England vs Wales always seems to spark debate like no other fixture, and with this game coming in the wake of the latter’s win in the World Cup, that is more true now than ever.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a combined XV from the two teams that will take to field at Twickenham this weekend. No doubt you won’t agree with all the selection decisions, but please note that we’ve tried to pick on form, rather than reputation.
15. Liam Williams (Wales)
It’s probably fair to say that neither fullback is anywhere near their best form at the moment. Brown is seriously struggling to beat defenders anymore, and his link work with the back three is poor. Williams is ever so slightly the better option, but not by much.
14. Anthony Watson (England)
Watson may not quite have set the world alight yet, but he has shown glimpses of his lightening feet and rapid acceleration. There is more in store from Watson and if given a hint of space in the final two games, expect him to punish someone. Neither Tom James nor Alex Cuthbert has been anything more than solid.
13. Jonathan Joseph (England)
His hattrick against Italy might have taken the headlines, but it was his defensive work against Ireland that has been the most impressive thing about Joseph this tournament. He has shown that there is more to his game than a hitch-kick and outside break, too. Jonathan Davies has too often kicked when keeping the ball in hand would have been a better option.
12. Jamie Roberts (Wales)
Owen Farrell has adapted to the inside centre roll with aplomb, but Jamie Roberts has been in a different league. He might be easy to read at times, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy to stop, and Wales use him much as England use Billy Vunipola – to smash over the gainline with a view to subsequently profiting from quick ball on the front foot. Add in his superb defensive work, and he’s been one of the players of the tournament so far.
11. George North (Wales)
Much-maligned before the Six Nations began, North has returned to something near his best form with several line-breaking runs and a couple of good finishes. He edges Jack Nowell, who, other than a brilliant cover tackle on Robbie Henshaw, has had a quiet few games.
10. George Ford (England)
Ah, the first potentially controversial call. Dan Biggar is excellent at what he does but he still has not been able to elicit a coherent attacking performance from his backline (you can squabble amongst yourselves as to why that is). Ford has had his ups and downs this tournament, but there are few that attack the gainline as consistently and overall, his contributions have been positive.
9. Gareth Davies (Wales)
He has carried on his try-scoring form from the World Cup and the highest praise that you can give him is that Wales have not missed Rhys Webb in his injury-enforced absence. Both Ben Youngs and Danny Care have had nice moments for England but neither have touched the consistency of Davies.
1. Joe Marler (England)
Whatever your opinion on his scrummaging, the England set piece has been vastly improved this Six Nations. You might argue that Wales’s has been excellent too (you would be right) but Marler’s work in the loose – most notably in some hugely physical tackling behind the gainline – makes him the obvious choice over Rob Evans.
2. Dylan Hartley (England)
There has been very little to split the two hookers to be honest, both of whom have overseen a largely accurate set piece. Hartley’s leadership and probably greater influence in the loose (particularly against Ireland, a game in which he charged around like a man possessed without, crucially, ever overstepping the mark) just about makes him top dog.
3. Samson Lee (Wales)
Lee’s value to the Welsh scrum is immeasurable – the difference in their set piece when he leaves the fray is obvious in everything but actual tangible value. He doesn’t do a great deal in the loose, and while Dan Cole is certainly more rounded in that area, the Englishman has been a bit of a walking penalty at times.
4. George Kruis (England)
No one man has seen his stock rise under Eddie Jones quite as much as Kruis. He is relentlessly physical and is now in charge of the lineout; you could go as far as saying that he is one of the first names on the teamsheet at the moment. Given Luke Charteris has been injured, this is one shirt that is not even closely contested.
5. Alun-Wyn Jones (Wales)
Had Maro Itoje been playing for the entirety of the tournament, he may have pipped Jones to this shirt, because it is fair to say that the Welsh legend hasn’t quite been at his best. That said, even at below his peak, he is a formidable player, and has formed part of a front five that has taken very few steps backwards.
6. Sam Warburton (Wales)
The back-row is where it gets a bit tricky. No-one in the number six shirt has really impressed overtly – Dan Lydiate has had little game time, while Chris Robshaw has been typically industrious if nothing else. Warburton is perhaps not completely comfortable here, but he did a reasonable job in the opening couple of rounds and that’s good enough at the moment.
7. James Haskell (England)
Having Haskell at seven and Warburton at six might seem a bit backwards, but the Wasps captain has largely been a success in England’s openside shirt. He is patently not a fetcher, but what he does very well is charge off the side of scrums with great speed and tackle midfield runners behind the gainline. He is not everyone’s cup of tea but he has been hugely important to England’s miserly defence so far.
8. Billy Vunipola (England)
There can be no argument here. While Faletau has been subtly good, Vunipola has been anything but under the radar. He has been allowed to go out and express himself, and that has manifested itself in some almost unbelievably powerful ball-carrying – at times, seemingly impossibly, from a standing start. He has been the best player this tournament bar none.
So there you have it – eight Englishmen and seven Welshmen, which pretty much tells you all you need to know about how close it will be at Twickenham this weekend. What do you make of the above team? Let the debate begin continue!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
26 replies on “Six Nations 2016: The Combined England/Wales XV”
I think the only one I would disagree with is Ford. And no I wouldn’t pick Biggar there either. I would have Farrell there. If we’re talking about there overall gameplay, then I think Farrell has been the best of the three. I know you will say he’s been playing at 12, but I still think he’s been the best fly half playing out of those three, whatever number is on his back.
There are a few changes I’d make as below:
12. Farrell for Roberts. Roberts I think has flattered to deceive. His yardage made is negligible, he takes the ball too far into contact causing a slow delivery from the ruck and has either not seen or butchered over lap after over lap. Owen, in comparison, whilst playing out of position has had integral parts in a number of tries, has played well as a second distributor with a tip top defence and the added kicking from both tee and hand – plus he’s been doing a lot of Fords job too.
10. Biggar for Ford. Quite simply George is found out at the moment, and will probably be exposed on Saturday. Biggar has played pretty well on basically one leg, so should get the nod.
9. Care for Webb. Tbh , theres not a lot in this, but for sheer dynamism Care just inches it for me.
1. Evans for Marler. 5 years ago a Welsh front row without Gethin Jenkins would have caused palpatations in Cardiff. Testament to Evans that a legend is not being missed.
2. Baldwin for Hartley. Despite the claims by Jamie of Hartley playing with a greater responsibility, penalties against him for a shoulder charge belies that. Hartleys done ok, not much more for me.
3. Cole for Lee. Big Dan is back to close to his best, and is avoiding the penalties in the loose.
5. Itoje for Wyn-Jones. Ok, ok. AWJ is immense and yep he is worth a place in the team. Its just that Itoje and Kruis are looking to be a great lock partnership.
6. Itoje for Warburton, allows AWJ to start, gives 3 line out options and allows Sam to play at 7 which is where he should start, and 6 he needs to avoid as he gets lost there.
7. Warburton for Haskell. Haskell has tried hard, but he just aint the answer at 7. Sam, when he’s gone to 7, has looked different mustard.
So there you go.
8 missed tackles so far for Faz, defence is not tip top. He’s going too high and if he tries this against Roberts he’ll lose every single collision (concede ground in the tackle or fail to make the tackle).
Even the most pro Sarries supporter can’t select Itoje twice in the same team 😉
He’s good, but not that good!
2 points Matt. If picking Itoje at 6 AWJ plays second row. I was just giving options.
For the missed tackles England have still only conceded how many tries? I’d say the England defence has been pretty good and as Faz is the defensive organiser he has to take credit for that (not forgetting at least one try, Taylor for Scotland, that went through Roberts channel.) Then add in the attacking play, kicking and distribution that Faz offers and that Roberts is completely incapable of I’d say that puts Faz in the 12 shirt.
I give Gustard the credit for the one try concede thus far, overall defence has been very good.
Point is Farrell needs to improve his tackle technique, he’s going too high and this is one of the individual battles I’m most concerned over. He was up against big physical centers vs Ireland and made 6/9 JJ was 15/15.
I think Farrell has adapted to life as a 12 better than I expected and has done a decent job. But if I’m picking a combined side Roberts on his top test match animal form, which he is, gets the shirt and I’d guess a poll would have this as one of the most one sided selection decisions in our fantasy team.
Yes much of the credit goes to Gustard but he isn’t on the pitch, and so therefore credit has to go those players implementing the plan, of which Farrell is a very important cog. So credit needs to be given there.
However in comparison I still think Farrell is better than Roberts. 1 try each. Scoring passes given, at least 2-0 to Farrell. Overlaps butchered, probably 25-0 to Roberts. Tries scored through their channel, 1-0 minimum against Roberts. Metres gained and defenders beaten, I’d say Faz is well ahead on that too. And Roberts cannot kick or distribute for toffee.
The point is Roberts may well get picked by the majority, but that is based on (overinflated) reputation and not on performances in the six nations so far.
Fingers crossed for the game, but the JR vs OF battle is the one I’m most concerned about, he can not go high in some macho chest bump style tackle he seems to like against Roberts. If he’s getting regularly trampled by his opposite number he’s not having a good game and winning that one on one battle.
Thankfully far greater rugby intellects than mine will have analysed the situation and come up with a plan ….
I think the plan will be Haskell in defence allowing Faz and JJ to expose the oil tankers of the Welsh back line in attack.
An interesting article on England’s defence here
http://www.rugbyworld.com/countries/wales-countries/analysis-how-will-englands-defence-stand-up-against-wales-54782
Interesting article with the proviso being that Ireland had a playmaker who sort of exploited it but not successfully (as in no tries scored although least one should have been.)
Now do Wales have the creativity at 10,12, 13 to create the same opportunities and if, and it’s a big if, do they have the skill to finish it off?
The problem Wales have is that their creative players are inside the 10 (Faletau and Davies) and not outside.
It’s an interesting series of match ups to be sure.
Stopped reading at Farrell for Roberts. Lolz
Stopped reading at Andy Farrell
Which just goes to prove the narrow mindedness of some of the people on here. By all means disagree with what someone says but really you should do the comment the modicum of respect and read it. Or if you don’t want to read it, remove yourself from the debate until you have learnt how to debate.
You can select Itoje 3 times now and I wouldn’t argue 😉
I’m sure I could right a similar article picking the exact opposite team and make a decent fist of arguing for their inclusion, so not an easy job at all!
I think the battle at 7 is interesting with two wildly different players. Warburton is obviously the more talented, but Haskell has been fantastic. His role isn’t traditional and it’s actually quite basic, but he’s been doing it extremely well.
From the RBS stats: attacking-wise, he’s made 15 carries for 8 metres, 0 breaks and 0 defenders beaten, which to me says that they have all been “reset” carries, rather than taking the ball off the 9 or wider. He’s made 2 passes and conceded 1 turnover. In defence, he’s only made 1 turnover in his 3 matches, but he’s made 39 tackles missing just 2.
His job has been watered down to tackling and rucking, and he has been doing that job very well.
Whether Haskell is the right man for the 7 shirt going forward is another debate (and the conclusion will be that he’s not – I’d suggest he probably would be found out against Australia in the summer if he was played there). But against Wales, with the starting midfield we have coming up against Jamie Roberts, and Warburton in the 7 shirt looking for turnovers, I can’t think of a player I’d rather have than Haskell. Tackle Roberts, get up. Ruck Warburton, get up. Tackle Roberts, get up. Ruck Warburton, get up. Repeat for 55-65 minutes until Clifford comes on.
I disagree on nearly half the team
Marler, Baldwin, Lee, Kruis, Charteris, Lydiate, Warburton, Vunipola, Care, Farrell, North, Roberts, Joseph, Watson, Brown
Baldwin has been a standout player for Wales and has a great set peice record
As much as I rate AWJ, Charteris has outperformed him all tounament
Was in two minds who goes at 6 between Lydiate and Haskell so went with Lydiate for his combination with Warburton.
Davies has been fairly poor once you ignore his offside try while Care has sizzled when he’s been brought on
Positional change for Farrell back to 10 because with Roberts around he’s not needed at 12. Biggar and Ford have had their issues and Farrell has been the best playmaker even out of postion
Was tempted to keep Nowell as North hasn’t been all that but decided against it in the end
Williams has been no better than Brown but has probably butchered more opportunities another close call
plus its a 23 man game now
George, Mako, Cole, Itoje, Tipuric, Davies, Biggar, Daly
George better than Hartley, Mako great impact player, Itoje more Versatile bench, Daly perfect utility backs sub
George is injured and not available. Keep up.
The entire thing is a fantasy why should I only pick players that are fit and available
In which case I’ll have JPR at 15 and Richard Hill at 6.
haha fair enough although I don’t think they will be as good now as they were back in the day
I dunno, JPR would get in the Welsh team at 70 I reckon and King Richard is still the greatest player I’ve ever seen 😉
maybe we should have resuscitate the AngloWelsh team concept of old to play a combined Scots/Irish team
Ford has been off form but in the long run he is the best flyhalf, I respect Jones for sticking with him. Other than bad form I think Ford has also struggled because he does not have an inside centre who can truck it up, one of his best attributes is delaying the pass on the gainline, imagine if he had Roberts to pop the ball to.
Or Tuilagi!!
Not sure I agree with this entirely, Ford played well all last season with Eastmond at 12 (granted, it was at Bath and not England) but instead they bring their big wingers in for the gainline breaking crash balls, which England don’t have.
I honestly just think he’s in a lull at the moment, but agree with you about him being the best long term option.