France XV vs England XV - 19/06/26

[TRF_Olyy]

Agreed, but that’s a selection I’d already come to terms with based on who was in the squad. Earl was the only other 8 option in the squad, and I’m glad we’re not just flogging him. And who from outside the squad can really consider themself hard done by? I’d say Barbeary’s the only one a real argument could be made for but even he has never impressed in previous A games. Just a shame that all of Pollock, Chick, Fisilau and even Pearson (who I’d like to see trialled ant 8) are tied up in the final as I’d have picked any of them over Dombrandt.

I honestly thought it was gonna be Tom Curry - he's played 8 for Sale the last couple of games and I presumed that was coming from England because Dugdale and Vermeulen were both fit and had been covering 8 before

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I kinda wish we had a Prem select XV v an England XV game

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England vs Exiles, like they used to have in Super League

 

[Brown Bottle]

Is this even on tv?

From England Rugby:

Friday’s non-capped fixture, which does not include players involved in the PREM Final, will be shown live on RugbyPass TV (UK and worldwide, except France) and on the England Rugby Facebook page (UK only).

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Is this even on tv?

From England Rugby:

Friday’s non-capped fixture, which does not include players involved in the PREM Final, will be shown live on RugbyPass TV (UK and worldwide, except France) and on the England Rugby Facebook page (UK only).

Cheers for that. I had checked rugby pass before but it’s not on their schedule which is odd.

As far as the team selection goes it’s ok. We moan about Borthwick not playing any 12s and now he selects two of them!

What I’m most interested in is the style but with Ford at 10 I don’t hold out much hope.

 

[Geordie]

Cheers for that. I had checked rugby pass before but it’s not on their schedule which is odd.

As far as the team selection goes it’s ok. We moan about Borthwick not playing any 12s and now he selects two of them!

What I’m most interested in is the style but with Ford at 10 I don’t hold out much hope.

3 if you include the mulleted one off the bench...

 

[Reiser99]

Surprised Ojomoh is included, but I like it. Caluori over Radwan is generous at best. Ford is a bit of a waste, though maybe argue the need for experience. I'd personally have had M.Smith and Steward at 15. Dan at 2 is just worthless. Ewels and Martin is also a bit of a waste. Curry should definitely be rested for this. It's braver than I thought Borthwick would go, but still a bit too conservative for me, especially if Curry gets injured.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Don’t understand what we possibly have to gain by playing Ewels in this, but other than that I quite like it.

That’s one for the bingo card but I’m amazed we’ve got onto page 2 without any Dan grizzles.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

That’s one for the bingo card but I’m amazed we’ve got onto page 2 without any Dan grizzles.

I’m no fan of Dan but his selection makes sense for this game. I’m happy with George being rested, and while I’d have Blamire over Dan in the pecking order he did play a playoff game last weekend so it makes sense to have him on the bench to get less minutes.

If Dan gets the 16 shirt over Blamire in meaningful tests (which he may well do) then I’ll have a grumble but for this game I do think it’s the logical choice.

 

[Scotty]

Surprisingly "A team" tbf

Hope we lose, either way


A wise man doesn't get angry at the inevitable

You hope we lose, why?... still England i don't understand all this I'm not 100% happy with the selection so **** my country attitude.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

You hope we lose, why?... still England i don't understand all this I'm not 100% happy with the selection so **** my country attitude.

I won't support any England team that has BJVR in the 23, the RFU has been an utter embarrassment throughout the whole debacle - absolutely pathetic behaviour from them begging and petitioning World Rugby for him, they don't deserve support

 

[Scotty]

I won't support any England team that has BJVR in the 23, the RFU has been an utter embarrassment throughout the whole debacle - absolutely pathetic behaviour from them begging and petitioning World Rugby for him, they don't deserve support

I agree he shouldn't be allowed but there are 21 other players( Ewels excluded ) in there that do deserve to be there and play for England and they deserve your support and I'm an England fan I'll never want them to lose...

 

[Scotty]

Why is Ojomoh used as a 13 given all his gametime is at 12 for bath, he plays13 dont get me wrong but the bath 13 isn't picked and weve slotted in the 12 to 13 and put a 12 on the bench. I want to see what Ojomoh and atkinson both can do as 12s and chin of BJVR. Maybe a 13 on the bench and ojomoh move to 12 mid game would be my choice.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I won't support any England team that has BJVR in the 23, the RFU has been an utter embarrassment throughout the whole debacle - absolutely pathetic behaviour from them begging and petitioning World Rugby for him, they don't deserve support

That’s a strong, moralistic view but I get it.

Although if you’re railing against the RFU regime to that extent I’d argue the more consistent line would be not to support England at all until there’s regime change at the RFU. Like it or not the player has been determined as eligible under the rules.

*ducks*

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Like it or not the player has been determined as eligible under the rules.

Technically he was determined ineligible, so we made them change the rules

Very Trump-ian

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

It worries me that Sale think Asher Opoku-Fordjour is a tighthead and England think he is a loosehead. It cant be helpful for him.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

It worries me that Sale think Asher Opoku-Fordjour is a tighthead and England think he is a loosehead. It cant be helpful for him.

I don’t think England do think he’s a loosehead; I think they see him as a tighthead who could cover loosehead in a 33-man RWC squad so they’re testing him in that position. Once the likes of Genge and Iyogun become available for summer I’d bet my bottom dollar that Opoku will go back to being in the squad as a tighthead rather than a loosehead.

 

[AngloScotsHybrid]

I don’t think England do think he’s a loosehead; I think they see him as a tighthead who could cover loosehead in a 33-man RWC squad so they’re testing him in that position. Once the likes of Genge and Iyogun become available for summer I’d bet my bottom dollar that Opoku will go back to being in the squad as a tighthead rather than a loosehead.

Well every time I have seen him picked for England has been at loosehead.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

Well every time I have seen him picked for England has been at loosehead.

Well with respect you haven’t been paying attention then. 6/6 of his senior caps have been at tighthead. He’s only ever played loosehead for the A squad.

 

[Geordie]

I used to think props should play one side only , but having seen a few articles, clubs and coaches really do say players who can cover Loosehead and Tighthead to a top level are invaluable. There no harm in having Asher playing TH but also being very good at Loosehead.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I used to think props should play one side only , but having seen a few articles, clubs and coaches really do say players who can cover Loosehead and Tighthead to a top level are invaluable. There no harm in having Asher playing TH but also being very good at Loosehead.

There’s no reason why props shouldn’t learn both sides at all, in fact they totally should. I’d bet most could cover the other side adequately if trained, but it doesn’t seem that they are.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

There’s no reason why props shouldn’t learn both sides at all, in fact they totally should. I’d bet most could cover the other side adequately if trained, but it doesn’t seem that they are.

IDK it's a rough thing to learn, there are big differences in techniques.
Kinda like do you want someone to be a jack of all trades or a master at one?

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

IDK it's a rough thing to learn, there are big differences in techniques.
Kinda like do you want someone to be a jack of all trades or a master at one?

I think it’s entirely dependent on the player. I don’t think a player should ever be turned into an ambidextrous prop if it’s not something they’ve ever done before, but if through the age groups they’ve shown a propensity for it then I see no reason to coach it out of them.

It’d undoubtedly be poor for a player’s development to be switching between tighthead and loosehead every week but I see nothing wrong with a tighthead occasionally appearing at loosehead if they’ve shown the ability to do it in the past and they’re comfortable doing it (that said, I do think it’s pretty much impossible for someone who’s playing week-in and week-out at loosehead to occasionally appear at tighthead. That side of the scrum is a different beast entirely).

It’s just one of those things that some props have the freakish ability to do, and I do believe that Asher is one of those players. He’s one of those guys who is stout enough, compact enough, and has a strong enough core that you can put him on either side of the scrum and he’s just going to get his head down and shove.

If anything I actually think it can be quite beneficial to a player to have such a strong understanding of both sides of the scrum. It’s easier to defend against what an opposition scrummager is doing if you know exactly what it is that they’re doing because you've done it yourself.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

IDK it's a rough thing to learn, there are big differences in techniques.
Kinda like do you want someone to be a jack of all trades or a master at one?

Fair challenge, but not one I agree with.

Take an established player like Heyes or Stuart. They’re not going to lose their years of TH muscle memory if they spent 25% of their technical training time at LH. At the very worst they’ll get an enhanced understanding of what LHs don’t like and what they’re trying to do to THs which will only help them as a TH.

They may however find out that they’re actually more naturally adept on the other side and I think early over specialisation is a real issue (wheels out cliche about NZ kids being taught rugby skills long before worrying about positions). Just because someone’s pigeon holed into a shirt at 14 does not mean that would have been their best position at 26 - but if they don’t experiment they’ll never find out.

Obviously 99% will be better at one side than the other. And you should never compromise the scrum. But if they can play both with at least reasonable facility then it’s giving further options to player, club and potentially country.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Fair challenge, but not one I agree with.

Take an established player like Heyes or Stuart. They’re not going to lose their years of TH muscle memory if they spent 25% of their technical training time at LH. At the very worst they’ll get an enhanced understanding of what LHs don’t like and what they’re trying to do to THs which will only help them as a TH.

They may however find out that they’re actually more naturally adept on the other side and I think early over specialisation is a real issue (wheels out cliche about NZ kids being taught rugby skills long before worrying about positions). Just because someone’s pigeon holed into a shirt at 14 does not mean that would have been their best position at 26 - but if they don’t experiment they’ll never find out.

Obviously 99% will be better at one side than the other. And you should never compromise the scrum. But if they can play both with at least reasonable facility then it’s giving further options to player, club and potentially country.

But you run the risk of injuring them I would argue for something that isn’t of real benefit

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Fair challenge, but not one I agree with.

Take an established player like Heyes or Stuart. They’re not going to lose their years of TH muscle memory if they spent 25% of their technical training time at LH. At the very worst they’ll get an enhanced understanding of what LHs don’t like and what they’re trying to do to THs which will only help them as a TH.

They may however find out that they’re actually more naturally adept on the other side and I think early over specialisation is a real issue (wheels out cliche about NZ kids being taught rugby skills long before worrying about positions). Just because someone’s pigeon holed into a shirt at 14 does not mean that would have been their best position at 26 - but if they don’t experiment they’ll never find out.

Obviously 99% will be better at one side than the other. And you should never compromise the scrum. But if they can play both with at least reasonable facility then it’s giving further options to player, club and potentially country.

But you run the risk of injuring them I would argue for something that isn’t of real benefit

Very true, with that 25% free time we should make them do judo instead…much lower risk of injuring our players

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

I agree that props should be encouraged to do both sides but at u20’s level max really

Very true, with that 25% free time we should make them do judo instead…much lower risk of injuring our players

Sort of proves my point though, it’s just extra training that is pretty pointless at a certain level.

Props already have one of the toughest work loads and people want more?

 

[Geordie]

France team:
1- Jefferson Poirot
2- Maxime Lamothe
3- Sipili Falatea
4- Mickaël Guillard C
5- Tom Staniforth
6- Temo Matiu
7- Esteban Capilla
8- Marko Gazzotti

9- Nolann Le Garrec
10- Antoine Hastoy
11- Grégoire Arfeuil
12- Yoran Moefana
13- Nicolas Depoortere
14- Christian Ambadiang
15- Théo Attissogbe

16- Barnabé Massa
17- Reda Wardi
18- Régis Montagne
19- Boris Palu
20- Killian Tixeront
21- Baptiste Jauneau
22- Axel Desperes
23- Fabien Brau-Boirie

 

[Reiser99]

So glad Curry is playing. No way we'd win without him. Risking another injury is totally worth it.

 

[Duck a l'Orange]

So glad Curry is playing. No way we'd win without him. Risking another injury is totally worth it.

He can't be kept in reserve forever. Do that enough and he's not useful when he's actually needed.

He's either fit enough to play for England or he's so injury prone that he shouldn't be there at all.