England World Cup Squad

[Noonz]

Borthwick making any 11th-hour calls to bring players back into the mix?...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Nic Dolly will be sat by his phone all tomorrow

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Borthwick will regret not turning down England till after the RWC

Should've let Cockers kick the can till post RWC.

 

[Saintjay]

Borthwick making any 11th-hour calls to bring players back into the mix?...

Doubt it, evidently the big selection meeting was after the match / Sunday to tell the players. Given the announcement is meant to be Monday i do wonder how many starting yesterday knew they were cut given the statements only 2/3 spots were undecided.

If i were opening the selection meeting as chair, i think my opening statement would be "well that's f#cked it".

 

[Geordie]

Think his selection will be pretty straight forward.

A few positions really concern me. Wing stands out...critical position and we're struggling.

And our handling. Awful

I think Dombrandt will miss out...

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I mean care put in some very contestable kicks and smith as well.

Once Farrell and Youngs come back with their pointless kicking, Fiji will be running everything back that our slow wings won't be able to do much about.

I'm so depressed with English rugby right now. Is SB too similar to Eddie, or has Eddie just done so much damage to the players confidence and systems. Are the players just not good enough, too many different clubs and systems to bring together or are we not selecting the right players?

All I know is that I watch a lot of premiership rugby and none of the teams look that poor, that devoid of ideas or are that poor are setting up something other than a forward 3 man pod.

I think Dombrant is awol.
Malins is too slow.
Porter doesn't offer enough at centre.
Smith was hot and cold.
Care looked slow surprisingly (was this him or the forwards)
Coko just can't defend

The forwards in general were slow in areas and didn't offer that punch when they ran into a load of welsh forwards which is obvious.

Our forwards need to carry better or slightly wider. Our backs need to be deeper with more options.

 

[TommiG88]

I mean care put in some very contestable kicks and smith as well.

Once Farrell and Youngs come back with their pointless kicking, Fiji will be running everything back that our slow wings won't be able to do much about.

I'm so depressed with English rugby right now. Is SB too similar to Eddie, or has Eddie just done so much damage to the players confidence and systems. Are the players just not good enough, too many different clubs and systems to bring together or are we not selecting the right players?

All I know is that I watch a lot of premiership rugby and none of the teams look that poor, that devoid of ideas or are that poor are setting up something other than a forward 3 man pod.

I think Dombrant is awol.
Malins is too slow.
Porter doesn't offer enough at centre.
Smith was hot and cold.
Care looked slow surprisingly (was this him or the forwards)
Coko just can't defend

The forwards in general were slow in areas and didn't offer that punch when they ran into a load of welsh forwards which is obvious.

Our forwards need to carry better or slightly wider. Our backs need to be deeper with more options.

All of this and we also rarely look to offload. So easy to defend.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Care looked slow surprisingly (was this him or the forwards)

See, I was drowning my sorrows immediately from kickoff but he seemed much faster generally, but I'm assuming the stat men will get that done mathematically

 

[Reiser99]

It's all just so depressing.

Honestly I started a list of what went wrong, but it's almost everything. We just look bad all over.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

England hopefuls fluff their lines. Steve Borthwick needs a new script | Gerard Meagher

Wales have some wind in their sails after Cardiff victory but time is running out for visitors to find a winning formula

www.theguardian.com

 

[higgik]

How about a match between two teams in training, allow them to just play without fear, one of the main issues atm.
My two teams, assuming all fit.
Team A
15 Daly
14 Watson
13 Slade
12 Porter
11 Malins
10 Farrell
9 VDP
8 Billy
7 Earl
6 Lawes
5 Ribbans
4 Itoje
3 Stuart
2 George
1 Mako

Team 1
15 Arundell
14 Murley
13 Marchant
12 Steward
11 May
10 Smith
9 Care
8 Dombrandt
7 Curry
6 Ludlam
5 Chessum
4 Martin
3 Rodd
2 Walker
1 Marler

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I suspect a large part of why Care looked slow is that every time he wanted to form the caterpillar (please make this illegal) or get guards in place, the forwards never seemed to expect it and always had to come from some distance at a slow trot and then slowly get in position. In general there seems to be no understanding whatsoever between the players about who will do what and when. It's disappointing that with a Quins 9, 10, 8 and 13 that the midfield and strike runs failed to materialise so rarely. The Quins selections were the ones who made the breaks but the rest of the team was always on a completely different wavelength and made next to no effort to support it or maintain momentum.

Any player who is just standing back or walking when a break is made in front of them should be getting the hair dryer treatment. The whole mentality of the squad stinks, nobody seems to be bothered (Ludlam excluded, who I think has been answering some of the questions raised about if he deserves his place). Mercer as well would likely have been a fighter but that ship seems to have sailed again.

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

Waste of space Dombrandt. He doesn't offer enough to cover his lack of physicality for international rugby.

Pearson at 8, and underhill at 7 would have made a real difference today.

I like the sound of that back row

 

[Reiser99]

I suspect a large part of why Care looked slow is that every time he wanted to form the caterpillar (please make this illegal) or get guards in place, the forwards never seemed to expect it and always had to come from some distance at a slow trot and then slowly get in position. In general there seems to be no understanding whatsoever between the players about who will do what and when. It's disappointing that with a Quins 9, 10, 8 and 13 that the midfield and strike runs failed to materialise so rarely. The Quins selections were the ones who made the breaks but the rest of the team was always on a completely different wavelength and made next to no effort to support it or maintain momentum.

Any player who is just standing back or walking when a break is made in front of them should be getting the hair dryer treatment. The whole mentality of the squad stinks, nobody seems to be bothered (Ludlam excluded, who I think has been answering some of the questions raised about if he deserves his place). Mercer as well would likely have been a fighter but that ship seems to have sailed again.

This has been a theme recently, especially under Borthwick. The players all look on completely different wave lengths and the communication seems terrible. I have no idea what England's game plan is apart from kick for territory and then hope to score. It's abysmal rugby.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I suspect a large part of why Care looked slow is that every time he wanted to form the caterpillar (please make this illegal) or get guards in place, the forwards never seemed to expect it and always had to come from some distance at a slow trot and then slowly get in position. In general there seems to be no understanding whatsoever between the players about who will do what and when. It's disappointing that with a Quins 9, 10, 8 and 13 that the midfield and strike runs failed to materialise so rarely. The Quins selections were the ones who made the breaks but the rest of the team was always on a completely different wavelength and made next to no effort to support it or maintain momentum.

Any player who is just standing back or walking when a break is made in front of them should be getting the hair dryer treatment. The whole mentality of the squad stinks, nobody seems to be bothered (Ludlam excluded, who I think has been answering some of the questions raised about if he deserves his place). Mercer as well would likely have been a fighter but that ship seems to have sailed again.

Yes, he always seems to give it all he's got. I'll defend Borthwick's right to be an idiot to the death but getting rid of an 8 whose gone out of his comfort zone to improve and set a really tough league on fire and a flanker who has proven he can be impactful at the top level is seeming madder by the day.

As is ignoring the fastest winger we have. Might have some defensive question marks but can't be worse than some other squad members and might just pose some threat - were he ever to get the ball.

But this feels less about individual players and more about set up and leadership. I've banged on about this but the players seem to have neither clarity nor inspiration. The time for blaming Jones has gone.

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Times says Slade out, Marchand in. Arundell and Earl also in,
Dombrandt May and Cokanasiga also out.

England's probable World Cup squad

Forwards E Genge, J Marler, B Rodd, J George, J Walker, T Dan, K Sinckler, D Cole, W Stuart, M Itoje, O Chessum, G Martin, D Ribbans, C Lawes, L Ludlam, T Curry, J Willis, B Earl, B Vunipola.
Backs B Youngs, D Care, J van Poortvliet, O Farrell, G Ford, M Smith, M Tuilagi, O Lawrence, J Marchant, A Watson, E Daly, M Malins, H Arundell, F Steward

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Earl being there is so weird when you consider how little he's been trusted at international level - like why didn't he start yesterday?
I guess if he's already on the plane he doesn't need to prove himself to SB, but if you combine all his senior caps he's averaged 21mins per appearance, he's barely been tested. Should've started on the flank with either Pearson or Ludlam (depending on whether Ludlam was playing for a spot or not)

Putting all our eggs in the Binnny Basket is wild as well - like genuinely pants on head crazy. Maybe Ludlam will move to 8 and be our RWC hero. He's in an odd position in that he deserves to start with the level of performance he's putting in, but if everyone's fit does he get there?

Arundell will fit in nicely with our accuracy from yesterday

 

[Geordie]

Earl being there is so weird when you consider how little he's been trusted at international level - like why didn't he start yesterday?
I guess if he's already on the plane he doesn't need to prove himself to SB, but if you combine all his senior caps he's averaged 21mins per appearance, he's barely been tested. Should've started on the flank with either Pearson or Ludlam (depending on whether Ludlam was playing for a spot or not)

Putting all our eggs in the Binnny Basket is wild as well - like genuinely pants on head crazy. Maybe Ludlam will move to 8 and be our RWC hero. He's in an odd position in that he deserves to start with the level of performance he's putting in, but if everyone's fit does he get there?

Arundell will fit in nicely with our accuracy from yesterday

Think Ludlum and Earl will cover 8.

 

[Geordie]

But yes how many mins has Daly or Earl played In years...

And surely its Daly OR Malins...meaning Malins goes home...

 

[Becca]

But yes how many mins has Daly or Earl played In years...

And surely its Daly OR Malins...meaning Malins goes home...

Every article I've read says Malins is included in the squad.