Eddie Jones has retained 25 players to prepare for England’s Old Mutual Wealth Series match against Samoa at Twickenham Stadium.
Nathan Hughes (Wasps) has returned to his club for rehab on his right knee. The number 8 has bone bruising in his knee joint and will require treatment for the next three to four weeks.
Backs
Fullbacks
Mike Brown (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Wasps), Jonny May (Leicester Tigers), Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby)
Inside backs
Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), George Ford (Leicester Tigers), Piers Francis (Northampton Saints), Alex Lozowski (Saracens), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
Forwards
Back five
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Front row
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers), Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers), Jamie George (Saracens), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
Players released back to their clubs:
Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Zach Mercer (Bath Rugby)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Denny Solomona (Sale Sharks)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) will remain in camp until Wednesday. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby) will continue to go through his Graduated Return to Play protocols in camp.
I look at Simmonds’ physique and pace and think he’s a 7. Doesn’t strike me as an 8 or blindside in the England system. Admittedly, not sure what he’s like over the ball, but would rather Robshaw/Itoje were kept at 6 – can’t see either being considered at 7 in Japan.
Jk
He’s an amazingly well balanced runner. He can sidestep for starters which ain’t bad for a flanker.
I would have retained Mercer in the squad. If he is going to be introduced to international rugby he might as well start Saturday. Big engine, can carry, has good hands and can tackle.
Who will play 8?
Possibly Robshaw with Lawes at six Staggie?
The papers have suggested that it will be a back row of Robshaw, Lawes/Itoje, and Simmonds at 8. Despite Simmonds being small for an international 8, it would makes sense given is better knowledge and experience of the position.
Feels odd looking at our 7 back five options and it’s really just 5 locks and 2 flankers…
Personally based on that I’d go:
4. Launchbury 5. Itoje 6. Lawes 7. Simmonds 8. Robshaw
19. Isiekwe 20. Eweles
Can’t bring myself to pick Robshaw in the 7 shirt without horrific flashbacks so he can fill in as an 8 this weekend… Or maybe throw Lawes the 8 shirt and see what happens!?
Based on these 25 players my squad would be:
1. Genge, 2. George, 3. Williams, 4. Launchbury, 5. Lawes, 6. Robshaw, 7. Itoje, 8. Simmonds, 9. Care, 10. Farrell, 11. Daly, 12. Lozowski, 13. Slade, 14. May, 15. Brown
16. Hartley, 17. Mako, 18. Cole, 19. Isiekwe, 20. Ewels, 21. Youngs, 22. Ford, 23. Rokoduguni
I don’t know if Itoje would be a better 7 than Robshaw, but I feel he needs to be starting somewhere in the team and Simmonds is very comfortable at 8.
In reality, the’ll probably pack down with Itoje in the row and Lawes/Robshaw playing left and right. I don’t think the shirt number is relevant but I would rather the 7 was kept from Robshaw’s or it’ll just create an unnecessary side story.
Agree with your side except I’d rest Mako, with Marler on the bench. With Watson and JJ rested it’s really only Daly from the Lions that has break properly, unless you’re counting a few weeks off injured pre-AIs.
I have to admit that at the moment I’m not sure I would be picking Marler. His head doesn’t seem to be in the right place an I thought last week he was close to losing it with Hooper. He is a red card waiting to happen and, that is something we really don’t need.
I know what you’re saying about Itoje but I would leave Robshaw at 6 and have Lawes in the second row. Itoje may not look much like a 7 but frequently plays like one.
As I say, I don’t think the numbers on the shirt will be relevant, it’s only at scrum time and it’ll be Itoje in the row with Launchbury. Itoje can wear 8 and Launchbury 7 for all I care.
Disagree on Marler though, I thought he did well last week when he came one, his scrummaging in particular was impactful. I’d have his as 3rd choice LH however I just think Mako needs a rest.
Bizarre to only have 2 back rowers in the squad. We will be playing an out of position lock for the full 80. If Robshaw or Simmonds have to leave early, we will have 2 locks out of position. Seems needlessly risky to me.
Meanwhile we have 3 LH props and still only 2 SH’s…………
It’ll either be because one LH has an injury niggle, or he may rest Mako (he kept Farrell and Itoje with the squad when he rested those two).
And are you suggesting a match day squad should have more than 2 scrum half’s?
Jonny May to make his comeback in the back row.
Wade at lock calling the lineouts
What’s the general consensus about the Ford/Farrell combo at the moment? I know there is an old saying ‘if not broke, why fix it’…..but at the same time England have room for improvement & can’t help but feel it is more circumstance with lack of a solid choice at 12 that is causing it. Do people think once Teo is fully fit, Farrell goes to 10?
I think a back line needs at least one big carrier. Obviously most likely to be on the wing or centre.
Eng only have, in my opinion, 2 big carriers that have shown they can do the business at international level. Te’o and Tuilagi. When fit and at their best, Te’o is probably not as good a carrier, but a better all round player, and should therefore play.
Then I think it becomes a question of where he plays, and who gets dropped for him. For me, as he’s the kicker, Farrell plays regardless. So the other players (ford, joseph, slade etc) fight it out to make the team.
If Ford plays, maybe the midfield is a bit short on pace. If Joseph plays, then there’s only one “playmaker”. Slade arguably is a nice balance of both, so might be worth pursuing!
I am not totally convinced about the need for a big ball carrier in the backs-players such as SBW who have the handling skills to match their size are rare as hens teeth.
The old adage says that there are two types of rugby players-those that shift the piano and those who play the tune.
well, England have have Joseph,May ,Daly and Watson to score the tries-The job of everyone else is to get the ball to them with space and time.
Age is not on Teos side and as for Tuilagi”s effectiveness that can be ascertained by looking at Johnny Mays scoring rates as soon as Tuilagi makes it back into Leicesters team, his injury record however is not encouraging
The Ford/Farrell debate is becoming somewhat
tiresome.For all of Farrells many talents Ford is the better attack fly half in the present set up
which requires use of the scimitar rather than the broadsword-Look to the England-Wales match this year,scintillating pace from Daly,a sumptuous pass from Farrell, but the most important component of that try was Fords vision to instantly spot the opportunity. I sense that EJ is waiting for Billy V to get back to full fitness as his ball carrying is going to open up the field particularly in the 13 channel-JJ”s lack of effectiveness in this years 6 Nations can be put down to injury to BV.
For me T’eo is the best midfield carrier we have. I’m surprised Eddie hasn’t experimented with one of our bigger wingers playing in the centre while he’s been injured. They would need to improve their defensive skills and it would be different positioning but I would think Yarde or Solomona could do a job carrying in the 13 channel?
Solomona has been conspicuous by his absence this series which suggests he still has a way to go and time is ticking down. Yarde can’t defend and he’s not that big really either. Maybe finding hefty centres is a job to be done post 2019!
Personally I’d like to see Farrell in at 10 either way. Nothing against Ford but I just feel our wings, No 13 and 15 are not getting released enough as we don’t have a big runner at 12 to suck in a few players, especially when the game is stretched. It’s like the ball goes through too many hands 9,10, 12 before any real metres / running impact is made and thus teams can drift defence across easier and the touchline becomes the 16 man for them.
Agree Teo has a bit more to his game and I suspect Tuilagi will be one of those forever injured players who becomes a ‘what if’. A shame really.
Agree with the lack of a ball carrier – the Ford and Farrell combo is good but as you rightly point out has a tendency to drift across field without going forward and straight.
Think this is even more true without Brown, whose direct running, whilst not to everyone’s taste, is clearly effective and in line with EJ’s plans.
If we can’t find that at 12 then one answer is to find it on the wing, so when he returns I’d like to see Nowell back in the team. He may not be the biggest or fastest but he is constantly looking to make the hard yards and he almost always skips through the first tackle.
It won’t ever happen but in the spirit of ‘what if’, I would like to see if this back line would click
10 Farrell
11 Nowell
12 Slade
13 Daly
14 Watson
15 Brown
I’d tweak that slightly:
10 Farrell
11 Daly
12 T’eo
13 Slade
14 Nowell
15 Watson
Tempted to put Daly at 15 and Watson on the wing but Daly hasn’t played FB in how long?