Eddie Jones has named the team to take on Wales in Round 2 of the Six Nations this weekend.
There are two changes to the starting line-up that beat Italy 46-15 on Sunday in Rome.
Danny Care (Harlequins) starts at half back and will become England’s most capped scrum half (78), moving past 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Matt Dawson.
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) comes in for Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) at outside centre.
Following an injury to Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) Richard Wigglesworth has been named as a finisher. The 34-year-old Saracens half back last played for England in 2015.
England head coach Eddie Jones said: “The team is hugely excited about playing in front of 82,000 fans at Twickenham and we’ll be well prepared and ready to go out there and beat Wales on Saturday.
“We want to make sure our set piece is dominant, our defence is ferocious and that we are at our best against Wales this weekend.”
Jones added: “Danny Care very much deserves the honour of being the most capped England scrum half and I am sure he’ll make the most of his opportunity on Saturday.”
Team to play Wales
Starting 15
15 Mike Brown (Harlequins 65 caps)
14 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 29 caps)
13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 36 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 54 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 30 caps)
10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 41 caps)
9 Danny Care (Harlequins 77 caps)
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 45 caps)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 90 caps)
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 78 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 48 caps)
5 Maro Itoje (Saracens 15 caps)
6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 62 caps)
7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 60 caps)
8 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 4 caps)
Finishers
16 Jamie George (Saracens 21 caps)
17 Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs 1 cap)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 6 caps)
19 George Kruis (Saracens 22 caps)
20 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 4 caps)
21 Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens 27 caps)
22 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors 9 caps)
23 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs 24 caps)
What do you think of the team?
I like that they’re now known as ‘Finishers.’
Joseph’s footwork might be more effective against Parkes and Williams than Teo’s running, I can see the logic in the change.
Was,nt JJ playing against the same 2 centres for Bath a few weeks ago? , i don’t recall him being very effective then !
And a few weeks before that wasn’t JJ on the Bath side that won at Scarlets? Against an arguably better centre partnership?
And wasn’t one of the Welsh centre partnership playing when Scarlets barely scraped past Benetton at home?
Thought Mercer might make the squad after being retained, possibly a better bench option than underhill imo. like Joseph in for Teo, think he provides better defensive cover in that outside channel. Should be a cracker!
Although I like the team as a whole, I can’t help but think Farrell and Joseph are mediocre centre pairing. They are reliable and cosistantly fairly good. How ever i don’t feel they’re a truely dangerous midfield pairing I’d love to see teo with slade outside him power/pace/skill. Or even ford Farrell with teo at 13.
Farrell showed last week he has the ability to be an effective 12, both running lines and distributing. JJ adds a bit more pace which I think will trouble Williams and Parke a bit more than Teos direct running. Teo to come on and attack tiring insides shoulders.
Not sure what Slade, another distributor, would have offered here.
Alex, if you really think Farrell is “mediocre” I wonder who you think is a better 12? Gatland picked him for the Lions, he has been one of the first names on the England team sheet for several years, and he would get into any international side in the world. He is one of the few world class players we have.
That was with Jonathan Davies outside him I’m not saying he is not the answer at 12 just need some power at 13 which teo offer Joseph doesn’t.
Well this worries me. I’m pleased with Care starting but of the rest:
1. Dropping Te’o removes a heavy carrying option and a different attacking threat in midfield. Joseph won’t let anyone down in defence but I’m not convinced by his attack vs top teams. A poor decision here
2. May’s running is more effective against a broken field. I’d have preferred a switch with Nowell who has a better defence and a more structured style of play. The Welsh back row will be watching May with interest.
3. The backrow. Not great against Italy. May well be hammered by the Welsh who looked very good against the Scots and van afford to leave a player like Tipuric on the bench. We’ve said enough about this but Lawes is not an international quality flanker and it shows. The balance here is completely out. The pack will have to do a hell of a job making sure Navidi and Shingler are buried at the bottom of rucks rather than hunting turnovers.
Other than that, Brown needs to pick his game up. Concerned that what he really needs is a decent break from rugby
We shouldn’t lose this at home, but I can very easily see how we might
Can see Jones making another earlier substitution if England start getting exposed out wide. Also felt the same regarding Nowell/May; think Nowell is a better defender whilst also giving England better work rate.
Not quite sure what Wigglesworth will offer in terms of “finishing”; would have started him or not selected him at all. Unless we are ahead (which is very presumptuous) and he comes on to control the game at the end, I dont know what he will bring to the game.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Care plays the full 80 myself. He did in the second Test in Argentina, and with Wigglesworth only having a few days to get to grips with it all unless Care’s having a stinker I think Eddie might just leave him on.
I would agree that Nowell hits harder than May in the tackle Jake, but I think May is better under the high ball, and I certainly don´t think you can complain about his work rate any more. Positionally, Nowell can be a bit shaky simply because he gets himself out of position by getting over-involved. Like Pablito, I don´t like the balance in the back row, but unlike him I don´t think you solve the problem by picking a big lump in the centre . I prefer Joseph´s pace and skills to Teo´s power, but if you pick Joseph, with this squad you are almost obliged to pick Lawes or Itoje at 6 because neither your hooker, 8, tight head or 7 are great carriers. Dazza, I don´t think you need have any concerns about Care´s box kicking. It has improved out of sight. My feeling is that a poor Scotland made Wales look good last week, but a well-organised England will take them on up front, tie in their flankers and beat them by 10 points.
As soon as the decision was made to go for JJ over Te’o the make-up of the pack had to happen as far as I see…
1. We have no “smash it up” players in the backs
2. Our 7 and 8 can’t “smash it up”
Outcome? Lawes, Launch, Itoje all have to start. We cannot expect to retain ball through phases, let alone get front foot ball, vs Wales without some heavy ball carriers.
I agree Wales will be thinking they can dominate the breakdown. Eng will need Cole, Hartley and Robshaw to do a huge amount of clearout work, and get from ruck to ruck quickly for Eng to retain through phases. How Eng get turnovers is another question entirely…
One interesting point SCW made last weekend, was he saw pace as the best attacking threat – well this Eng starting line-up has more pace in it than I can ever remember. This might be solely for kick-chasing – but the Wal-Sco game was wide open. If Sco had been clinical and made better choices it’d have been so much closer. One thing Eng currently do well is make decisions and finish chances. I’m looking forward to it.
Which is exactly why I think it was the wrong decision.
You can have the paciest backs in the world but if they are getting slooow ball from the breakdown or getting turned over when they do have it, then it matters not a jot that they can run more quickly than anyone else
The breakdown is the crucial area in the game. It is no coincidence that England’s most influential player during the 2002/2003 era was wearing 6 – something Jones should remember…
Much may have changed since then, but the importance of the breakdown and a balance between 6 and 7 has not.
Fair
I can see Eddies thinking here {i think} , ..IF England make a midfield break , the chances are jj will be the fasted guy to finish off the move, it’s as simple as that, the flip side is that Scott Williams&D.Parks played against him Bath v Scarletts and i knowwho looked the more danger, it was’nt Joseph! ,…i can also see that EJ has teamed up jj&Watson ,..pretty quick boys.
People talk about that game but I’m not sure how relevant it is. The Scarlets pack was basically all internationals up against an injury-ravaged Bath and they unsurprisingly smashed them up front, it was hardly surprising the Bath backs didn’t feature too prominently! Can’t really see Wales doing that to England tomorrow, given the profiles of both packs.
I think people constantly undermine and don’t think about this England teams resilience. They prepare for every scenario and will have a focused plan, and processes within the plan.
Interesting to hear Jon Davies purr about England’s depth at 13 on Rugby Tonight last night. Either selection is regarded as world class by a man who is world class in his own right. JJ won’t allow some of the defensive errors which happened in the wide channel occur. T’eo is awesome but a 12 by trade right?
As for the back row. England’s support play and clear outs have been a mazzive part of their pattern in the EJ era. Turnovers typically happen against the likes of Samoa/Italy, where runners get a bit more isolated as the structure works in fewer phases etc…I think the detail here will only increase.
Lawes. I agree. Not a 6. But given how England deploy their Lineout as an attacking weapon better than any country in world rugby at the moment feel his selection is merited on that factor alone.
Brown. He is steady and operates at high quality consistently. Wne England need something different they will get it from someone else. They clearly need what Brown offers at the moment.
I agree with pretty much all of this. I think a lot of criticism thrown at England is that they aren’t picking players to play the way that they personally want England to play not how England actually do play. Mike Brown is a great example. People want Watson at fullback but he wouldn’t compliment the phase play game that England are using so well. Brown isn’t there to pass and start back based attacks. He takes control of the backs defence usually beats the first defender and almost always sets up a great platform for the forwards to take control and set up the next phase. For all of Watsons qualities he just isn’t anywhere as good as Brown at this. Watson moving to full back works better when the game breaks up and England can pay a more free flowing game exactly like the Italy game.
The breakdown is another interesting one, England have focused on focusing on clear outs more than turnovers which works in getting a quick ball out and keeping a high tempo. I assume this is down to a lack of jackyls available but it generally works.
My only real concern is the choke tackle. England have been pretty bad at handling this. For this reason I’m glad to see Hughes out of the squad as I felt he carries too high and gets caught too easily by the choke tackle. It will be interesting to see if Simmonds fairs better.
Fail to agree with any of that,..i hope E.J thinks the same as you !
Very good points Donut.
I was in Rome last week, and in regards to Mike Brown I would add that England used him very much as a wide first line runner last week (see both of Watsons tries as an example), and it was very instrumental in fixing the Italian defence. I can see something similar this week.
Not the flashy stuff but very effective for the team.
I also noticed that Simmonds positioned himself a lot where England expected a breakdown, and as such was very quick to clean out.
If we are playing the kick chase game I just hope that Care has been practising because this is the one side of his game which has let him down. I’m glad to see him starting but, I do fear that we could get caught out if he’s been tasked with helping Ford and Farrell keep Wales pinned in their own half. His box kicking needs to be spot on and the chasers need to get their timing spot on to challenge for the ball or make the tackle.
The inexperienced Welsh wingers didn’t really get challenged too much in this area last week and I think it’s worth putting them under pressure early and testing their resolve at this level.
I don’t disagree with what Brown brings. He is a key part of England’s style. I am though concerned with his form – but then he has a habit of proving critics wrong
Seems to be too much worrying over Wales in my view, all based on last week where the reality is they beat a Scottish side that hugely underwhelmed. Yes credit to Wales and they did show some great play but reflected by Scots poor play. Wales recently lost to Australia, scraped past Georgia and just about beat a South African side that are not very good right now. All these games at home!
They are coming to Twickenham against a very resilient and drilled English side. Of course there are going to be a lot of hairy moments as Wales attack well, but i foresee a controlled win for England overall.
I’d go along with that. Wales were given a very easy ride last week by a terrible Scottish performance. They played well but were little tested. England will present an altogether tougher challenge, and will apply pressure with and without the ball that the Scots couldn’t manage.
Playing at home is always a big advantage. Our record is very impressive at Twickenham, winning at times when we’ve not played that well.
Put simply we are the better team with better players in most positions. We should win. It would be something of a turnup if we didn’t.
The autumn Int are used by Wales , first to get some coin for the WRU, secondly to try out new game plans and players ,the same for Scotland , a little less for Ireland maybe, but regardless, if the same team that took N.Z to the final 5 mins played Georgia it would have been a 20 pts +win
,we dont have a nation of near 60m like England nor the money , but we will always have a few World class players,& when we have around 7+ world class players we win GS& 6N Championships, ..Wales , Scot,Ire are similar , except they dont win Chapionships , wales have won more than double what Ire&Sco have combined, ..and combined Wal,Sco,Ire, ARE still only 25% of the rugby playing English population, Thinking about that ,..it would be a good idea imo to have a Celts v England match as a season opener ,… England would be favourites ATM don’t you think ? , maybe the Celts should have a 3 pts start , 1 for each Country !good money spinner for the 4 nations as an opener !, its just an idea , but thats what the Autumn series are used for !
What a complete load of tosh! “this number x that number means Celts should gang up on England”!!! Are you that concerned about the weekend that you are trying to rope in other nations already? Peddle your Xenophobia elsewhere! Here is the number that matters, 15 vs. 15 on the park! National population argument is well and truly dispelled by the ABs. Try another!
waoh who rattled you cage !, what’s so different from Eng v Babas? , i remember watching an Eng&Wales team v Ireland & Scotland in Cardiff early 80s i think it was , its a compliment to England that it could take a combined team of Wa,Sc&Ir to beat them, i recon it would be a nice little eaner for the 6N Champions to play a combined 6N team at home after the 6N or as an opener the following year,as well, just a thought like , no need to get out of your pram or take your ball home.
Fair point, apologies for the outburst. Caught up in all the comments back and forth and allowed myself to get a little “emotional”. Sorry.
I do think it a little divisive to propose a Celts v. England and only serves to further the divide.
A surprisingly decent article from Austin Healey!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/02/08/eddie-jones-deployment-jonathan-joseph-sets-trap-rhys-patchell/
I Just read that article and thought it was a load of crap, may say what you think is crap too, but i have said already that Joseph will have Watson outside him and like S.Williams/Parks,.they will have an understanding, my opiniuon of that is that Williams &Parks 12/13v come before 13/14 , England will have speed but Wales get to challenge b4 that with equallly agile wings, great init !,..4 Wins in 10 yrs @ HQ , LETS MAKE IT 5 !