Eddie Jones has announced the first starting line-up of his tenure as England head coach, to take on Scotland at Murrayfield this weekend in the opening round of the Six Nations.
As expected, both George Ford and Owen Farrell are named in the side, the latter switching from fly-half to inside centre; he is joined in the midfield by Jonathan Joseph. Danny Care is preferred to Ben Youngs in the number nine shirt.
Up front, James Haskell is named on the openside flank with Chris Robshaw wearing six. Joe Marler gets the nod at loosehead prop ahead of Mako Vunipola, while Dylan Hartley captains the side from hooker. Joe Launchbury and George Kruis make up a powerful but mobile second row partnership.
“There were some tight calls on selection, but we have picked a match-day squad with a blend of experience and youth.
“The boys have worked hard since coming into camp to understand how I want the team to play going forward. We have prepared well and I am pleased with the progress the group has made in the short time we’ve had together.
“We are indebted to the work Stuart Lancaster has done over last four years. I have inherited a talented and highly motivated group of players.
“We are confident we can go to Edinburgh and win, but we’re in no doubt it will be a huge challenge. Playing at Murrayfield in front of a passionate Scottish crowd will be a real test for this team but one I know we can rise to.
“We have named three vice captains in Owen Farrell, Billy Vunipola and Mike Brown who will support Dylan Hartley with his leadership responsibilities.”
ENGLAND TEAM TO PLAY SCOTLAND
15. Mike Brown (vc), 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Owen Farrell (vc), 11. Jack Nowell, 10. George Ford, 9. Danny Care; 1. Joe Marler, 2. Dylan Hartley (c), 3. Dan Cole, 4. Joe Launchbury, 5. George Kruis, 6. Chris Robshaw, 7. James Haskell, 8. Billy Vunipola (vc)
Replacements: 16. Jamie George, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Courtney Lawes, 20. Jack Clifford, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Alex Goode, 23. Ollie Devoto
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
33 replies on “Six Nations 2016: England team to play Scotland”
Comforting going into this came with over 500 caps in the starting line up. Vunipola and Clifford on the bench (plus hopefully Itoje), will add a lot of dynamism. I thought Youngs’ superior kicking game would have meant he stayed, plus his general good form this year and for England over the last year.
7 is still an issue – especially with Scotland and Wales, and possibly Ireland, playing 2 fast opensides. Kvesic or Clifford may find themselves promoted as the tournament goes on
Would have started with Maku and Devoto and Farrell at ten at the least. Hartley still to be convinced by, is he fit, will he stay on pitch?
Interesting to note how different it would be between a team Lancaster would have fielded: probably the only difference would have been the numbers on the back of Haskell & Robshaw’s shirts!!
I think somewhat different. The Youngs brothers would both be starting. Hill, Devoto and Clifford would not be on the bench. Wigglesworth would be on the bench over Care. George might not have made the team (given SL’s inexplicable preference for Webber), Robshaw and Haskell would, as you point out, switch shirts, one of Ford or Farrell would be 10 and most damning of all, Barritt would probably still be at inside centre.
So to use a cliche – evolution not revolution. Which I think is fair enough. The only changes I’d make would be to have played Ksevic at 7 and dropped Haskell all together, I’d have taken Itoje over Lawes and dropped Goode for Cipriani
I have concerns over Farrell at 12 but can understand why he is there
Where I think Haskell and Robshaw are good players they are not world class Jones need to look at youth pace and power in the back row
Surprised Marler and Care got the nod over Mako and Youngs. Especially away in Murrayfield, i thought he’d want Youngs kicking game and that is an area that Care is really weak.
Most surprised by Billy Vunipola being named as a VC. Never came across as a leader to me, or particularly intelligent to be honest. In the WC he didn’t even realise his fourth try was for a BP, hardly the kind of guy you want a leader/decision maker on the pitch?
I imagine Jacob that Marler and Care have been chosen over MV and Youngs on the strength of training ground performances.
Care’s kicking game is weak but I think he offers a better running game and sometimes, but not always, a snappier service than Youngs. I’d imagine EY wants Care to keep the fast Scots backrow honest
Don’t know about BV but obviously EY, Borthwick and Gustard see something in him
Care also has a handy knack of kicking the odd drop goal, something I rarely see Ford or Farrell do. Keeping the scoreboard ticking over is an underappreciated discipline.
Can only assume it is training ground based, because certainly club form this season hasn’t come into it.
On Care’s drop goals – he normally only has a pop at them when we have a pen coming, so whilst look good, don’t really add value.
I like Care as a 9, but I much prefer him in the last 20. I don’t rate his game management or kicking game at all.
Definitely adds value. its very smart play effectively giving you two shots at goal rather than one.
I have to say I am surprised to see BV as a vice captain. Never comes across as much of a leader for Sarries on the pitch. Farrell I can understand as he knows how Gustards defensive system works, and is very vocal and motivating on the pitch.
Now Brown seems an odd choice, but like Hartley he will not take a backwards step from anyone, and can really get players motivated.
Could just be an odd coincidence but I’ve noticed that the VC’s are spread out across the pitch, so maybe that has something to do with it as well. Brown at the back can maybe spot things that the opposition are doing that other players won’t, Farrell as you say is vocal and will be leading the defensive line, BV is an odd one but maybe he wants a leader in the back row and doesn’t want it to be Robshaw so he can have a clean break from captaincy and Haskell probably won’t be there come the next world cup so he wants to instil some leadership capabilities into BV.
Re Brown I think you’ve answered your own question!The rwc hurt him far more than Stu and Chris because it meant more.You can’t beat intensity and that is what Jones Hartley and Brown have unlike the previous clipboard regime
I think this is a very strong team and the right call, given the limited amount of time Jones and Co have had to prepare. As ever the contentious picks are 7 and 12.
The more I think about Farrell at 12 the more it makes sense. Assuming that England adopt a variant of the Sarries defensive pattern, then it makes sense to have a Sarrie at 12 leading the defensive line. I think we’re all agreed that Farrell is a better call in that regard than Barritt, and it would be too much for him to lead both the defence and attack at 10 and a lot to ask either Devoto and Joseph to do so in a system they may not be fully on board with. I suspect Devoto will come on when the game breaks up, perhaps in an all Bath formation.
With regard to Joseph over Daly, this is entirely the right call. Club form should only count for so much, and it is unlucky that Daly is playing so well in a position that England have covered. Joseph has been England’s star player, and until he stops playing well for England he should retain his place IMO, lest we regress to the Andy Robinson scatter gun approach to selection. I am of the opinion that their poor club form is due to an implosion from the coaches and that both Ford and Joseph will perform well for England free of the Bath psychodrama.
The openside debate is far from easy to defend. We have the same (lamented) back row as last season. Yet Ireland aside, I don’t recall there being too many complaints in the last 6n, and the removal of Woods has certainly strengthened the situation since the world cup. It is, however, an imperfect situation. Clearly the genuine openside prospects have failed to impress, and EJ feels it better to go with a stop gap. I wonder whether Jones is going to operate a “Worsley” type strategy. Many older fans may recall big Joe as a similarly limited player as Haskell, certainly in the rugby intelligence stakes. However when given a simple game plan (tackle, disrupt, slow ball down) he could be a destructive force of nature. On a wet afternoon/ evening at Murrayfield, maybe this is not necessarily a bad idea. We lack some pace there for sure, but at least have Clifford on the bench if a change of pace is needed.
Getting excited, and maybe even quietly confident. Win this and the Triple Crown if not the Championship is on, with Ireland and Wales at home.
I like it! Except Haskell at 7 but I can’t think of a better available alternative.
No surprises from reports already written etc. I can understand starting Marler and having Mako make an impact off the bench, and the same with Care/Youngs, but two things I would like clarified;
1. If we want to bring Devoto on at some point in the second half, who goes off to make way for him? I would assume Farrell will move to 10, and Ford will go off? Farrell has been playing by far the better rugby this season, but Ford plays with Devoto regularly (not too successfully for Bath so far this season).
2. Who is taking over the kicking duties? Again I would assume Farrell, as he has a far better kicking success ratio.
Was really hoping to see Itoje on the bench (not wishing any ill luck on Lawes, but as he’s hardly trained and all!!)
I really think this team (not much changed really), with it’s new coaches, ethos etc can move on and win this 6 Nations. With Eddie taking on the attacking side of things, and with Borthwick and Gustard aiming to prove themselves on the big stage, this could be our time to shine.
I expect and want to see Itoje an Daly brought in for some of the other games. Definitely against Italy at least. A combination of Farrell, Devoto and Daly looks great on paper, with pace, power and great ball handling skills to run through, round or over the Italians.
Knowing the kicker really would be helpful, trying to do fantasy teams is not easy when you don’t know who the kicker will be!
Paul Hill is a big call that doesn’t seem to have generated much comment on the board.
I really don’t know much about him other than he impressed for England at various age levels and has begun to force his way into the Northampton team in the absence of Brooks.
Any Northampton fans here who can give us a bit more info? Obviously EJ thinks he has what it takes
He’s not ready yet. Makes too many mistakes in green, black and gold to have earn’t the white already. A very good scrummager thou which fits with Eddies set piece ethos
I can only hope that by naming two of the most hot-headed backs as vice captains, Jones is trying to instill a sense of responsibility, give them something to focus on, and thus prevent the type of outbursts that unfortunately both Brown and Farrell indulge in far too often. Add to that Hartley’s propensity for acts of madness and I can see what Jones is going for in his leaders (energy, passion, bull-headed determination, etc) but it seems awfully risky.
BV as the third VC is just odd. As a Wasps fan maybe I am biased but wouldn’t Launchbury be a better choice? More likely to last out the full game, leads from the front, and puts everything on the line.
Whilst Brown can be spiky, I don’t think he’s ever received a card in 43 caps for England (am prepared to be wrong on this), so any concern on that front is ill-founded
Fair – if Brown has proven he can walk that line between being mouthy and pissing off the ref enough to get a card, credit to him. I just seem to recall some tense moments during matches when he looked very close to doing something stupid. If Jones can channel that energy into positive attitude and leadership, then I agree with Dazza below – he could be a powerful motivator.
I would say that BV and Launchbury are both relatively quiet, and either would be an odd choice. As for lasting the game, I think given the bench option, we are likely to see BV do the whole 80, with Clifford coming on at 7 rather than 8? BV frequently plays the whole 80 for Sarries
I echo your point about Farrell and Brown. Farrell has always been very vocal on the pitch, and is a good organiser of players. I think Brown is more of a motivational VC.
Jones obviously wants some attitude running right through the team, as he’s picked some of the most outspoken players to be leaders. Along with Care at SH, there is a real edge to this team, which I really hope they can transfer to a hard edged playing style, get the ball moving, and not worry too much about stopping the other team, but actually trying to outscore them!
As a “SAFFER” I don’t know much about your individual players. Looking forward to some decent rugby. I think England will beat Scotland, just.
Remarkable ……utterly remarkable……
3 members of the England squad given the highest military medal that can be awarded for gallantry in the face of the enemy.
I don’t remember seeing that in the Kraut Trout’s New Year’s Hons list ….must have been alongside Sir Bufton Tufton DFC and Bar for services to politics for the ‘Keep England White Rat Catchers’ Universal Alliance Safe to Walk the Streets in my day Residents NIMBE Party’
Now I know that the media in all its forms (and most especially the non-British Broadcasting Cor shows its bias towards England…but to give these three blokes such medals for bravery in action before k.o. v Scotland in Murrayfield seems just a bit too much even for the England rugby team.
I wonder if their shirts are still covered with those little VC emblems?
Bizarrely I actually chuckled at the first two paragraphs as I was thinking the same thing. Enoch went off into his normal rant mode after that, so normal service resumed!
I literally don’t understand what you just wrote
I think it’s best just to ignore that sort of rubbish!
This is a strong England side, hopefully we will see a clear attempt at a style/philosophy which I feel was the biggest failure of the last regime. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Haskell could have a really big game here, I think he might surprise a few people.
Scotland side looks fast and athletic so Robshaw will be a busy man but that’s what he does best and looking forward to seeing how Ford and Farrell interact, don’t particularly like Farrell at 12 but he is more than capable.
Getting excited already!
Wow – this team is really going to strike terror into the hearts of the other nations! I mean it’s SO different from that old Stuart Lancaster’s teams, isn’t it…………..isn’t it?
Seen this a few times this week, and I really don’t get it. Yes, it is very different from a Lancaster team.
In fact, 8 changes from the opening WC game. That is a huge amount of changes from what Lancaster was playing.
Yes there is no uncapped in the starting line up, but he has set his stool out early. Forwards must be abrasive and strong at the set piece (no Youngs, Wood, Parling), and the back line needs to have vision and footballing ability – thank god no more Barritt.
“set his stool out early”!! Love it, love it! His ‘stools’ will be well out all over the toilet floor if they lose to Scotland!
I can’t see Haskell exhibiting the attributes of an open side on Saturday, he hasn’t before so why would he start now. Perhaps Jones has picked him on the assumption that if he motivates him in the right way he will have “one of those games”. I like ED’s talk of bringing an abrasive attitude to the field. It’s long been missing, other than by a few. We need to get the strangle hold on Scotland early . An England win by 15.