
I think he may make the team come 6N though, as this squad was picked towards the end of the summer (which is a stupid time to pick a squad, imo. Yes it gives you an extra training camp or two together as a team, but you aren't picking the form players of that season, you're picking the ones who were on form the season before)

 

[nickdnz]

Simpson-Daniel is in the Saxons, so if there's an injury to a winger he may get promoted (though it's more likely to be Monye, i think) - Ojo's not even in the Saxons, despite being in good form.
I think he may make the team come 6N though, as this squad was picked towards the end of the summer (which is a stupid time to pick a squad, imo. Yes it gives you an extra training camp or two together as a team, but you aren't picking the form players of that season, you're picking the ones who were on form the season before)

Cheers, Olyy.

 

[iWin]

As you said, I find it weird that Ojo would not be in either squad while Strettle, Banahan and co are up there.
Maybe he'll make it come the spring.

 

[gingergenius]

yep, the EPS is really stupid. But then Johnson's selection policy is stupid as well.

It was only a year ago that Ayoola Erinle was starting for England against the All Blacks. He's now nowhere near even the Saxons. Not that I'm saying he should be playing or anything like that, but it just goes to show how ridiculous the selection policy has been.

England have an obsession with picking players who are simply not good enough for Test level, just because it's too risky to throw in a youngster who might be. NZ complain about Donald not being good enough - but that's just one guy. In just the 10 position recently we've had Barkley, Hodgson, Geraghty, Goode... all of whom are good players but not good enough.

Johnson's had 4 years to do what he might have just started doing since the France game. Building for the world cup.

In the front row Dan Cole is one of the best tightheads around. Let's build around him, keep the guys like Sheridan, Thompson and Hartley around to do a job until we can find better replacements. Like Marler.

Let's build around Lawes in the 2nd row, try out Palmer, Attwood, and Shaw with him.

Let's build around Croft at 6, and get Saull, Robshaw and Dowson involved not ******* Hendre Fourie, Ward-Smith and Tom Wood.

Lets' get Waldouck involved, lose Hodgson and try Myler (who I don't think is good enough, but we don't know that yet). We can lose Banahan and Strettle and have Ojo back.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ryan Lamb, i think, will be worth a shout at some point soon. Good player, and on good form atm.

I can't believe that Worseley got selected over Chris Robshaw,
What has Worsely done in the past 6 years?

 

[iWin]

Tackle and get injured.

I honestly can't find anything wrong with your suggestions there gingergenius
If I were in charge of selection right now, I'd use the next 2-3 years to find a general team, and then aim at 2015 to win with a proper squad.
That's pretty much what Woodward did (if you ignore the 'judge me on the World Cup' comment before 99)

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Quins backrow, Bath frontrow and Olly Barkley all having good games,
Johnson in the crowd, hopefully he's taking note

It's a shame Robshaw and Croft both play 6, because they both excellent players. Will Skinner ain't too shabby though (would have him over Moody)

 

[Teh Mite]

**** knows what your problem with Tom Wood is, he's been the leagues best openside so far this season.

 

[gingergenius]

from what i've seen of Wood (which I admit isn't more than a few games) he seems to give more penalties away than Moody at his worst.

 

[Teh Mite]

I don't think he's given a single penalty away yet.

Statbunker is a waste of time, but the Opta stats have nothing marked for him;
http://www.premiershiprugby.com/premiership/stats/defensivepenalties.php

He's made more turnover then already then Neil Best managed in the whole of last season (which was a lot towards the end) and has undoubtedly added a lot to the open running game.

You have him mixed up with Callum Clarke who suffers with the same temper Hartley had in the pre-Mallender era.

 

[Shaggy]

Should be pretty easy to pick the AB team for the match, given the reluctance to call in injury cover ... should be pretty much the same team used against the Wallabies, with Gear in for Jane on the wing, and maybe SBW in for Toeava (maybe shifting Nonu to the wing if there's another injury)

 

[mohamed_ali12]

eugh, there is no possible reason for anyone to even think about picking Banahan, ever.

He's big so can make big one-on-one hits. Fine, but all that's needed is to bring the guy down, and every professional rugby player in the world should be able to do this regardless of size (and yes I know there are the Murphys and Abendanons of this world but still).

His size is useless in attack because the All Blacks will have bigger guys running faster at them on better angles week in week out. Bringing Banahan down is no problem for them.

His kicking game, his positioning in defence, and his general slowness are not good enough for international level.

And England's midfield containing Hape and Tindall won't need to be any beefier. Who's big in the Aussie backline?

I spend most of my time defending Bath players on here but he's been outstanding defensively this season, shown best against Biarritz, and also under the high ball, in as good form as Armitage, Goode and Foden for me

 

[Darwin]

Should be pretty easy to pick the AB team for the match, given the reluctance to call in injury cover ... should be pretty much the same team used against the Wallabies, with Gear in for Jane on the wing, and maybe SBW in for Toeava (maybe shifting Nonu to the wing if there's another injury)

Yeah I can't see many changes made to the team. I would love to see Sam Whitelock start the match ahead of Donnelly, but I can't see them doing that. By the sounds of it Jane will be ruled out, and who replaces him will be interesting. Though everyone seems to think that Gear is a dead cert to start now, I'm not convinced he will be picked. Throughout the year the AB's selectors have picked two (or even three) fullbacks in their back three - having Gear and Rococoko on the wings will go against this philosophy. Dagg would have been the obvious choice to replace Jane (if he had been on tour), the only other player on tour that I see that fits the 'second fullback that can play on the wing' role is Toeava. So despite the two glaring defensive lapses Toeava made in the last match, I wouldn't be surprised to see him start on the right wing (with Rococoko on the left, and Gear on the bench).

 

[James Coughlan]

I definitely think that Ryan Lamb would be a good shot, he just scored over 20 points in London Irish's 39-26 win over Sale. He looks like he is good form at the moment. Moody also made a good return for Bath at the weekend too. I don't think England should be underestimated, Australia defended poorly against NZ in Hong Kong and they still won. England might just be able to sneak this one, or at least I hope as an England fan down under. I won't be missing the game on Setanta, even if it is like 1.30am. Go England!

 

[eot345]

i agree bannahan is not as good as some of the wingers we have in our squad e.g ashton, cueto, strettle however i think when we play australia who do not have the most physical defensive back line bannahan could be usefull if he say came on after an hour or so, same thing with strettle (who i think offers a great offencive game) who say came on fresh after 55 mins of play if he got in space one on one with his opposite man (mabye tuilangi) in enough space he could either step his man or mabye evn just burn him. for a definate 5 points.


also Ojo really needs to be picked for atleast the saxons.

 

[eot345]

its upsetting to see that David wilson Doran jones and tim payne have all given away more penalties then any othe props this season and yet they are all associated with the england squad

 

[RoosTah]

The All Blacks losing against Australia was the worst possible outcome for England. I think the poms will put in a good showing and all, but the All Blacks will likely be looking to make a real statement.

 

[Shaggy]

The All Blacks losing against Australia was the worst possible outcome for England. I think the poms will put in a good showing and all, but the All Blacks will likely be looking to make a real statement.

I don't think the ABs ever take England lightly at home, but I take your point ... the players that played in the loss against the Wallabies are talking that the measure of a good team is how they respond to a loss. Some player that didn't start in the last match, but will in this one, such as Hosea Gear, will be looking to try to cement a position in the regular starting 15 as well ... should be another great match

 

[northharbour]

The 22 you will probably see is:

Tony Woodcock
Kevin Mealamu
Owen Franks
Brad Thorn
Tom Donnelly
Jerome Kaino
Richie McCaw
Kerrian Read
Jimmy Cowan
Dan Carter
Hosea Gear
Ma'a Nonu
Conrad Smith
Jo Rokocoko
Mils Muliaina

Hika Elliot
Ben Franks
Sam Whitelock
Liam Messam
Andy Ellis
Stephen Donald
Sonny-bill Williams

 

[TRF_Olyy]

The All Blacks losing against Australia was the worst possible outcome for England. I think the poms will put in a good showing and all, but the All Blacks will likely be looking to make a real statement.

I know where you're coming from, but it's not as if England aren't going to be up for it either.
When's the last time England beat New Zealand? That'd be motivation enough
Still a few players from then dotted around the England set-up as well