Stuart Lancaster has made two changes to the England back-line ahead of their game with Ireland this weekend, with Alex Goode and Jack Nowell both being named in the starting line-up for the trip to Dublin.
Goode is named at fullback in place of Mike Brown who failed to return from a concussion sustained against Italy in time. Jack Nowell comes onto the left wing in place of Jonny May, who has underwhelmed in his two performances so far.
The only other change to the matchday squad sees Henry Thomas come onto the bench in place of Kieron Brookes, who picked up a hip flexor injury in training this week.
“We’ve made minimal changes as we felt the squad have performed well in the first two games,” Lancaster said. “Alex is in good form for Saracens and has been training well over the last few weeks, as has Jack, who is also playing well for Exeter.
“Both have been pushing hard for selection and I am sure will seize their chance against a high quality Ireland side.
“Chris Pennell and Manu Tuilagi will also travel. Manu has been recovering with us and so it’s good to continue keeping him connected. There are no Greene King IPA Championship matches this weekend so Chris can also spend more time with the squad.”
ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY IRELAND
15. Alex Goode (Saracens, 16 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 6 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
12. Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 9 caps)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 8 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 44 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 28 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 63 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 47 caps)
4. David Attwood (Bath Rugby, 18 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 6 caps)
6. James Haskell (Wasps, 55 caps)
7. Chris Robshaw (captain, Harlequins, 34 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 14 caps)
Replacements
16. Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 19 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 17 caps)
18. Henry Thomas (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
19. Nick Easter (Harlequins, 49 caps)
20. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers, 39 caps)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 18 caps)
22. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks, 10 caps)
23. Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 18 caps)
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Obviously there will be a lot of talk about Mike Brown being out and May being dropped, but for me (as a prop) Henry Thomas is a massive step down from Kieran Brookes. Props rarely last 80 minutes, and one of England’s strengths in the Autumn and the first two weeks has been the front row coming off the bench and dominating the scrum. Mako and Youngs aren’t the strongest scrummagers, and with Thomas as well I think the pressure may come off as the game wears on.
The scrum is one area I think England will have a real advantage, and we’ll need to work that advantage for the full 80. It may be that Cole has to play the whole game.
Would have agreed with you a year ago – but more often than not Thomas has improved the Bath scrum when he has come on for Bath this year. It is an area he has worked on a lot since his move so I expect him to do well.
Agree scrum time is something England need to go at and use.
Agreed Jacob. Brookes is very deserving of his place BUT as he is not fit, then I am happy that Thomas is a far improved player this year.
Agreed here as well – have thought Thomas has looked excellent at times for Bath, scrummaging well and really getting involved to good effect in the loose
Hope Goode can translate what has been very good AP form internationally. Have my doubts but would love to be proved wrong. As a Chiefs fan i can’t comment on Jack as we all think the sun shines out of his **** so would be biased!
Bit of consistency in selection should pay dividends over the course of this championship and beyond.
Pinkies crossed for Sunday, should be a brilliant game.
As a Sarries fan, I can tell you we feel the same about Goodey!! He has been in great form for us lately. If he can repeat his performance from the last time we beat Ireland in Dublin, then we won’t have any problems there. Also having Nowell and Watson will mean he can move up into the line and play first receiver (he’s been playing quite a bit at 10 for Sarries lately), and this will take some pressure of Ford, and will also add an extra dimension to England’s attack.
Looks like a reasonable team to me. Completely agree with Nowell for May and can even understand Goode’s selection even though im not a fan. Personally I think thare is a strong case for Lawes/Parling on the bench as second row cover in place of Croft but otherwise spot on. Fingers crossed now for Sunday
I think the Goode selection might be one of those things where it turns out a better than just injury cover. Schmidt will get the Irish pack to put a lot of pressure on Ford and having a second (more 10 like) kicking option will be a good thing. Also I think Nowell gets his hands on the ball more often and offers a lot more than May around the park.
England 6;7 and 8 to edge this battle , therefore England by 6
Alex Goode. I hope he goes well, I really do. I’d love to be proved wrong about him, but I fear I won’t be. Rather than witter on about it again in my words, I shall brazenly steal someone’s comment from another site, that sums it up perfectly for me:
“Playing Alex Goode is a risk. Whilst his kicking, positioning, passing and aerial ability are good, his defence and ability to run with the ball are well short of international standard. He has made defensive errors costing England four tries, and his tackle success rate in the Premiership this year is 67 per cent. He is also devoid of any pace and running strength, and frequently gets turned over; despite only around 80 minutes of game time, he conceded the most turnovers of any player in last year’s Six Nations. Mike Brown’s security and attacking threat will be missed.”
I do hope I’ll be here on Monday morning, taking all this back and lauding him to the skies.
Those stats would only tell a story if we had another international full backs to compare them with. I would love to know how Mike Brown’s stats would compare in the same areas.
A player getting turned over is rarely his own fault, as it usually means the supporting players were too slow to get there. And was it not Brown and Watson’s missed tackles that cost us two tries against Italy two weeks ago?
Watson for sure. Don’t remember Brown missing a tackle.
Would be interested to comapre the tackle statistics with other fullbacks, I’d imagine that Goode’s figures are not near the top but can’t say for sure
As for turnovers, the very fact Goode played less than 80 mins and was turned over more than anyone else, assuming the stat is correct, speaks volumes. You say it would rarely be his fault – if that was so than either people just can’t be bothered to support Goode but can be bothered to support everyone else or, and this I think is more likely, Goode’s lack of speed and physicality caused him to get isolated and turned over more than others
wow those are some compelling stats. I knew I wasn’t a fan but couldn’t quite put my finger on why other than he doesn’t have the same attacking threat.
The tackle success rate is appauling even Chris Ashton would be ashamed at that
As for the turnovers they have far worse impacts than loss of possetion as they are normally followed by a counter attack or penalty which result is loss of terittory or points
something that is getting to me a bit is the “jack nowell is good under the high ball thing”
if someone can show me a clean catch he has made under pressure internationally ill be surprised
In fairness He hasn’t played internationally for a year and its an area of his game he has improved. You would have to watch Exeter to judeg how much
Pretty much an ‘unchanged’ team then apart from Goode for Brown. May’s 1 hit wonder try v Conrad Smith wasn’t enough.
However, I just hope for Goode’s & England’s sake that Joe Schmidt & Johnny Sexton haven’t read ‘Pab’s’ stats on the new ‘fool’back. Could be that ‘a hard rain’s gonna fall’… on his head. Hope he’s got some bostik.
But I agree with Rob in that I think England will edge it up front, esp @ scrum. JS will, as prev mentioned elsewhere, be aware of this though & will likely counter with aggressive early hits, quick feeds.
Mmmm. Tough 1.
Statistics,ultimately,are a waste of time.Just ask yourself who you would rather face; Goode or Brown? There you have it,job done.