England World Cup Squad

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Young talent wise (saying 25 is the cut off for the young part. Obviously the likes of Sinckler and Cowan dickie etc will be in the mix still.

I would say
1. Boyce (23), Obano (24), Genge (24), Trinder (21), West (23),
2. Walker (23), Capon (19), Henry Walker (21), Ma'asi (19), Singleton (23), Barbeary (18).
3. Stuart (23), Street (20), Heyes (20), Hill (24!!!), Painter (21),
4/5. Ewels (24), Witty (24), Hill (25), Martin (18), Ribbans (24), Coles (21), Isiekwe (21), Itoje (24), Kpoku (20),

 

[Not Mike Brown's Sock]

Young talent wise (saying 25 is the cut off for the young part. Obviously the likes of Sinckler and Cowan dickie etc will be in the mix still.

I would say
1. Boyce (23), Obano (24), Genge (24), Trinder (21), West (23),
2. Walker (23), Capon (19), Henry Walker (21), Ma'asi (19), Singleton (23), Barbeary (18).
3. Stuart (23), Street (20), Heyes (20), Hill (24!!!), Painter (21),
4/5. Ewels (24), Witty (24), Hill (25), Martin (18), Ribbans (24), Coles (21), Isiekwe (21), Itoje (24), Kpoku (20),

Dino lamb as well maybe? Boyce is **** btw,.never shown anything more than ok before

 

[TRF_Olyy]

What's Barbery actually like?
All I've seen of him is that journo on twitter losing his damn mind over him constantly, and his getting red carded almost instantly in an age-grade game


Obano looked real good for Bath in their demolition by Bristol - if he can get his scrummaging right then he could be a mainstay in the England side for a while

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

What's Barbery actually like?
All I've seen of him is that journo on twitter losing his damn mind over him constantly, and his getting red carded almost instantly in an age-grade game


Obano looked real good for Bath in their demolition by Bristol - if he can get his scrummaging right then he could be a mainstay in the England side for a while

Barbeary is the real deal IMO
Saw him last season as a 17 year old play a older Tigers A team and in the loose he is really really strong.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Barbeary is like LCD but dialled up a few notches. Everything Cowan-Dickie does well, Barbeary is exceptional at. Everything Cowan-Dickie doesn't do so well, Barbeary is pretty horrendous at.

 

[BPM]

Young talent wise (saying 25 is the cut off for the young part. Obviously the likes of Sinckler and Cowan dickie etc will be in the mix still.

I would say
1. Boyce (23), Obano (24), Genge (24), Trinder (21), West (23),
2. Walker (23), Capon (19), Henry Walker (21), Ma'asi (19), Singleton (23), Barbeary (18).
3. Stuart (23), Street (20), Heyes (20), Hill (24!!!), Painter (21),
4/5. Ewels (24), Witty (24), Hill (25), Martin (18), Ribbans (24), Coles (21), Isiekwe (21), Itoje (24), Kpoku (20),

Some pretty generous mentions in that list IMO Tigs Man.

Like noah_jo, I'd question how promising Boyce is. I don't know the full story, but he seemed quite entitled at Quins expecting game time that his performances didn't really warrant and he was always a penalty magnet. I think more or less his first act for Bath was to pick up a yellow for a swinging arm. He may well mature, but he's not one I'd be prioritising right now.

Tom West hasn't really done much to suggest he's ever going to be more than a bit part player at Wasps. With McIntyre and Mullan having been out injured for good chunks of time, he still never really got a shot, which suggests he isn't that highly rated.

Generally speaking, I think we often expect too much too soon - particularly when it comes to young props (Paul Hill is maybe a case in point) but I don't really see either of those troubling the England selectors any time soon.

On the locks, I'm interested to see how Witty develops at Chiefs. He's a physical specimen and looked very promising at times at Falcons. He and Jonny Hill could make a good pairing.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

At loosehead I've been really impressed by Olly Adkins when he's played for the U20s. Not sure whether he's got the size for it though.

 

[BPM]

Good to see George Nott get some game time for Irish at the weekend. He looked very good in the U20 World Cup winning side, but never really made the breakthrough at Sale. He's one I would have liked Quins to have taken a punt on.

I think Lewis Ludlam has done a good job of showing that it's not a disaster if you don't immediately make a breakthrough from U20 level. Perhaps Nott will be another to do so.

Post RWC the obvious concerns for me are 9 and 12.

At 9 I think there are a good few options with Spencer*, Robson*, Mitchell, Maunder and Randall all contenders to some degree. Henry Taylor looked at home in the Premiership too playing for Saints.

At 12, we're not particularly well stocked. There's Redpath and Johnny Williams (who has been diagnosed with testicular cancer!) and not many more. Will Butler looked good at age grade but hasn't really made a breakthrough with Worcester.

*I know they're over 25

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Luke James is quite a bit better than Redpath, but it does look like we're throwing our weight behind Cam - with him starting the season opener.
Don't get me wrong, he's a very talented player, just Luke is further along his progression (it could just be that the coaches see Cam as having a higher ceiling or something)

 

[BPM]

TBH, I haven't seen enough of Redpath to have formed a proper opinion.

Luke James has been pretty good whenever I've seen him player, whether that's been as a centre or filling in at 15.

 

[Reiser99]

Thing is we've got plenty of time to see how these players develop and even if a player is earmarked now doesn't mean another player can't improve to overtake them. Look at May, he's made himself the no.1 winger in England and one of the best wingers in the world by working hard against quite a few people's expectations. Yes he was always quick, but I doubt many people felt he was could develop in to such a consistent and all round winger.

The key for EJ if he's planning for the next world cup is to identify potential players and give them exposure. Scrumhalf is the perfect example. He dithered and stuck to his favourites for too long and then when he changed his mind on Care he hadn't capped anyone else enough to know who to go with. Players don't have to play every game and there are usually some games in the AI's or Italy in the 6N's for example where he can give those up and coming players a chance. However what we can't do is stick to a couple of players and hope they make it or don't suffer a loss of form. Look what happened to Ireland this year. We need to pick on form, but also give players the experience beyond a 5 minute cameo, so they get experience as well as skill.

 

[MarkyH]

Tbh i feel bad for some.
B/T Curry
J/T Willis
Underhill
Ludlam
Hill
Ben Earl
Dombrandt

All fighting the 3 back row spots.

Simmonds and Mercer too. Definitely a lot of potential in our ranks post world cup. And they've got to get past the incumbents

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

All my concerns lay at 12, we seem to have loads of youth in every position other than 12. Will be interesting to see what happens in the future there.

 

[Scotty]

And at 12 manu wont be around so wouldnt be surprised if he goes to france and chaces yhe money as he was already offered a big deal pre world cup

 

[BPM]

Yep. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see Tuilagi retire from England duty post-RWC.

Slade and JJ are more than young enough to stay in the picture and behind them we have some great talent at 13 such as Marchant, Dingwall and Lawrence (who could end up being the best of the bunch).

However, for some reason we never seem to have any kind of depth at 12. If he could stay fit, Devoto is the best option, but beyond that it's pretty slim-pickings.

 

[Lé Ddanno]

Johnny Williams looked really good a season or two ago, but I lost track of who he's even singed with

 

[BPM]

Williams is still with Falcons but has just been diagnosed with testicular cancer! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/49980662

Hopefully he recovers (as Cruden did) and goes on to have a career that lives up to his potential, but he's unlikely to be an option any time particularly soon.

 

[MarkyH]

Williams is still with Falcons but has just been diagnosed with testicular cancer! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/49980662

Hopefully he recovers (as Cruden did) and goes on to have a career that lives up to his potential, but he's unlikely to be an option any time particularly soon.

Poor guy, really liked the look of Williams. I know a few of us were suggesting calling him into the AIs squad last year. Hope he recovers swiftly and can make a return to the levels he's played at before.

 

[Nudger]

All my concerns lay at 12, we seem to have loads of youth in every position other than 12. Will be interesting to see what happens in the future there.

Tomkins?

 

[BPM]

Tomkins?

Tompkins is a good shout to be fair. He's got a bit of everything and seems to be getting an increasing amount of game time at Saracens.