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Love the Aussies butt hurtness over Jones when he was there coach.
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What changes with Eddie Jones
- Thread starter Hightower
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Or a Sarries infested horror show
Depends on the Sarries he picks.
Itoje, Fraser, Farrell, Kruis, George, and the Vunipola brothers? Sounds good.
Goode, Barritt, Ashton? Kill me.
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I'm not really interested in/excited for the 35-man training squad. Lancaster normally got that right. It's his 23 I want to see.
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Farrell = nah.
With the right players around him he's a decent pick. Definitely makes the training squad.
Plus Ford isn't in great form, and Cipriani's kicking has gone to pot again.
Maverick1987
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Aristodemus
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I don't understand the hate for Vunipola, I'd take Binny over Faletau and Denton any day. His conditioning was poor when he was at Wasps but now he is very different, take the game v Munster last year as an example, he was outstanding.
psychic duck
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Yes he is, although he could get fitter granted.
g6mcg
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Perhaps not in same league as Faletau (though they perform different roles for their teams so hard to compare), but I'd say he's better than Denton, with similar strengths and weaknesses.
Ford has missed only one kick this season and his form is coming back... No competition between him and Farrell for me
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I'd still pick Farrell over Ford (providing we spice up the centres a bit).
Ford has repeatedly shown himself to not be able to handle pressure, and has crumbled in all the biggest games of his career that I can think of. It'll take more than a few weeks of "his forms getting better" to convince me otherwise.
That said: he'd definitely be my bench choice.
Cipriani is playing really well but his kicking has been poor this season, and you really need that in international rugby (not even talking about being a 100% kicker, just what he was in previous years - like 80ish?, I presume he's like 60ish this one).
Ford has repeatedly shown himself to not be able to handle pressure, and has crumbled in all the biggest games of his career that I can think of. It'll take more than a few weeks of "his forms getting better" to convince me otherwise.
That said: he'd definitely be my bench choice.
Cipriani is playing really well but his kicking has been poor this season, and you really need that in international rugby (not even talking about being a 100% kicker, just what he was in previous years - like 80ish?, I presume he's like 60ish this one).
There's a lot of Jones backlines over the years with the goalkicker not playing 10. Like, the majority of his backlines I've heard about.
If you assume Slade (or even Farrell*) at 12, then all of a sudden, you don't need to worry about the kicking of your 10, at which point Cipriani becomes a very obvious call for me...
*Hear me out. First off, we can't assume what Jones gets out of a player will be what other men have got out of a player.
Second, Jones seems to like distributing 12s a lot and frankly, the well there is quite quite dry when it comes to England.
Third, he's kicked on both as a distributor and runner. I don't think he'll ever be the best in the world at either, but he could probably do a job as a cog in the machine. And a kicking 12 really opens up the door for Cipriani, who is currently on a shortlist of one when it comes to "England fly-halves who will be (theoretically) at their peak come 2019".
I would at least try it out in training (I would try Slade there first granted).
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That's a fair point, and I did consider a non-10 kicker.
The only two I can think of would be Slade (as said) - not sure whether Jones will view him as a 10/12/13. I'd love to see him at 12, but not going to happen at Exeter (full time, anyway), and he's got Joseph (and Tuilagi) to overtake at 13 - Tuilagi could be moved to 12, and then it's a straight shoot between Joseph and Slade: Still a very tough call, with Joseph would win IMO
aaaaand Daly, who probably isn't significantly better than Cipriani from the tee (though has much more distance) - more of a long range kicker than first choicer, and would face the same centre-challenges as Slade.
As a (not so) aside: I'm really excited to see what Jones does with the centres. Will Tuilagi be back by the 6N/January announcement?
So many potentially great combinations.
The only two I can think of would be Slade (as said) - not sure whether Jones will view him as a 10/12/13. I'd love to see him at 12, but not going to happen at Exeter (full time, anyway), and he's got Joseph (and Tuilagi) to overtake at 13 - Tuilagi could be moved to 12, and then it's a straight shoot between Joseph and Slade: Still a very tough call, with Joseph would win IMO
aaaaand Daly, who probably isn't significantly better than Cipriani from the tee (though has much more distance) - more of a long range kicker than first choicer, and would face the same centre-challenges as Slade.
As a (not so) aside: I'm really excited to see what Jones does with the centres. Will Tuilagi be back by the 6N/January announcement?
So many potentially great combinations.
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Yes.
But then I do want Tuilagi playing for England, and if they view him as a 13 only.....
I'm definitely a huge huge Joseph fan, but feel like he's easier to shut down than Tuilagi.
By that I mean: When defences wised up to Joseph, for England, he was pretty quiet after his break onto the international scene. Defences have been wise to Tuilagi since day one and it's not really made a lick of difference.
I also really want Slade in the England 23.
Tough decisions for Eddie 'n' pals.
But then I do want Tuilagi playing for England, and if they view him as a 13 only.....
I'm definitely a huge huge Joseph fan, but feel like he's easier to shut down than Tuilagi.
By that I mean: When defences wised up to Joseph, for England, he was pretty quiet after his break onto the international scene. Defences have been wise to Tuilagi since day one and it's not really made a lick of difference.
I also really want Slade in the England 23.
Tough decisions for Eddie 'n' pals.
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