Comments on: England Squad for South Africa Tour 2018

By: Leon

Leon — Mon, 21 May 2018 15:53:38 +0000

My team to face the Baabaas on Saturday would be
Ellis Genge
George McGuigan
Kyle Sinkler
Elliot Stooke
Josh Beaumont
Chris Robshaw
Jack Willis
Zach Mercer
Ben Vellacott
George Ford
Ben Teo
Henry Trinder
Jonny May
Joe Cockanasiga
Jason Woodward

Ben Obano
Jack Singleton
Paul Hill
Joe Launchbury
Mark Wilson
Ben Youngs
Danny Cipriani
Elliot Daly

Parachute some Wasps and Newcastle players straight to the bench but not considered for starting roles (partly to give them a rest partly because they haven’t been at camp)

By: Ben Rabin

Ben Rabin — Wed, 16 May 2018 14:21:15 +0000

I agree that EJ has lost his way
One glaring mistake
Picking one dimensional Mike Brown instead of the Hugely talented Jason Woodward

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 16 May 2018 08:41:06 +0000

I don’t; I’m hoping he can not because he’s playing for Wasps the day before in the Prem final!

Agree with Dazza though. Especially with Watson injured, I do see Cips getting at least game time at 15.

By: Dazza (Dazzle)

Dazza (Dazzle) — Tue, 15 May 2018 15:03:12 +0000

I have a feeling we will see Cips playing at 15 rather than 10. With Ford and Farrell both going I can’t see Cips getting a look in at 10.

By: Stu

Stu — Sun, 13 May 2018 08:04:58 +0000

Hope Cips gets a start in the Barbarian game, Reading EJ comments on him looks like he has already decided he doesn’t like him so can’t see him playing much in SA.

By: bolter

bolter — Sat, 12 May 2018 15:39:25 +0000

Agree with a lot of this. What worries me most is that like the six nations there is no sense of coherence or a system in place in relation to selection. Compare this with Schmidt or even Gatland where the players know exactly what is required of them and new players slot in almost seamlessly.
And then Eddie criticising the English players for being selfish with talk of Gustard going to Quins…all of this giving the same feel as the Six nations that he is losing the dressing room.
I’m happy about some of his picks for the tour and unhappy about others…but way beyond the individual case for case basis I am worried about the seemingly random nature of selection with players arbitrarily discarded or finding favour.
Am also very fed up he isn’t resting the likes of Mako, Maro and so on…
For me Jones has become a big liability and absolutely central to England’s problems. I actually worry he’s going to end up sabotaging a group of very talented players who he seemingly has no idea how to get the best out of.
Apologies for the negativity!! Would love to be wrong…

By: andy

andy — Sat, 12 May 2018 12:42:43 +0000

I know this will be a minority view, but to me this party epitomises so much of what is wrong within the professional game at the moment. A tour of SA used to be one of the highlights of a player´s career. Now, either because of injuries or fatigue 20 players are not available. Many of these injuries have been caused by the new ruck and maul laws, exacerbated by Premiership clubs rushing players back into action too soon, or come from the repetitive heavy physical contact that is so much a feature of today´s game. Of those that are going at least four have played virtually continuously for the best part of two years. No wonder they call Robshaw “Boxer”. Talk about flogging a dead horse, he´s been out on his feet for the past couple of months. Mako and Itoje must also be knackered. They are both young and should have years in front of them but at this rate will be burnt out by 30. Redpath is there simply to stop him playing for Scotland or France which is a pathetic reason to pick anyone, good though he may be. There is no prospect that he will be starting or on the bench at the World Cup, so why pick him now, particularly as EJ has spent the past few months grooming Marcus Smith. None of the Quins players deserve to be on the tour on current form and we have picked three mercenaries. What really worries me though is that if you looked at the England squad a year ago you could have inked in eight or nine names. Now you would not be absolutely certain of naming more than about three. Both prop positions appear to be up for grabs, as is hooker. Launchbury and Itoje are probably favourites for second row with plenty of back up in Lawes, Isiekwe and Slater. No guarantee that BV will either last the pace or get back to best form before the world cup, so the back row appears as unbalanced and undecided as ever. No clear decision about scrum half or whether Farrell is going to play at 10, no decisions about what is Daly´s best position and who the centre combination is going to be, problems at full back where Brown has not been at his best for a long time, and numerous options but no certainties on the wing. Add to that the fact that the training squad in Brighton is a mish-mash of tourists and the unselected rather than being seen as an opportunity to get as many of the squad together as possible, and that the Premiership final is so late that players will not get a proper rest before they get on the plane and you have a recipe for disaster. Injuries at hooker or tight head in the first game would expose the poor selection of only two players in those positions. The combination of this squad and the training squad suggests that EJ has no more idea of what his best team might be than the rest of us. I fancy we will get a proper stuffing and see no way that a World Cup winning side is likely to arise from the ashes unless there starts to be some consistency in selection.

By: Pablito

Pablito — Fri, 11 May 2018 23:31:26 +0000

I agree. But after the disastrous Six Nations, Eddie can’t afford more losses.
It has been said before that his teams all follow the same trajectory – a brief blaze of glory before collapsing in a heap. He needs to prove that England aren’t going to follow the same path.
Personally I’d like to see a team of young hopefuls and if they get beaten then so be it.
I think it’s widely agreed now that the ‘Tour of Hell’ back in 1998 helped to forge a number of the 2003 RWC side

By: Dazza (Dazzle)

Dazza (Dazzle) — Fri, 11 May 2018 14:09:05 +0000

I expect you will be spot on Robbo, but I for one would be disappointed. I think some of these young guys selected for the tour need the experience of playing top level international rugby in a tough environment. Better to get it now than in the middle of the Six Nations or World Cup.

By: Jacob

Jacob — Fri, 11 May 2018 10:56:08 +0000

I definitely couldn’t decide which would start and ended up editing poorly!

Sinkler is a better player for me, but I also like his bench impact so I would end up starting Williams I think. With all fit, Cole starting and Sinkler off the bench is the ideal.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 11 May 2018 10:52:48 +0000

Who does the second Sinkler play for Jacob? Your mistake may be prescient, because if Williams gets hurt first up Sinkler is going to end up playing eighty minutes every game because there are only two tight heads on tour. He is nog good enough in the tight to do that. Same applies at hooker. One early injury and the pack is down the tubes.

By: Robbo

Robbo — Fri, 11 May 2018 09:27:19 +0000

I expect we’ll see for the first test:

1 – Vunipola; 2 – George; 3 – Williams; 4 – Itoje; 5 – Launchbury; 6 – Robshaw; 7 – Curry; 8 – Vunipola; 9 – Youngs; 10 – Ford; 11 – May; 12 – Farrell; 13 – Te’o; 14 – Daly; 15 – Brown

16 – Cowan Dickie; 17 – Genge; 18 – Sinkler; 19 – Isiekwe; 20 – Shields; 21 – Robson; 22 – Slade; 23 – Solomona