[2021 Six Nations] England Squad

[Reiser99]

The annoying thing is that flipping Watson and Daly, calling Underhill up and benching Obano woth Genge starting could and perhaps should have happened after week 1, but they won't. I'm resigned to Farrell for now and will continue to pray Ford stays fit

I'm hoping that Eddie has decided not to make massive changes due to covid agreement and limited squad and is giving those out of form this tournament to showcase their skills and then will make larger changes in the summer. I could be wrong though...

 

[Lé Ddanno]

I'm hoping that Eddie has decided not to make massive changes due to covid agreement and limited squad and is giving those out of form this tournament to showcase their skills and then will make larger changes in the summer. I could be wrong though...

I wouldn't mind as long as certain players are guaranteed to be grabbed by Gatland, and other players make themselves impossible to ignore. Right now that's every Sarry except Maro

 

[TRF_Olyy]

It's interesting to think about who will go on the Lions tour/what implications that has for England:

Nailed on:
Curry: We've already got depth at 7
Itoje: We've already got depth at lock
Sinckler: Stuart is pretty established as 2nd choice tighthead - will be good to look beyond that, but wouldn't put it past EJ to just recall Cole

Probable:
Farrell: Crap form, but has a good reputation as an international and a Lion. If he goes I wouldn't put it past EJ to just recall Joseph and go Ford/Slade/Joseph
Slade: Maybe? Covers 13/12/10/15 so decent squad player, but not sure if he's a Gatland 13
Binny: Probably - I wouldn't be surprised to see him go on reputation, as Gatland loves picking players on reputation, but there's better 8s in the home nations/Ireland
Watson: Probably - and would be good to cap some new wingers
Youngs: Leaning towards probable, same as Binny: Gatland loves reputation. Would love to see us have a summer of Robson/Randall/Mitchell
George: Same as Binny/Farrell

Possible:
Underhill: Missing the 6N will hurt him. IMO he should be nailed on, but wouldn't be surprised to see him miss out as there's a lot of talent in the backrow in the 6N atm
Genge: Lions tours love a character, and he is one. I rate him highly but his international performances don't match up to his potential, IMO
LCD: IMO he should be a nailed on/high probably but George has the better reputation of the two, despite the lower form
Lawes: Same as Underhill: Missing the 6N doesn't help. He's got money in the bank, and the ability to cover 4/6, but there's a lot of locks/6s knocking around

Potential:
Sam Simmonds? Would Gatland take him despite EJs snubs?

 

[Lé Ddanno]

The Gatland+Wales factor might shift some of that, but I'm too tired to work it out right now. You can forget about Simmonds since he'll take Binny, Faletau and Moriaty

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Didn't realise that England had Wayne Barnes in camp this week - maybe that explains the reduced penalty count

 

[ncurd]

Didn't realise that England had Wayne Barnes in camp this week - maybe that explains the reduced penalty count

It's really a resource we should plan on far more especially when he actually retires.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Didn't realise that England had Wayne Barnes in camp this week - maybe that explains the reduced penalty count

Apparently they got him to give intentionally biased calls against certain teams / players during training to see how players reacted when they didn't agree with the ref. It's something I'm surprised we don't do more. Regardless of whether a ref is having a poor game or it's the correct call but you simply disagree, training players to simply get on with it and particularly training a captain to be diplomatic should be a core part of the game.

The penalty count was still high but what seemed more down to poor breakdown work / keeping the French out under advantage than completely braindead penalties. It's as I said before though, clearly they can play without conceding all the time and it doesn't appear to negatively affect our game at all so why the hell do they not do it more? Wales are generally a hard team to beat because they are rarely on the wrong side of the penalty count or cards. Doesn't matter if your general gameplay drives the opposition back 30m over the course of the game if you concede 3 penalties doing so, which is basically the equivalent of conceding the length of the pitch.

 

[Welsh Exile]

The Gatland+Wales factor might shift some of that, but I'm too tired to work it out right now. You can forget about Simmonds since he'll take Binny, Faletau and Moriaty

Moriarty? Gats isn't picking him. He's only just come back from injury for starters.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

I remember when England won the 6 nations and the welsh fans said, it was a team effort and that the individual players don't deserve to go on a lions tour. While I could say the same about the welsh for banter I'd say that we played better as a team but our 'big' superstar players are our worst by far.

I watched yesterday without drinking and thought Billy, Farrell and Ford in patches didn't play like top internationals with a ton of caps. Loose head is still an issue. I'm hoping that Jones will scrap 30% of the squad this year but o bet he won't and will continue to be a stubborn prick.

 

[TW27BA]

The Gatland+Wales factor might shift some of that, but I'm too tired to work it out right now. You can forget about Simmonds since he'll take Binny, Faletau and Moriaty

More chance of CJ Stander or Caelin Doris than Moriarty.
Faletau on current form along with Watson at 7 and Tadhg Beirne at 6 would be my Lions back row, as much as I like Curry & Underhill.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

The Gatland+Wales factor might shift some of that, but I'm too tired to work it out right now

More chance of CJ Stander or Caelin Doris than Moriarty.
Faletau on current form along with Watson at 7 and Tadhg Beirne at 6 would be my Lions back row, as much as I like Curry & Underhill.

Sure. My point is that Simmonds ain't going

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

More chance of CJ Stander or Caelin Doris than Moriarty.
Faletau on current form along with Watson at 7 and Tadhg Beirne at 6 would be my Lions back row, as much as I like Curry & Underhill.

I'd take Curry over Beirne still. I think Underhill + Curry really operates more than the sum of it's parts though. However Watson individually has been incredible in all aspects of his game.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Didn't realise that England had Wayne Barnes in camp this week - maybe that explains the reduced penalty count

Not just Barnes, Carley too.

 

[Geordie]

It's interesting to think about who will go on the Lions tour/what implications that has for England:

Nailed on:
Curry: We've already got depth at 7
Itoje: We've already got depth at lock
Sinckler: Stuart is pretty established as 2nd choice tighthead - will be good to look beyond that, but wouldn't put it past EJ to just recall Cole

Probable:
Farrell: Crap form, but has a good reputation as an international and a Lion. If he goes I wouldn't put it past EJ to just recall Joseph and go Ford/Slade/Joseph
Slade: Maybe? Covers 13/12/10/15 so decent squad player, but not sure if he's a Gatland 13
Binny: Probably - I wouldn't be surprised to see him go on reputation, as Gatland loves picking players on reputation, but there's better 8s in the home nations/Ireland
Watson: Probably - and would be good to cap some new wingers
Youngs: Leaning towards probable, same as Binny: Gatland loves reputation. Would love to see us have a summer of Robson/Randall/Mitchell
George: Same as Binny/Farrell

Possible:
Underhill: Missing the 6N will hurt him. IMO he should be nailed on, but wouldn't be surprised to see him miss out as there's a lot of talent in the backrow in the 6N atm
Genge: Lions tours love a character, and he is one. I rate him highly but his international performances don't match up to his potential, IMO
LCD: IMO he should be a nailed on/high probably but George has the better reputation of the two, despite the lower form
Lawes: Same as Underhill: Missing the 6N doesn't help. He's got money in the bank, and the ability to cover 4/6, but there's a lot of locks/6s knocking around

Potential:
Sam Simmonds? Would Gatland take him despite EJs snubs?

Johnny May is surely nailed on?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Not after the season he's had/the other options available - imo. I'd put him in the possibles

Guess it depends how many wings go - last time Gatland took four dedicated wings,
I could see that being:
Adams, Watson, Van der Merwe, LRZ
and then there'll be plenty of others who can cover (i.e. North will go as a centre, but obv covers wing, Sanjay covers wing etc.)

Gatland loves kiwis, as well, so wouldn't be surprised to see Lowe go despite not really impressing at international level - and Maitland not out of the realm of possibilities as he's playing well atm

 

[MikeTheNative]

Parkes although not available for Wales he would be for the Lions..........................

 

[Geordie]

Not after the season he's had/the other options available - imo. I'd put him in the possibles

Guess it depends how many wings go - last time Gatland took four dedicated wings,
I could see that being:
Adams, Watson, Van der Merwe, LRZ
and then there'll be plenty of others who can cover (i.e. North will go as a centre, but obv covers wing, Sanjay covers wing etc.)

Gatland loves kiwis, as well, so wouldn't be surprised to see Lowe go despite not really impressing at international level - and Maitland not out of the realm of possibilities as he's playing well atm

Ah i think May was a little out of form...but blasted back in to form on Saturday. He's a class act. Starting lion for me.

 

[higgik]

Slade may be out of Saturday with leg injury.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Lawrence to start?
Or do you think EJ would go with Daly?

I imagine Odogwu is nowhere near contention (and considering he's had more weeks holding tackle bags than he's had games this season, I'm not sure throwing him straight in to start against Ireland would be wise)

 

[Crash Hamster]

Absolutely Daly to OC and 6-2 bench.

<sigh>