B
Bullitt
Guest
I saw a thread on 606 which (for once) actually looked fairly interesting; What about the national side vs your club (without the clubs players).
If I were to take Saints starting lineup vs Johnsons England:
<div align='center'>Foden 15 Armitage
Ashton 14 Cueto
Clarke 13 Hipkiss
Downey 12 Erinle
Reihana 11 Monye
Myler 10 Wilkinson
Dickson 9 Care
Wilson 8 Crane
Dowson 7 Moody
Best 6 Croft
Kruger 5 Borthwick
Lawes 4 Kay
Murray 3 Payne
Hartley 2 Mears
Tonga'huia 1 Vickery</div>
With the exception of Care and Croft, Northampton have one over their England opposite number in just about every position (I'll even stick my neck out and say Foden is better then Armitage after their 'contest' yesterday, when the NotNot lost the plot completely). When you add the cohesion and familiarity bred into the squad through weekly playing together, I honestly think the club side offers more in attack and better organisation in defence.
It's a similar story when you look at other clubs v England;
Tigers (although tricky considering the current selection policy):
<div align='center'>Hamilton 15 Armitage
J. Murphy 14 Cueto
Hipkiss 13 Tindall
Allen 12 Erinle
Tuqiri 11 Monye
Flood 10 Wilkinson
Youngs 9 Care
Crane 8 Easter
Moody 7 Worsley
Croft 6 Haskell
Deacon 5 Borthwick
Blaze 4 Kennedy
Castro 3 Payne
Chuter 2 Mears
Stankovich 1 Vickery</div>
Again, barring the occasional lapse (Monye being better the Tuqiri), Tigers completely outclass their England counterparts.
Discuss.
If I were to take Saints starting lineup vs Johnsons England:
<div align='center'>Foden 15 Armitage
Ashton 14 Cueto
Clarke 13 Hipkiss
Downey 12 Erinle
Reihana 11 Monye
Myler 10 Wilkinson
Dickson 9 Care
Wilson 8 Crane
Dowson 7 Moody
Best 6 Croft
Kruger 5 Borthwick
Lawes 4 Kay
Murray 3 Payne
Hartley 2 Mears
Tonga'huia 1 Vickery</div>
With the exception of Care and Croft, Northampton have one over their England opposite number in just about every position (I'll even stick my neck out and say Foden is better then Armitage after their 'contest' yesterday, when the NotNot lost the plot completely). When you add the cohesion and familiarity bred into the squad through weekly playing together, I honestly think the club side offers more in attack and better organisation in defence.
It's a similar story when you look at other clubs v England;
Tigers (although tricky considering the current selection policy):
<div align='center'>Hamilton 15 Armitage
J. Murphy 14 Cueto
Hipkiss 13 Tindall
Allen 12 Erinle
Tuqiri 11 Monye
Flood 10 Wilkinson
Youngs 9 Care
Crane 8 Easter
Moody 7 Worsley
Croft 6 Haskell
Deacon 5 Borthwick
Blaze 4 Kennedy
Castro 3 Payne
Chuter 2 Mears
Stankovich 1 Vickery</div>
Again, barring the occasional lapse (Monye being better the Tuqiri), Tigers completely outclass their England counterparts.
Discuss.