Eddie Jones has retained 28 players at Pennyhill Park to train for Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations game against Italy at Twickenham.
Billy Vunipola (Saracens) will join-up with England on Tuesday this week for a medical review.
Forwards (16)
Jack Clifford (Harlequins)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby)
Jamie George (Saracens)
Teimana Harrison (Northampton Saints)
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)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
Mike Williams (Leicester Tigers)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Backs (12)
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)
Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
How do you think England will line up on Sunday?
I’d like to see England show Italy some respect with close to a first XV with maybe two or three position changes. Maybe:
Marler George Cole/Sinckler
Lawes Launchbury
Itoje Hughes Haskell
Youngs
Ford
Nowell
Farrell
JJ
Watson
Daly
NB may have mixed up the wings/centres etc with team sheet/position translated!
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I agree, and a bonus point win is absolutely essential so we need to start with a solid team to build a platform then if going well mix things up a bit later in the game as it breaks up.
If Haskell is fit enough to start I would personally have him and Clifford on the flanks and move Itoje back to the row.
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Forgot about Clifford. Agree, him on the flank to build back some confidence and Itoje back in the boiler room.
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Good choice.
Cole and Sinkler agreed. Haskell as a finisher as he’s watching a toe!
With the exception of Teo maybe in the centre as a swap for JJ.
Daly full back for me
And Care at scrum half.
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Nice to see Watson back
Think we might see a start for Te’o, although whether that is at 12 or 13 I don’t know.
If we were being entirely experimental, I would like to see:
9. Care
10. Farrell
11. Watson
12. Te’o
13. Slade
14. Nowell
15. Daly
With Slade playing a Conrad Smith-type role and Te’o as his Ma’a Nonu
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23 I would like to see (from this squad!!)
1. Mako, 2. George, 3. Sinckler, 4. Launchbury, 5. Itoje, 6. Haskell, 7. Clifford, 8. Hughes, 9. Care, 10. Farrell, 11. Watson, 12. T’eo, 13. Jospeh, 14. Nowell, 15. Daly.
16. Hartley, 17. Marler, 18. Cole, 19. Lawes, 20. Williams, 21. Youngs, 22. Ford, 23. Slade
I’ve seen enough of Wood and Harrison to know that Wood is a stop gap option and Harrison doesn’t cut it at this level so why not give Williams a shot from the bench.
Slade on the bench gives us the extra playmaker option in the 13 channel. I know Faz has played at 13 before, but is not as effective as he is at 10 or 12. Watson or Nowell could cover 15 and JJ can move on to the wing so the back three are still covered.
I would like to see Robson included in the squad as I think he could be a better option than Youngs or Care if given the opportunity.
There are some other players that could be great at this level, but due to the Saxons not playing any Six Nations matches they are not getting any chance to push for places.
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So if you could blend in some players not in this squad Dazza, who would you like to see?
Other than Robson obviously
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Beaumont, Haley, Jones, Marchant and Lozowski are worth a look at some point but I don’t think this is the right time
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Anyone want to see Harry Mallinder come into the wider test squad? I know he’s only 20 and coming back from injury but genuinely could be our answer at 12 in the Greenwood mould; he’s absolutely massive so can act as a ball carrier yet has the hands to work as a playmaker as well
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He is clearly still avoiding contact with his left shoulder at the moment and has only made 58 % of his tackles this season. Real potential, but at his age you bring him in when he is fit and playing out of his skin, not when he is struggling.
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Beaumont, Haley, Jones, Marchant, Lozowski, Tomkins, Braley, Buchanan, Short to list just a few. These guys need to be kept “in the loop” as regards to England squads.
I think it’s criminal that there is no Saxons Six nations matches. It has always been a great feeder for guys on the edge of selection for the EPS.
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Totally agree about the lack of Saxons matches – it is madness. It is an opportunity to see how fringe squad players and emerging talents can perform in a non-club setting. If the RFU is serious about building for 2019 and beyond I cannot see how they can continue to ignore the lack of a secondary international team. I know the under-20s offers some of this, and it would be a huge bit of diplomacy to convince clubs to sacrifice more players when they already lose their top ones to the main England side, but a compromise has to be found
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I’ve seen a lot of calls to drop George Ford recently. I’m not entirely sure why anybody would endorse this.
On re-watching the France and Wales matches, what is striking is how well Ford has orchestrated England’s phase play so far. This is despite the amount of poor ball he has received, either through the inexperienced back-row failing to secure quick ball at the breakdown, or from some frankly shocking passes by Youngs, who is well short of the form he showed in the Autumn.
The Ford-Farrell axis has been one of the key reasons why this England side has improved no end in the last 12 month. Whilst Farrell is an excellent 10, he has been incredibly effective as a second receiver outside a flatter Ford. The greatest compliment you can give Farrell is that he has turned a problem position into one of England’s greatest strengths.
The other benefit of this axis is that Ford can remain in the back-field to receive kicks, and Farrell can stay in the defensive line, where he is rightly considered to be one of England’s key leaders.
If we want to make changes to the 10-12 axis against Italy, then it would make more sense to try Lozowski at 10 or Slade at 12 to see how they do in the place of Ford/Farrell. If we want to see Te’o start, there is no reason why he can’t do so at 13 outside Ford and Farrell. But dropping Ford to play Farrell at 10 seems to be a step backwards, rather than an act of progression.
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I think one of the main reasons is simply to try different combinations. T’eo has played well when he’s come on and arguably deserves a start. His best position is at 12.
Farrell is used to playing with a crash ball player at 12, more so than Ford anyway, and T’eo has the ability to play that game, but also much more.
Subtle changes, not wholesale. Most people are only talking about starting with “the finishers” which makes sense as they’ve been crucial in the first two games and have something to prove.
Dropping Farrell from the team at either 10 or 12 if Hartley is not playing would be a disaster as he is one of the best leaders within the team. Ford plays the way he has been for England because Farrell is at 12. If Farrell wasn’t playing I don’t think For would be as effective.
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I’m not too sure I completely agree with you there Dazza. Some of Ford’s delayed passes in the first two games, particularly during the first 20 against Wales, was brilliant. He was pulling them apart early on, and I imagine with a strike runner like Te’o in the 12 shirt it would be even more devastating.
That being said, no chance am I ever dropping Farrell from any England side. I’d personally keep Te’o as he is. He’s been a brilliant impact sub, let’s keep him that way.
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That is a fair point Jacob, but I also think Ford could make an equally big impact (obviously not in such a physical sense) off the bench. T’eo smashing the ball up the centre and offloading for 55-60 minutes will tire out the Italian defence and then Ford can come on, push Faz to 12 and throw passes around for the rest of the backline to run onto. Having a more crash ball 12 means the defence have to pay more attention to them, whereas with Ford and Faz most defences know the ball is going wide or a kick is coming in. Neither have made any major breaks with ball in hand so far this Six Nations.
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I can see the benefits of that, but I feel as though that passing game from Ford is a lot of what is good about Englands attack, with Farrell acting as another 10 it gives our attack so many options. The reason I think Te’o is making such a huge impact is because our main carriers in the pack our missing and therefore his impact is even more noticeable.
The balance of the team with the Vunipolas and Haskell back in, with our Ford/Farrell/JJ axis is the strongest we have IMO.
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Hopefully Mako will be back in this weekend which will make a difference in the carrying stakes. It will be interesting to see if Eddie continues his Itoje experiment against Italy. If there is one match you want to experiment in it’s this one.
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Why does Eddie Jones persist with Teimana Harrison?
This ought to be a titled piece all on its own on TRB.
From what i have seen so far from his truncated performances – they often resulted in his being replaced – he has been poor!
Neither strong and bulky enough to counter ruck nor to make yardage ball in hand.
Answers please!
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