My two-penneth...
Eddie needs to win this 6N, and with two tricky away fixtures to open the tournament, I can't see him experimenting too much, especially given how well the team played for much of last year and how young it is overall. So yeah, I think most of the World Cup 31 will be there, with a few tweaks:
LH: Marler is still one of the best loosies in England and can make the next WC, so if he's up for it, I expect him to be in alongside Genge and Mako. If not, Rapava-Ruskin? Hepburn? Moon?
HK: Singleton might find himself pushed out by Dunn, but given our scrummaging troubles in the final, I can't see Eddie going for the undersized Thacker right now. George and LCD should continue.
TH: Cole has been dropped before, has been inconsistent for a while now and will be too old for the next WC, so yeah, a likely casualty. I expect Williams and Schonert to replace him behind Sinckler. Schonert's been in a number of England squads under Eddie but always seems to get injured before he can make his debut. If he's fit, I think Eddie takes him (also, doesn't hurt to have a Saffer there to teach those English puddings how to scrummage properly
).
LK: Can't see any changes here. Lawes and Launchbury are still excellent players that would grace most international sides and both can make the next WC. Krutoje will start. Maybe bring in a fifth lock for the squad. With Ewels injured and Sarries in trouble, probably Hill or Stooke.
FL: Wilson should be there if he's fit, he's a real leader behind the scenes and sets the tone in training (apparently). Otherwise, Ted Hill, Willis, Ben Curry and even Kvesic have a shot behind Curryhill and Ludlam. Kvesic spent a lot of time helping out the WC squad in training sessions before they flew to Japan, so not sure what Eddie's angle is there, but there's got to be something to it. Is Shields injured? Don't rate him, but Eddie does.
N8: I'm nowhere near as down on Binny as a number of the posters on here, but if Wilson's out, Binny's our only proven international 8. So yeah, need to find some depth. Dombrandt obviously, but are there any other candidates? Hughes has had some good games for Bristol but is a bit like Alex Goode at this point: a great club player who is mediocre as an international. Simmonds is too small. Morgan is not Eddie's cup of tea. How's Mercer doing? Can he even get into that Bath backrow? It's not short of quality. What about Clifford?
SH: Eddie only likes two SHs in camp, so I'm guessing Youngs and Spencer, purely because of Heinz' age. But Willie was good in an England shirt I thought, so maybe it's as you were for now? Or maybe Robson crashes the party somehow?
FH: Ford, Farrell and one of Smith or Grayson. Doesn't matter coz only Ford and Farrell will make the matchday squads.
C: Slade's injured, so I expect Francis to continue because of his flyhalf skillset. Manu and Joseph, obviously, then maybe Marchant? Lozowski has been in and around the squad for a long time now and is another converted flyhalf, but faster than Francis. Plus, we can always play Daly or Nowell there. The Barbarians and Japan is the time to look at up-and-comers like Lawrence et al.
W: Cokanasiga and McConochie injured so May, Watson, Nowell, Daly and one or two others. Eddie seems to like Thorley. Ashton's still got something to offer, but he'll be too old for the next WC. Would like to see him in the 6N though, underrated player who should fit England's current style well, using his League skills to hunt out where the try is going to come and getting himself in the right place to finish it. (Speaking of Sharks, whatever happened to Solomona and Yarde? They had some good moments in England shirts but seem to have vanished off the scene).
