25 players have been retained by England to prepare for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations game against Ireland at Aviva Stadium.
Elliot Daly continues to progress through his graduated return-to-play protocol.
Forwards (14)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
James Haskell (Wasps)
Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins)
Tommy Taylor (Wasps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Backs (11)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Elliot Daly (Wasps)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
How do you think England will line up?
I had a dream last night. It involved multi phases of heavy, heavy ball carrying with the sole aim of breaking sexton and relentlessly targeting the decision making axis. It also aligns with the weather forecast.
Mako, Hartley ( ruck), sinckler , lawes, Itoje, billy, Haskell, Nathan Hughes….. that’s a team to destroy the gain line and cause actual physical damage. That’s how I feel the game will shape up so may as well start with the team who will deliver that…..just imagine phase after phase if willing and able carriers just pushing into the 10 channel for 48 minutes….that’s potentially what’s on offer and I find it compelling and frightening
Not sure why you would think EJ would drop Marler and Cole who are playing well or Launchbury who is probably the best second row in Europe. Why move Itoje back into the second row when he is showing signs of being a world class six and we have Lawes playing out of his skin? EJ will stick with his tried and tested starters and use his powerful bench either to close out the game or try and catch up. Anyone who thinks this will be easy is kidding themselves.
Geraint, I wish I had your kind of dreams, rather than my harrowing night-terrors. Yours sound awesome!
I said it was a dream based on ball carrying alone- no other facet of rugby. I advocate for balance more than anyone and hate fantasy based anything…. Was trolling more than anything
On that basis you would have to include George instead of Hartley who averages about two yards a game, usually when being pushed, and I would still rather have Launchbury than Hughes. Dodgy stuff this dreaming Geraint..look what happened to Martin Luther King!
Good to see that Daly is in there and none the worse for Sat!
Think the only areas of debate for the starting XV are Daly/Watson, Mako/Marler, Billy/Hughes?
I think for me the tricky one is Daly/Watson. Whilst Daly has shown he has real talent, Watson is prolific for England and has been our best finisher for the past few years. Both should be accommodated but I think one will make way for the other. May also retained as cover if Daly doesn’t pass protocol?
May was also retained last week as cover for Farrell. Who would have thought him so versatile?
Why is Tommy Taylor retained?
My thoughts exactly Blub. Have Hartley or George taken a knock? No indication of it but that is the only reason I can think of?
Maybe just for experience and greater understanding of calls etc. with Hartley, George or potentially both going with the Lions he might become central to England’s summer (here’s hoping)
Hot off the press:
Brown, Watson, Joseph, Farrell, Daly, Ford,Youngs
Marler, Hartley, Cole, Launchbury, Lawes, Itoje, Haskell, B Vunipola.
Bench: George, M Vunipola, Sinckler, Wood, Hughes, Care, Te’o, Nowell.
Happy with that. With the notable exception of Nowell being benched – as happy as I am to see Daly and Watson starting, Nowell would be one of the first names on the team sheet for me. Have to trust Eddie’s far superior man-management though – maybe he sees Nowell making a bigger impact as a replacement.
Yep – here you go: https://therugbyblog.com/six-nations-2017-england-team-to-play-ireland
Scam is an attempt of fraud of websites that aim to make money by deception.All of us hope to have an advantage from the digital age we live in, it is sad that many people do not care and are trying to use all sorts of methods that lead us into error.
i have 7 cxc 0’level passes including math and english, i don’t have a certificate for I.T, but i have had jobs which consisted of data entry and was also a data operator for customs and excise, my question is what qualifies for the IT personnel job?
Rachel, WordPress is not longer used just to create a simple WordPress blogs. It is used by millions of websites and many of theme are highly trafficked ones.
Thanks For Your Blog.