England World Cup Squad

[Reiser99]

Maybe Borthwick has a plan, but Mercer had everything we were missing when playing in the Top14. It's decisions like this where I'd love to hear the rational. Maybe he needs a bit of R&R and Borthwick doesn't need to see anymore for the moment but that seems very unlikely. If the hope is that Binny gets fit and regains form then Borthwick is taking a punt from his own try line.

 

[BPM]

God Knows.... I mean I know we are gifted in backrow but feels a stretch. Clearly Martin is being considered for the row and Ludlham/Earl/T Willis/Pearson/Dombrandt have been picked over Mercer.

I don't get the logic but not much we can do.

Still not quite sure how Jonny May is still in this squad....

May at 75% of his peak is still better than the wingers who were dropped. I don't see his inclusion as that controversial at all. Yes, he's had a poor season for Gloucester, but he's rarely less than good for England and form from months ago doesn't really count for much.

I can only assume Mercer didn't impress?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

May at 75% of his peak is still better than the wingers who were dropped. I don't see his inclusion as that controversial at all. Yes, he's had a poor season for Gloucester, but he's rarely less than good for England and form from months ago doesn't really count for much.

I can only assume Mercer didn't impress?

I prefer Freeman tbh

 

[BPM]

So do I, but in May's absence, none of his erstwhile replacements have cut the mustard and I think him not being there was a reminder of how good he can be.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

So do I, but in May's absence, none of his erstwhile replacements have cut the mustard and I think him not being there was a reminder of how good he can be.

Yeah but he plays for Gloucester. Surely that's enough of a reason to drop him?

Being serious I think May is good for the squad and if he find some form then great but I want to see someone younger with a real point of difference partner Watson. But if non of the young pups are ready then keep May on.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I like T Willis a lot, pleased to see him in. But unless Mercer's been going like a drain in training, this feels like a premeditated change.

Mercer's been flying in France and presumably would have stayed if he'd have been given an inkling that Borthwick didn't fancy him.

Totally Borthwick's right to rate a player or not, although I violently disagree with him here. I just hope though that he hasn't given Mercer false hope, causing him to uproot and quite possibly take a cut in earnings.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

It seems the Gloucester curse applies before players even start playing for the club.

If Borthwick has done the Jones trick of dangling a carrot in front of a player he never had any intention of playing, no matter how they performed, that is really really poor. It's simply not good management. Given how mercer has nearly always been one of the players with the most fight in him, I would be surprised to discover he was giving anything less than his all in training, or that his all wasn't up to standard.

That or Borthwick is also doing a Jones and expects his 8 to be as close to a Billy v was it is possible to be if the main article isn't available, and no regard for what different 8s could bring to the team.

 

[BPM]

The thing is, we're judging it on what we saw last season. Borthwick is judging on what he's seeing right now.

I would have picked Mercer, but I'm not disappointed that Tom Willis is in.

The fact that Willis has been picked suggests to me that Borthwick was looking for someone to stake a claim for the 8 shirt. Perhaps it's simply a case of Willis being better than Mercer which is believable IMO. Taking two very inexperienced 8s (in test terms) probably wasn't an option so it could just be that Willis came out on the right side of a 50:50.

Also worth noting that the RWC carrot for Mercer was dangled by Eddie not Borthwick.

 

[higgik]

This is mad, they've been bigging him up all week on all the socials

Is he injured?

Especially as Billy is still in.
Mercer provides the skills of Dombrandt with the fitness to back it up.
Potentially see him as a modern Dayglo or Read.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

If Mercer's been brought in and hasn't impressed then ultimately that's all that counts; whether or not he's come back from France to be there is irrelevant. That shouldn't guarantee him a spot.

I'm disappointed that he hasn't made the cut as I had high hopes for him, but I also haven't seen how he's performed in camp and none of us have any real idea how he'd have performed at international level. If Borthwick has left him out then honestly at this point I'm willing to trust his better judgement. He knows far more about how Mercer's been performing than any of us do.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

This is mad, they've been bigging him up all week on all the socials

Wasn't that just because it was his birthday?

 

[Reiser99]

If Mercer's been brought in and hasn't impressed then ultimately that's all that counts; whether or not he's come back from France to be there is irrelevant. That shouldn't guarantee him a spot.

I'm disappointed that he hasn't made the cut as I had high hopes for him, but I also haven't seen how he's performed in camp and none of us have any real idea how he'd have performed at international level. If Borthwick has left him out then honestly at this point I'm willing to trust his better judgement. He knows far more about how Mercer's been performing than any of us do.

I'm not.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I'm not.

So you think that you, who hasn't seen any of training, knows more about how Mercer's been performing than the international coach who has seen all of training?

 

[Reiser99]

So you think that you, who hasn't seen any of training, knows more about how Mercer's been performing than the international coach who has seen all of training?

No, I just don't trust Borthwick's judgement. He's had a very unconvincing and uninspiring start as England coach and has shown with Leicester that he plays very one dimensional tactics and plays it safe.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'm kinda willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but he showed stubbornness in the face of poor performance in the 6N - maybe he didn't want to rock the boat as a new guy,
We'll see when we go into warm ups

The suggestion that he's already got Billy inked in as his 8 so isn't fussed about the rest sounds disappointingly believable

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

If Mercer's been brought in and hasn't impressed then ultimately that's all that counts; whether or not he's come back from France to be there is irrelevant. That shouldn't guarantee him a spot.

Absolutely not, but equally you hope he hasn't been misled by either Jones or Borthwick.

Thing is that he's been outstanding for 2 years in frankly a much better league than the Prem. Willis has been great over there too, albeit for a much shorter timeframe. Dombrandt has been bang average at international level. Unless his attitude has been off, which is highly unlikely, why would a few training sessions outweigh a couple of years hard evidence (unless there are some fitness concerns we don't know about)?

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Maybe mercer's style doesn't fit what borthwick wants to do? That's a fair reason to keep him out. It'd also be fair for English fans to be uneasy about a dynamic player being at odds with the tactics.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I'm kinda willing to give him the benefit of the doubt but he showed stubbornness in the face of poor performance in the 6N - maybe he didn't want to rock the boat as a new guy,
We'll see when we go into warm ups

The suggestion that he's already got Billy inked in as his 8 so isn't fussed about the rest sounds disappointingly believable

The same Binny who he dropped for the 6N, allegedly fell out with and who's in a touch and go fitness race? Sounds about right.

 

[Saintjay]

Not convinced by the whole we are not seeing what Borthwick sees in training arguement. Freeman, Mercer, Mitchell carving it up in the prem but not fitting in in training. Billy V, Dombrandt, Youngs prone to being slow and a tad lazy in ganes but carving it up in training. If your form in matches doesn't give you credit why even bother.

I know Borthwick has plans, sees more than us. Yet most of us here wanted EJ to pick on form not credit in the bank. Yet here we are again.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Maybe mercer's style doesn't fit what borthwick wants to do?

Mercer: "I want to win games and entertain the fans"
Borthwick: