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[2018 Six Nations] England Squad

Don't know if this reverse arrogance but it's false modesty in your case. You know England under Eddie Jones and with 18 wins is not going to finish 3rd or 4th. Come on.
Why?
We've been playing poorly for over a year now, and squeaking results, our luck will run out soon enough.
Throw injuries in, and some tough vital fixtures...
Ireland will cruise it, Scotland/England/Wales will come 2/3/4 in any order, then France then Italy
 
Why aren't we allowed to be realistic?
Did you see the form Scotland and Ireland were in in the autumn, compared to the sputtering performances England put in
 
Why aren't we allowed to be realistic?
Did you see the form Scotland and Ireland were in in the autumn, compared to the sputtering performances England put in

I've become immune to your sarcasm. You could be a BBC reporter though, keep up the good work Mr Fordyce.
 
Nobody seems to be coming up with any counter points.
Why do you think we'll win?
 
I'm going to be a little optimistic.

Firstly the form of the provinces is not always a guarantee of international form, admittedly the Irish squad looks strong but I'm not putting to much weight into it.

Then, we have injuries, but so be it, ideally these enforced rests will do the battered bodies of our international stars a rest after a long season. It's not what I would want but resting legs and bodies while recuperating might work out better in the long run, and hopefully most will be back for the SA tour. I've never played at anything other than local level, but sometimes a knee or arm injury while horrible has gave the rest of my body the rest it desperately wanted. (if that's not optimism, what is)

The backs, all of these are grand slam winning backs, and is the back-line that's been responsible for the success over the last 2 years. Ideally we'd want more ballast somewhere, and more fun at 15 and a 3rd choice 9. But we're only 1 injury away in those positions from seeing that.

Finally, yes we're lacking power in the forwards, but in Simmonds, Mercer, Itoje, Boyce & Underhill (even B Curry if he's in the extended EPS) we have some potential coming through, and 3 of these lads have won U20 world cups. It's great that they are getting in and around the first XV. Ireland are brining in youth, youth that didn't win an U20 World Cup and we're meant to be scared of them. I know its different but why? Our lads have potential.

Anyway, we lose a couple of games we can blame it on injuries, and we have a host of names to bring in. Looking to the SA tour it should be a cracking, well rested squad.

That's it, all bullsh*t of course, but optimism... Yay!
 
I'm optimistic. We are lacking a few big ball carriers in the pack, but... there is optimism.
 
Not sure what you lads are talking about the Irish being favorites. I would say it's going to be an honor and a learning experience for our team to play such a good English side and no doubt lose valiantly while doing Ireland proud.
 
But I do think we can win the 6N. We'll have to play different, carry more in the channels through Simmonds and Mercer, or play Lawes at 6 and make the opposition kick to touch and build from the set piece. We've got a great defensive team, we won't be missing too many tackles. And we have pace. We can go round if not through. We can play the game at a high tempo, run the fatties into the ground while we use are more lightweight players in the backrow.
I'm optimistic. We are lacking a few big ball carriers in the pack, but... there is optimism.

We've replaced size with pace in the backrow. We haven't got Haskell for 2 games. Plenty to be optimistic about :D
 
Nobody seems to be coming up with any counter points.
Why do you think we'll win?
England ranks 2nd and have an impressive 18 wins. There's nothing like confidence. Even if you don't win producing a performance in every game.
Also the game v Ireland is at Twickers. Home advantage is big in 6N. Us plebs will make up numbers.
 
4 players from the U20s grand slam this year have been in the EPS squads this year. 5 if you include T Curry who is currently injured. Four from one age group and Marcus Smith wasn't even one of them.
 
Sticking my neck out, I think England will win but possibly not a Grand Slam. The game in Paris is crucial for England, and if France click right then it could be a very difficult game.

I think it's then any of Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland from 2nd to 5th with Italy nailed on for another Wooden Spoon.
 
Well, very few players have been tearing up trees in either the AP or Europe. May at the start of the season, Lawes perhaps, Slade maybe and that's about it. Watson and George have been OK. Others have been bang average and / or are just returning from injury.

Hartley, Cole, Robshaw and Brown. Pretty much nailed on starters, all 30+, none on an upward trajectory.

Missing our 2 main ball carriers in Binny and Hughes.

First choice half backs haven't been able to exert much influence at Leicester. The Tigers pack isn't great, but they're not going to get an armchair ride in white either.

Mako's going to have to start at least the first two. He's better from the bench and the back up's weak.

Maybe a bit of a mindset thing too. It won't have escaped notice that the core of the team from Saints, Leicester and Sarries have got used to losing regularly. Bath have been erratic. Winning's a habit. So's losing. The Celts will be scenting blood.

That said, I think we'll be there or thereabouts. But we won't be dominant, there could be 2 or 3 games that are decided by the bounce of the ball.
 
Naaaaaah. When Wales were winning championships the Welsh provinces were losing week in week out. Its nice to have a break from your team, if anything it should motivate them. They'll be glad to be back in a white shirt.
 
The main issue is Jones picks a team to play a fast, wide game but picks a scrum half to play a slow game and plays a forward dominated at piece game. It's not that or pack is bad, is that it isn't fit for how Jones has said he wants England to play.
 
Nobody seems to be coming up with any counter points.
Why do you think we'll win?

Well for a start I think the burden of proof should be on you - last year we won the competition (without playing particularly well), this year we have an easier draw, so what has changed so radically that we can expect 2 or 3 teams to leapfrog us?

But for what it's worth - basically my reasoning is that while we have injury problems we don't appear to have got much worse and our closest competitor (Ireland) don't appear to have got hugely better. Scotland have improved significantly, but there was a fair amount of daylight between them and us a year ago. Impressive though their improvement is, they aren't going to suddenly be much better than us. And, to be honest, I'm more scared of an on-form Wales than an on-form Scotland because pedigree counts in big games. Murrayfield will be tough but nowhere near as tough as Aviva. Or Twickenham.

Also, home advantage against our biggest competitor is a big deal. Historically, even when not on great form beating England at Twickenham is a big ask for any 6N team. Having Ireland at home a big factor.
 
Sticking my neck out, I think England will win but possibly not a Grand Slam. The game in Paris is crucial for England, and if France click right then it could be a very difficult game.

I think it's then any of Wales, France, Scotland and Ireland from 2nd to 5th with Italy nailed on for another Wooden Spoon.

Not at all. Leisurely stroll in Paris. I don't want say bad things about the union again and berate their team. I could come up with some terrible stuff. And I'll get banned.

England and Ireland are coming to Paris for some great shopping and lots of selfies. We are not worthy.
 
I've already seen my first "Armitage should be in the England squad" of 2018
 

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