31 thoughts on “England Rugby Provisional Elite Player Squad”

1. Some notable omissions but I feel most for Kvesic, poor guy. Can’t seem to get on Eddie’s good side.

   Pleased Tom Youngs is back, got a soft spot for him.

   1. Yeah, I feel like I’d be happy just seeing him play once to prove whether or not he is up to the challenge. Could be that he makes the leap up to international and becomes England’s Pocock. If he couldn’t then fine, but at least we could all stop wondering what could’ve been.

2. Christ, how many SH players is it now in this side?????

   They’ll have more Pacific Islanders than Europeans in the team soon

   1. I have no problem picking people who have emigrated to this country and settled here long term, so would exclude the likes of the Vunipolas , Tuilagi and Roko from your list. That just leaves Hughes and Teo. So two. Not really that excessive is it, compared to the Irish Saffas and kilted Kiwis beloved by other 6 nations teams. Or are they ok because they “look” more British/ European?

      1. Ireland only have 2, CJ Stander and Jared Payne.

         1. You also have Finlay Bealham who only qualifies through a grandmother. Sean Reidy who qualifies through a grandmother and only left NZ in 2014. And Quinn Roux who left SA in 2012.

            And who was that prop who had barely stepped off the plane from NZ when he got selected for Ireland?

            1. Ireland have Strauss too. Was it Nathan White you mean Pablito?

               All countries do it – but to be honest England really aren’t that bad for it at all.

               1. Yup, no one country is particularly worse than the other – at least now the days of players like Shane Howarth are over.

                  I really would like the rules to be tightened further though

                  The player I was thinking of was Michael Bent who had barely set foot in the country before he was drafted into the Ireland squad

3. 4 Scrum half but only the 2 Fly halves, and one of those plays more at 12 than 10 for England! Thought Cips might have had a chance and agree about Kvesic too, some of these guys just cant seem to catch a break!

   1. I honestly see Slade as more of a 10 option, and I wonder if he’s get more games there for Exeter this season as Steenson winds down to retirement, especially as they now have Devoto.

      1. If that’s the case it would confirm Eddie’s preference for a heavy hitter at inside centre, Slade’s the only playmaker in that group of possible 12s.

4. Good squad and glad Eddie has given a couple of the U20’s a shout for experience. Only notable exceptions for me, alongside Cipriani and Kvesic, would be Tommy Taylor and Dave Ewers. Also interesting to see that Kieran Brooke’s remains ousted from the setup which will is interesting as I believe that he normally starts ahead of Paul Hill for Saints?

5. Bit of an ‘OCD’ request Hutch but please can you filter the squad by position in the article so that it’s easier to see the splits?

   1. Here you are Paulo:

      Props
      Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
      Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
      Paul Hill (Northampton Saints)
      Joe Marler (Harlequins)
      Matt Mullan (Wasps)
      Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
      Mako Vunipola (Saracens)

      Hookers
      Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
      Jamie George (Saracens)
      Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
      Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

      Locks
      Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
      Maro Itoje (Saracens)
      George Kruis (Saracens)
      Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
      Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)

      Back row
      Josh Beaumont (Sale Sharks)
      Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
      Will Evans (Leicester Tigers)
      Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
      James Haskell (Wasps)
      Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
      Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
      Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
      Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers)

      Scrum half
      Danny Care (Harlequins)
      Dan Robson (Wasps)
      Joe Simpson (Wasps)
      Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)

      Fly half
      Owen Farrell (Saracens)
      George Ford (Bath Rugby)

      Centres
      Elliot Daly (Wasps)
      Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
      Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
      Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
      Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
      Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)

      Back three
      Mike Brown (Harlequins)
      Alex Goode (Saracens)
      Mike Haley (Sale Sharks)
      Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
      Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
      Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby)
      Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
      Marland Yarde (Harlequins)

      A couple of unfamiliar names, but I think that’s right…!

      1. Cheers Hutch, that makes it easier to see the positional splits.

6. Biggest shock imo is the omission of harry mallinder (irb u20 player of the year) especially as other u20s players are included.

   To my eye he has the potential to be a complete 12, which we’ve needed for years (admittedly I.said the same of devoto and that’s not exactly come to fruition)

   Just really surprised me not to see him. Great jwc, breakthrough in the prem, performed in Europe. Missed opportunity to get him involved early maybe?

   1. Mallinder needs more experience IMO. Can look sublime and utterly out of his depth at times for Saints. Great prospect, but needs a bit more experience. Maybe he will come in for the 6n.

      1. However given the inclusion of Marchant and Owens i would have expected them to get him involved in the setup sooner rather than later

         1. Owens – Nigel? Or you mean Evans?

            1. I do mean Evans, not sure where Owens came from

               1. Wales.

      2. Mallinder’s a cracking prospect, but so is the bloke who actually played 12 at the U20 world cup, Johnny Williams. Big, strong runner, but a playmaker too, with great awareness and soft hands. Thought he combined very well with Mallinder at 10. Problem for Williams is his club (London Irish) have been relegated, so unless he jumps ship he may slip off the radar a bit.

   2. Max Deegan was u20 player of the year.

7. Very surprised by T Youngs inclusion, but otherwise a pleasing squad. Questions to be answered this season surely needs to be a another option at fullback to Brown who is in decline IMO, the make up of the back row and centres. Would like to see Daly get a chance, as Joseph has stagnated somewhat. Glad to see May back. He has his detractors, but I thought he was one of England’s most improved players at the world cup, and some additional pace at the back would be handy.

   1. Watson at full back for me. Not a fan of May, to predictable. I’d bring Rokodaguni into the wing spot vacated by Watson.

8. Interesting that Ewels makes the cut along with the established four. Could have been his mate Attwood. I’d like to see Launchbury and Symons put a club partnership together to rival Itoje and Kruis. Krutoje, Ewelwood and Launchmons, and those would be the elite guys. We’re ok for locks. SlaKitchRow (Leicester)?. Sorry, I’ve had lots of wine.

   Really pleased to see both Simpson and Robson in there, I could see those guys usurping Youngs and Care. Not ideal they’re at the same club though.

9. The most interesting one for me is the inclusion of Joe Marchant. Personally I was more impressed with him than Mallinder in the U20’s. He just seemed to get the basics right and didn’t try to force anything. Whereas Mallinder looked impressive doing the flashy stuff it was nice to have a young player just doing his job exactly as you’d want him to. Good pace/feet, strong with ball in hand, good defence and confident in his ability without being cocky.

   All in all this looks to be a very good squad, but have to question no Ewers or Armand who I thought were both impressive enough on the Saxons tour to get a look?

   1. Ewers and Armand were certainly impressive on the saxons tour – but I’m not too surprised by their exclusion.

      At 8, they already have Vunipola, Hughes and Beaumont in this squad and I’d have those three over Armand.

      At 6, Robshaw is nailed on and Harrison is probably the second options with Hughes and Beaumont both covering too. Potentially Ewers over Harrison is the only real debate but I do think Harrison deserves another chance.

10. Pleased to see Youngs back in the reckoning. I have always thought his reputation as a scrummager suffered somewhat unfairly because Cole was going through a very difficult time with his neck and was well below par for a long time. Similarly, his line out stats for Leicester suggest that he is accurate when throwing to familiar jumpers. If Eddie has told him to go away and work on particular aspects of his game and he has done so, he provides useful competition to the other three. Not sure what Cips has to do to convince Eddie he is a changed man. He was outstanding for the Saxons, and although his place kicking radar is sometimes off he brings a vision to number 10 that no-one else comes near. Not sure I agree with Jacob that Robshaw is “nailed on”. I think Eddie will need convincing that he is likely to play six at the next world cup, and if he decides that he has better long term options available he will be culled ruthlessly.
    Looking at the squad overall, the really encouraging thing is that there now appears to be strength in depth in so many positions and the prospect of really good players pushing through from the Saxons and Under 20´s. No doubt being England there will be traumas and setbacks along the way, but for the first time in years optimism is the order of the day.

    1. Also pleased to see Youngs back but the odd thing is that if he was told to go and work on things, Eddie’s had no evidence that he’s improved them. He didn’t play at all after January due to injury, so Jones must be showing a bit of faith here.

       1. Very true JK. Maybe EJ thought he was doing well until he got injured, had planned to give him a tour to prove himself, and is now making up for that? I really like Youngs but I think that he will have a hard enough job on his hands keeping the starting berth at Leicester in the face of Harry Thacker´s challenge. Thacker is already a real handful, and if he can get somewhere near to 16 stone without losing pace he could be hard to keep out of any side.

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