Eddie Jones has named the England team to play Australia this weekend.
England team to play Australia
Starting 15
15 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 27 caps)
14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 27 caps)
13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 34 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 52 caps)
11 Elliot Daly (Wasps 14 caps)
10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 38 caps)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers 71 caps)
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 43 caps)
2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 87 caps) captain
3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 75 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 45 caps)
5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 59 caps)
6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 57 caps)
7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 2 caps)
8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps 11 caps)
Finishers
16 Jamie George (Saracens 18 caps)
17 Joe Marler (Harlequins 51 caps)
18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 3 caps)
19 Maro Itoje (Saracens 12 caps)
20 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 1 cap)
21 Danny Care (Harlequins 74 caps)
22 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs 8 caps)
23 Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby 3 caps)
What do you think of the lineup?
Interesting – big game for Jonny May to return to the side in! And although I am disappointed to see Slade and Roko dropped I can understand that Jones has put the need to beat Aus front and centre. Surprised Itoje wasn’t parachuted straight back in, but Launchbury is a brilliant lock in his own right so no issue there.
Huge opportunity for Watson at fullback to show he is a viable alternative to Mike Brown! There is a lot of pace and attacking intent in that back three.
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Interesting – big game for Jonny May to return to the side in! And although I am disappointed to see Slade and Roko dropped I can understand that Jones has put the need to beat Aus front and centre. Surprised Itoje wasn’t parachuted straight back in, but Launchbury is a brilliant lock in his own right so no issue there.
Huge opportunity for Watson at fullback to show he is a viable alternative to Mike Brown! There is a lot of pace and attacking intent in that back three.
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Well if we’re chasing the game with 20 to go, that’s a good bench for the task!
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Not much surprising there other than starting Launchbury, but I have no issues with that.
Pleased Slade and Rokoduguni weren’t dropped altogether
One thing no one has mentioned really is just how slow and poor Youngs was. He really needs to up the tempo for this game.
As do they all. The team looks good on paper but needs to perform
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I have been advocating Care instead of Youngs on the basis of his quicker pass and improved kicking, but EJ seems to want him on the bench. I think there are definitely better scrum halves around than Youngs who need to start getting a game. Glad to see Launchbury getting a start. Class act, and he and Lawes work well together. Flankers are both a bit short of oomph on the carry, which is worrying. Presumably Brown was not considered after last week’s bang on the head. Watson will bring something different which will be interesting. Daly is a good footballer, but has not been on fire this season. Anyone know how long Nowell is out for? Finally, I just cannot understand why Hartley, my least favourite player of all time, is still getting a start. When was the last time he had an outstanding game (if ever). George must be starting to get really cheesed off.
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Surprised Itoje has not been thrown straight in as I though we could’ve done with his all round enthusiasm last week.
I know he’s the captain but, his lack of on field leadership and his general play and lack of carrying ability let us down last week. Eddie’s consistency of picking him over the better hooker is quite annoying. I would say that most coaches would always want their best players on the pitch and George is the better hooker (and more complete player) at the moment.
Aside from that I am happy to see Watson starting at 15 with Slade and Roko on the bench. I guess hat means Daly is the 15 cover?
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Agree with Pablito Youngs was poor. Is he really the best 9 we have.
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Sevegolf – I think the issue is with Youngs is that England coaches have had a habit of sticking with the same players when clearly there are other options and then it goes on so long it becomes risky to change due to ‘inexperience’ of the other options at International level. Dan Robson, Joe Simpson, Richard Wigglesworth all No 9s I feel should have/could have been given a chance to shine, but England have stuck with Care and Youngs despite them both having as many bad games as good games.
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