England Rugby 2019/20 Thread

[TRF_Olyy]

Harrison was muck in his cameos before. He's good for Saints but there's nothing about him that screams international 8, and he's another dodgy residence guy as well. Not happy with that at all, especially at the expense of Dombrandt and/or Ben

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Wtf is this squad

Jacob umaga over Smith?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Umaga WTF

 

[MarkyH]

errr... this is a bit odd

 

[Reiser99]

Guess it's back to in Eddie we trust because there quite a few players nobody was even discussing. Scrum half still looks to be our biggest weakness.

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

We literally don't have an out and out 8...

 

[duncanb]

Harrison was muck in his cameos before. He's good for Saints but there's nothing about him that screams international 8, and he's another dodgy residence guy as well. Not happy with that at all, especially at the expense of Dombrandt and/or Ben

Father born in Derby so no residence required.

 

[Which Tyler]

LHP: Joe Marler, Mako Vunipola, Ellis Genge
HK: Jamie George, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Dunn
THP: Kyle Sinckler, Harry Williams, Will Stuart
LK: Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Charlie Ewels, Alex Moon
FL: Sam Underhill, Tom Curry, Lewis Ludlam, Ted Hill
#8: Ben Earl

SH: Ben Youngs, Willi Heinz, Alex Mitchell
FH: Owen Farrell, George Ford, Jacob Umaga
CE: Jonathan Joseph, Manu Tuilagi, Ollie Devoto, Fraser Dingwall
WG: Jonny May, Elliot Daly, Ollie Thorley
FB: Anthony Watson, George Furbank, Josh Hodge

 

[TRF_Olyy]

https://therugbyforum.com/threads/2020-six-nations-england-squad.45919/

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Like Devoto and Stuart, but bloody hell.

6 locks, no 8 and the less said about SH the better.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Wtf is that squad.

 

[Nudger]

Except for dombrandt wtf?
Its a good squad
I can see eddy going lawes curry earl

 

[Roady26]

I don't really know much about backs, I only ever see them looking cold or knocking the ball on when I'm playing - but as for the forwards:

Solid front row. I hope Genge gets minutes over Marler. He has huge potential and he has been excellent when given oppotunities. I like Dunn. He is a very solid hooker, feel much more confident with him as cover than Singleton. Good to see Cole out and Williams in - who probably feels pretty hard done by after the WC. Haven't seen much of Stuart, not sure what he is like - big oppotunity for him though.


I think we have probably brought one too many locks, I personally would have chosen Ewels over Moon I guess but there is so much depth at lock in England that haven't managed to break through yet its hard to speculate. With Kruis off to Japan EJ is probably shopping around for a future 4. I hope Launch gets gametime but I doubt he will, I imagine he has a bit of a point to prove after the WC.


Gutted for Domdrandt and Simmonds. With Billy and Wilson injured I guess the options then are Hill, Earl or Ludlam(?) to cover 8?

Earl has the most experience there I think so I could see EJ going Lawes, Curry, Earl - which is pretty brutal on Underhill imo. I actually don't mind have an athletic lock at 6 as long as your have a good fetcher at 7 and a mobile pack (probably why it was crap when we tried it before).

I would prefer to see Curry, Underhill, Earl and be looking for Sinks, Genge, Itoje, Tuiligi etc to take some weight off the backrow in the carrying. Could be a very dynamic backrow - which if thats what EJ wants then it begs the question even more why leave Simmonds out...

If EJ has made his mind up up about Simmonds then I could see Earl coming through long term as a utility bench option though at the moment I think Wilson does this really well.

This could be a bit of a blessing in disguise not having a big 8 that England have come to rely on through Morgan, Billy and Hughes (lol). If EJ takes the oppotunity to spread the hard carrying around and with a bit more guise then it makes Billy all the more effective.

I just want to see Curry, Underhill, Billy with Simmonds on the bench tbh...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Why is everyone predicting Lawes at 6?

If we start him there I'm gonna spew - I wouldn't even have him in the EPS. The RWC final should have been his last hurrah

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Why is everyone predicting Lawes at 6?

If we start him there I'm gonna spew - I wouldn't even have him in the EPS. The RWC final should have been his last hurrah

Because there are 6 locks and only 5 back rowers. And none of those back rowers, bar Hill, are particularly large either, which is why I think EJ will want to up the weight by adding in an extra lock. Hill could be that big man on the blindside but seeing as Earl is the guy I'd have thought is most likely to play 8 it'd be pretty crazy to cap 2 new back rowers at the same time.

I'm not saying I want Lawes at 6 to happen - of the players selected I'd go for 6. Hill 7. Underhill 8. Curry - but I'd be very very surprised if we don't see Lawes at 6.

 

[Scotty]

Why is everyone predicting Lawes at 6?

If we start him there I'm gonna spew - I wouldn't even have him in the EPS. The RWC final should have been his last hurrah

While i dont mind him in the EPS as his form is good(unlike ben youngs......) but yes not at 6...if they want a lock to play 6 then bring in isiekwe but i dont want any lock at 6 i want a back rower at 6. And a dombrandt at 8. And a youngs in the bin(wheely)

 

[bushytop]

I understand everyone thinks that you need a big 8 if you’re going to play Curry and Underhill on the flanks... but if I were an England fan my priority right now would be Curry and Underhill at 6 & 7 regardless of who is at 8. Obviously Dombrandt would seem the ‘natural’ 8 to accompany them but with him not being selected I personally would use absolutely any of the other back rows in the squad as long as 6 & 7 are Curryhill.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I understand everyone thinks that you need a big 8 if you’re going to play Curry and Underhill on the flanks... but if I were an England fan my priority right now would be Curry and Underhill at 6 & 7 regardless of who is at 8. Obviously Dombrandt would seem the ‘natural’ 8 to accompany them but with him not being selected I personally would use absolutely any of the other back rows in the squad as long as 6 & 7 are Curryhill.

I agree that keeping Curryhill is a priority but I don't think that it matters whether or not they're on the flanks. I'd go for Curry at 8 for a number of reasons. 1) At 185cm and 110kg he's a good build for it. That's pretty much the same as Faletau (187cm & 111kg) and noticeably heavier than Doris, Deegan, Navidi, Moriarty and Du Preez. 2) Curry played there a few times at the RWC. 3) Curry's shown himself to be a mature and intelligent player, despite his age, which is why I think he'd handle the transition well. 4) Hill is a very good player but he's only played 8 a couple of times and for the U20s. Introducing him to international rugby out of position would be a very tall order for him. 5) The alternative option of Earl at 8 with Curryhill on the flanks is far too small of a back row IMO.

 

[bushytop]

I agree that keeping Curryhill is a priority but I don't think that it matters whether or not they're on the flanks. I'd go for Curry at 8 for a number of reasons. 1) At 6'1 and 110kg he's a good build for it. That's pretty much the same as Faletau (187cm & 111kg) and noticeably heavier than Doris, Deegan, Navidi, Moriarty and Du Preez. 2) Curry played there a few times at the RWC. 3) Curry's shown himself to be a mature and intelligent player, despite his age, which is why I think he'd handle the transition well. 4) Hill is a very good player but he's only played 8 a handful of times for the U20s. Introducing him to international rugby out of position would be a very tall order for him. 5) The alternative option of Earl at 8 with Curryhill on the flanks is far too small of a back row IMO.

Fair but what about Ludlam... wiki’s can be wrong but they have him at 6’3 (& the same weight)?

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Fair but what about Ludlam... wiki’s can be wrong but they have him at 6’3 (& the same weight)?

He's listed by Saints as 192cm and 104kg. So yes he's quite tall but he's still on the small side weight-wise. He also doesn't carry particularly well IMO, whereas, if anything, Curry punches above his weight with ball in hand.