England vs Barbarians 26/05

[psychic duck]

Kickoff: 01:00 local time
Venue: Twickenham

Barbarians team announced:

15. Elliot Daly (Wasps)
14. Takudzwa Ngwenya (Biarritz)
13. Casey Laulala (Munster)
12. Mike Tindall (Gloucester, captain)
11. Timoci Nagusa (Montpellier)
10. James Hook (Perpignan)
9. Dwayne Peel (Sale)
1. Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Métro)
2. Matthew Rees (Scarlets)
3. James Johnston (Harlequins)
4. Jim Hamilton (Gloucester)
5. Marco Wentzel (Wasps)
6. Alessandro Zanni (Treviso)
7. Jonathan Poff (Wasps)
8. Imanol Harinordoquay (Biarritz)

16. Schalk Brits (Saracens)
17. Paul James (Bath)
18. Duncan Jones (Ospreys)
19. Dean Mumm (Exeter)
20. Sam Jones (Wasps)
21. Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz)
22. Nick Evans (Harlequins)
23. Rowan Varty (DeA Tigers)

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Good to see the best players are being saved for the Lions

 

[ratsapprentice]

That front five looks like it will tire pretty quickly...

I reckon if England push the pace a bit they could really open them up.
Having said that, the premiership players and coaches for the BaBaas will know the England team inside and out.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I do worry for our young english team to be playing against that lot though! I want to see

1 Corbs - our best LH
2 Webber - see how he goes
3 Wilson - needs to raise his game
4 Attwood - needs to put a marker down
5 Lauchberry - we need to see him run the lineout as weel as his loose work
6 Wood -err forgot his is in the final (yesss) so maybe Johnson?
7 Kvesic - i want to see what everyone is banging on about, is he really the best 7 for england?
8 Morgan - Just carry all day long
9 Wigglesworth - all our good scrum halves are busy
10 Burns - really want to see him open the opposition up
11 Wade - i want him to own that shirt!
12 12Trees - needs to work with burns
13 JJ - no idea what form he will be in, it will take a lot to shift Manu
14 May/ yarde - can't choose don't know which will start
15 Brown - our best FB option for this game and he should help the younger players a bit

Really excited for this but all the pubs in my area are showing the wendyball!!!! It means driving after my all day bender on saturday watching us batter the tigers or....

 

[TRF_Olyy]

7 Kvesic - i want to see what everyone is banging on about, is he really the best 7 for england?

"No."


Interested to see what side we put out. Not sure what'll happen, hopefully a win for England (obviously) but it's going to be a fairly experimental/young side going up against an experimental and (largely) experienced side.

Can't wait to see Daly out there, he's in the wrong shirt though!

 

[j'nuh]

7 Kvesic - i want to see what everyone is banging on about, is he really the best 7 for england?

Not sure whether people are saying he's the best right now, but he is probably the brightest prospect in the position. Only recently turned 21 and already has about two full seasons at 7 at Premiership level. Would be interesting to see what he could do in a bigger team too.

Just realised that we could have a nice little 7-12 Glos group playing for England one day: 7. Kvesic 8. Morgan 9. Robson 10. Burns 11. May 12. Twelvetrees. Robson might be optimistic, but there's a good chance of seeing the rest within the next year or two.

Found something quite interesting on This is Gloucestershire. Mike Catt was talking about the England squad for the tour, and. :

"Men like Matt Kvesic, Christian Wade and Freddie, they have all played consistently well all season.
"All of them are very young, and they've got to get that experience at international level because it's completely different from the Premiership.
"The Elite Player Squad could change quite significantly in the next three months.
"We desperately need to be better at finishing what we create.
"And that's where Wadey and Jonny May come into it.
"We are still finding our ultimate team, and a whole host of players have chances to prove they should be a part of that in the long-term this summer."
Link: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Gloucester-Rugby-Burns-told-England-selection/story-19065174-detail/story.html#axzz2U8nRFDGt

The bit that interests me is, "We desperately need to be better at finishing what we create/That's where Wade and Jonny May come into it." Is this a hint that long-term changes to the back three are on the way? You don't generally point out an area of concern and not make changes to that area. And the fact that both were name-dropped maybe hints that both are going to be thoroughly looked at on the tour.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Not sure whether people are saying he's the best right now, but he is probably the brightest prospect in the position. Only recently turned 21 and already has about two full seasons at 7 at Premiership level. Would be interesting to see what he could do in a bigger team too.

Just realised that we could have a nice little 7-12 Glos group playing for England one day: 7. Kvesic 8. Morgan 9. Robson 10. Burns 11. May 12. Twelvetrees. Robson might be optimistic, but there's a good chance of seeing the rest within the next year or two.

Found something quite interesting on This is Gloucestershire. Mike Catt was talking about the England squad for the tour, and. :

"Men like Matt Kvesic, Christian Wade and Freddie, they have all played consistently well all season.
"All of them are very young, and they've got to get that experience at international level because it's completely different from the Premiership.
"The Elite Player Squad could change quite significantly in the next three months.
"We desperately need to be better at finishing what we create.
"And that's where Wadey and Jonny May come into it.
"We are still finding our ultimate team, and a whole host of players have chances to prove they should be a part of that in the long-term this summer."
Link: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/Gloucester-Rugby-Burns-told-England-selection/story-19065174-detail/story.html#axzz2U8nRFDGt

The bit that interests me is, "We desperately need to be better at finishing what we create/That's where Wade and Jonny May come into it." Is this a hint that long-term changes to the back three are on the way? You don't generally point out an area of concern and not make changes to that area. And the fact that both were name-dropped maybe hints that both are going to be thoroughly looked at on the tour.

I certainly hope thats the case. I'd be happy taking the tigers forwards and the gloucester backs to be honest (i know it's not that simple). I do agree in part that we didn't finish chances but we also didn't really create many in a lot of the 6 nations and that is mostly down to Farrell, Barritt & Goode. (i know ashton was shite but he wasn't given much to work with).

Farrell made a lot of hospital passes, barritt offered no threat at all and Goode never produced anything when given the ball. So we could see this in the near future:
1 Corbs
2 Youngs
3 Cole
4 Attwood/slater/lauchberry/ lawes - someone needs to step up
5 Parling
6 Wood/Robshaw
7 Kvesic
8 Morgan
9 youngs
10 Burns
11 May
12 12trees
13 Manu
14 Wade
15 Foden/ Brown

16 hartley
17 Vunipola
18 Willson/ Thomas
19 one of the non starting locks
20 Vunipola
21 Care
22 Farrell
23 Eastmond

That would be a very good team indeed! Try beating that!

 

[ratsapprentice]

England team
15. Mike Brown (Harlequins)
14. Christian Wade (Wasps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (London Irish)
12. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
11. Marland Yarde (London Irish)
10. Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
9. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
1. Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2. Rob Webber (Bath Rugby, captain)
3. David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
4. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
5. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
6. Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
7. Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
8. Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements
16. David Paice (London Irish)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins)
18. Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
19. Kearnan Myall (Unattached)
20. Billy Vunipola (London Wasps)
21. Haydn Thomas (Exeter Chiefs)
22. Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
23. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)

Rob Webber is captain.

I'm happy with that team!

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

England team
15. Mike Brown (Harlequins)
14. Christian Wade (Wasps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (London Irish)
12. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
11. Marland Yarde (London Irish)
10. Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
9. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
1. Alex Corbisiero (London Irish)
2. Rob Webber (Bath Rugby, captain)
3. David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
4. Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
5. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
6. Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
7. Matt Kvesic (Worcester Warriors)
8. Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Replacements
16. David Paice (London Irish)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins)
18. Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
19. Kearnan Myall (Unattached)
20. Billy Vunipola (London Wasps)
21. Haydn Thomas (Exeter Chiefs)
22. Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
23. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)

Rob Webber is captain.

I'm happy with that team!

I got the team bang on!!!!! Amazing and looks like a very good team. Can't wait now!!!! Just need somewhere to watch it!

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Best side England have put out in a long time.
Can't wait! Though there's a high possibility I won't even see the game as everywhere will be showing the fallover ball round here.

 

[TRF Mr Fish]

Do any of the English members posters have any isues with caps being given away to players who aren't considered to be in the top ~30 players? Obviously the Lions aren't eligible for selection, but a lot of players are also left behind for no real reason. Would it not make sense to simply not have England playing in the window and just call it England A?

 

[Galbraith]

Its a non cap game I think

 

[ratsapprentice]

Do any of the English members posters have any isues with caps being given away to players who aren't considered to be in the top ~30 players? Obviously the Lions aren't eligible for selection, but a lot of players are also left behind for no real reason. Would it not make sense to simply not have England playing in the window and just call it England A?

Not really, tbh. I think only the Argentine matches are capped though...

To be frank, most of these players are far more deserving of caps than a few of the players from the AI/6N.
17 of that 23 are in the top 2/3 English players in their position, if not the best.

 

[Crapspray]

Looks a really strong squad, with the best backline England have put out in a long time. I'm really looking forward to the game. And the week after, when the players from the final get a chance as well.

Coaches seem to be making the right noises too.

 

[Big Ewis]

should be interesting...

 

[dullonien]

That's a tasty looking England side.

It might struggle due to a lack of experience, but given time to develop many of those players could really shake things up.

 

[Thingimubob]

Best side England have put out in a long time.
Can't wait! Though there's a high possibility I won't even see the game as everywhere will be showing the fallover ball round here.

Don't mean the Champions League final do you? That's Saturday night, this is on Sunday right?

 

[ratsapprentice]

That's a tasty looking England side.

It might struggle due to a lack of experience, but given time to develop many of those players could really shake things up.

That's exactly it, they'll probably make as many mistakes as anything else, but it's brimming with genuine potential.

 

[j'nuh]

Do any of the English members posters have any isues with caps being given away to players who aren't considered to be in the top ~30 players? Obviously the Lions aren't eligible for selection, but a lot of players are also left behind for no real reason. Would it not make sense to simply not have England playing in the window and just call it England A?

You have to remember that on top of the Lions, there's also a Saints-Tigers final (and those two teams provide more English players than any other). Of the players available to England, I think most of those players would get in the top 30. In fact, I think that most would be in the top 30 even if the rest were available. The pack is marginally weaker than the 6N one, but has a great deal more balance to it, and the backline is better in like 5/7 positions.

I actually think this may be the best team Lancaster has put out yet.

Except, what planet is he living on having Yarde ahead of May?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Except, what planet is he living on having Yarde ahead of May?

So we have RB cover on the bench.