England 2024/25

[Rugbyfan564]

Who actually gets the final say? I personally hope it is club.

Borthwick.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Pollock, Underhill, Pepper, Ilione, Kenningham, damn if only we had open side options in form available outside the curry twins who could do with a rest

 

[Saintjay]

I would be typical of England to finally get a central contract system like Ireland, who rest their players and manage their game time, and England flog players to death instead.

I'm always a fan of when they get sent back to the clubs broken.

 

[BiggusLaddus]

Yep only confirming officially a month before when the president was 99% sure when he spoke to me in July is annoying. Hey if it's cheaper you can go watch Spain play Fiji in Málaga the week after instead.

The announcement was really badly timed for me. I'll be working in Asturias the week after the game, but booked my flights 3hrs before this came out!

 

[Rugbyfan564]

I would be typical of England to finally get a central contract system like Ireland, who rest their players and manage their game time, and England flog players to death instead.

The Irish teams are not privately owned business. Always going to be harder in our system to theirs.

 

[Reiser99]

The Irish teams are not privately owned business. Always going to be harder in our system to theirs.

You missed the point. The Irish protect their players so they are fit when it matters. England want to risk injuring Curry more to win some friendlies and then hope he'll be fit again for the 6Ns.

 

[Geordie]

Pollock, Underhill, Pepper, Ilione, Kenningham, damn if only we had open side options in form available outside the curry twins who could do with a rest

Yeah this is what really irritates me. I get they want selection consistency etc its the whole idea of the central contracts. But we have options we want to look at so its worth letting Ben have his surgery.

Theres Ben Earl aswell of course.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Yeah this is what really irritates me. I get they want selection consistency etc its the whole idea of the central contracts. But we have options we want to look at so its worth letting Ben have his surgery.

Theres Ben Earl aswell of course.

The whole culture around overplaying players in this country needs to change. We have by some distance the most hours played of the international players of any country in the world.

I'm not sure on the injury stats but it feels like we have a very poor record there too, with quite a few players getting recurring injuries.

I wonder how much physio and doctor advice is ignored to get the player back on the pitch in games they really don't need to play.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

The open side situation is a clear emergency. Call up J Willis.

Or maybe not.

https://archive.ph/

But one day I would love to see the Willis boys in tandem in white shirts.

 

[Scotty]

The open side situation is a clear emergency. Call up J Willis.

Or maybe not.

https://archive.ph/

But one day I would love to see the Willis boys in tandem in white shirts.

6 TCurry 7 JWillis 8 TWillis 20 BCurry

 

[Geordie]

6 TCurry 7 JWillis 8 TWillis 20 BCurry

4 Lewis Chessum 5 Ollie Chessum

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

More units than the ISO

 

[Rugbyfan564]

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Following his appointment as head of men’s player pathways, Mark Mapletoft assumes the England A head coach title for the second time after a 38-17 victory over Australia A in 2024.

Gloucester Rugby’s James Lightfoot Brown is named as attack coach for the fixture against the All Blacks XV, while Harlequins’ Matt Ferguson will be scrum coach. Against Spain, recent Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 winner, Nathan Catt, will step into the role of scrum coach.

Saracens’ Adam Powell and Northampton Saints’ James Craig are named defence coach and forwards coach, respectively, for both fixtures

Decent mix of coaches, hopefully means no bias in the selections

 

[Geordie]

Its good to see lots of upcoming coaches being given this opportunity. The whole idea of the A team...identify the next batch of players, but also the next batch of great young coaches.

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Elliot Daly probably not going to be fit enough until the last couple of matches next month according to the Daily Mail quotiing his team.

 

[Rugbyfan564]

Good news as George Ford extends his Sale contract by another 3 years and will still be eligible for the World Cup. Good week for the RFU with him and Fin Smith both renewing their club contracts.

Henry Slade sounding a fair bit more keen on R360 but I suspect the RFU won’t be too sad if he lost eligibility next summer.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Good news as George Ford extends his Sale contract by another 3 years and will still be eligible for the World Cup. Good week for the RFU with him and Fin Smith both renewing their club contracts.

Henry Slade sounding a fair bit more keen on R360 but I suspect the RFU won't be too sad if he lost eligibility next summer.

I never thought you of all people would mention R3shitty.

What are the chances.

 

[Scotty]

Henry Slade sounding a fair bit more keen on R360 but I suspect the RFU won't be too sad if he lost eligibility next susummer.

Wouldn't be surprised,Slade iswrong side of 30 and coming to an end of his England career, I dont want him to go from Chiefs but I wouldn't blame him chasing the cash.

 

[BrokenWing]

I wouldn't blame him chasing the cash.

He’d probably step out the line too quickly and leave a massive gap for it to slip through.