England announced their 31-man squad for the Rugby World Cup yesterday, and there were plenty of interesting calls. But the calibre of some of the players that missed out got us thinking – what is the best XV you could pick from those that, for whatever reason, won’t be wearing the rose at the tournament? Here’s our team:
15. Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Failed to recover from injury in time but has been one of England’s top fullbacks in recent years.
14. Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby)
Ripped up in the early half of the season last year. Went off the boil a bit but discovered top form again by the end of the year.
13. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Left a giant-sized hole in the England midfield that Sam Burgess will attempt to fill. Worth asking the question: would Burgess be there if it weren’t for Tuilagi’s indiscretions?
12. Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
How good would this midfield be? The Bath pocket rocket is all quick feet and slick hands and could make some serious space for Tuilagi. Pips Burrell because the Northampton man would form too one-dimensional a partnership with Tuilagi.
11. Christian Wade (Wasps)
Probably England’s greatest enigma. Too small for international rugby? We won’t be finding out any time soon, sadly.
10. Danny Cipriani (Sale Sharks)
So close to the final squad but always fighting an uphill battle against coach favourites like Goode & Farrell. Would ignite this backline.
9. Joe Simpson (Wasps)
Injury befell him at the cruelest time after a superb season. Would have been right in with a chance of usurping one of the three regular scrummies.
1. Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints)
The destroyer of the Wallabies in a Lions shirt has been dogged by injuries, making him too much of a liability. On form, one of the best scrummagers around.
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
One disciplinary tribunal too far for the ‘Saint’. Could be the man most sorely missed if the lineout continues to struggle.
3. Henry Thomas (Bath Rugby)
Probably the only weak link in this side, Thomas hasn’t shown the kind of form over the past two seasons to suggest he’ll be an international tighthead in the long term.
4. Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Would have added considerably ballast to a group of locks that is high on energy but low on bulk. Must have been very close.
5. Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Undoubtedly raw, but equally undoubtedly talented. His time will most certainly come.
6. Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Another Lion whose career has been blighted by injury. At his best, offers something entirely unique for England.
7. Steffon Armitage (Toulon)
The best player never to be a (consistent) England international? Probably.
8. Nick Easter (Harlequins)
Like a fine wine, he’s just kept getting better with age. Soft hands and excellent reading of the game would have offered England something different to their behemoths.
Replacements (that’s right, there’s enough scope for a bench)
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Fraser Balmain (stretching a bit here – but he spent much of last season as first choice tighthead at the Tigers)
18. Matt Mullan
19. Calum Clark (Easter to cover second row)
20. Matt Kvesic
21. Lee Dickson
22. Toby Flood (remember him?)
23. Nick Abendanon
That is some team, boasting four British and Irish Lions. And there are even guys like Burrell and Daly that didn’t even make it. Further disappointment for Luther – not sure this one will cut quite as deep, however.
What do you reckon to the team? How well do you think it would do at the World Cup?
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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Freddie Burns, Tom Johnson, Mo Botha, Joel Tompkins….
Joel Tomkins went back to League
Joel Tompkins. ha, that made me laugh.
I’d have put in Strettle and Ashton
Would definitely have Daly over Abendanon.
Hartley and Tuilagi are really the only two in there that are better than counterparts in the squad.
Wade debate will be the JSD of this era of English rugby! To be fair, I don’t think his size has anything to do with his non-selection. It’s his defensive positioning and ability under a high ball that are pretty woeful unfortunately.
Agreed on Daly, thought Abendanon was a weak choice, I know he has supposedly been “setting the world on fire” since joining Clermont, but please, he is playing/performing no differently there than he did at Bath for the previous few seasons, just seems to be a name to throw in just because he plays in France and thus adds a bit of “controversy” because he is therefore “not selectable”, he never really got near an england shirt because as much as we loved him at Bath, he could blow hot and cold and was also susceptible to the odd massive brain-fart.
I think its pretty straight-forward that had Tuilagi been fit/not been stupid, Burgess would not be there
Would have Ewers over Croft
Ewers in tandem with Thomas Waldrom.
Yep. Certainly one of the in-form back row partnerships of last season. Ewers linking and creating try after try for TtT.
Thank God somebody has found a place in a xv for Ewers! Nice one Pablito.
Itoje and Attwood could be a dynamic pairing in the future,although I’d like to see Maro putting his talents to use in the back row.
Jake Cooper Woolley at T/Head?
I’d love to see this team on the park just to see if it could work.
Would be nice to see a match between this and the WC first team. Unfortunately most of this team would either be injured or banned!
Disagree with your comments on Henry Thomas. Played like a man possessed for Bath at the back end of last season.
On a separate note, I actually think this 23 would give the first team a run for their money!
I struggle with this idea that Attwood adds bulk that the other England second rows don’t have. Aren’t they all about the same size since he lost a bit of weight? It seems like a way of giving him the old ‘point of difference’ that doesn’t actually ring true. Guys like Maestri would be a step up in bulk (Skelton would be several steps up but I’d rather have Attwood).
What a backline. I would seriously like to see this XV perform against the current first team. I’d put Burns (or maybe Myler to close the game out) and Daly on the bench instead of Flood and Abendanon though.
What about Waldrom either as starting 8 or at least on the bench?
Is it only me that just doesn’t think Eastmond is a 12?
At international level there tends to be two types of 12’s. Either hard carrying defensive types (Nonu, Roberts etc.), or second 10’s like Giteau.
Eastmond offers neither really. He’s closer to the second type; but he hasn’t got a kicking game to speak of, has never really shown off an array of passing skills and certainly doesn’t seem to be someone that is vocal enough to manage a game from that channel?
He has nice footwork definitely, which is great at club level, but it’s not easy to sidestep your way over the gainline in the 12 channel regularly at test level. I can’t help but feel maybe 13 or even wing would suit him better?
I think he would be a better 13 – he is more similar in style to Joseph than anyone really…
I still think (despite his size) he would have been a brilliant full back.
Wasn’t he a scrum half in league? I know it’s probably completely different in union, but imagine the damage he could have done there!
What about the alternative England 31 man RWC squad?
I wish Bath would really put some emphasis on Eastmond kicking game as I agree with Benjit, he could be deadly at 9… To be fair though I think he is excellent at 12 and would love to see him and Tuilagi get a run of games together. This back line looks rather exciting, in fact the whole team looks very capable, shows the amount of choice open to SL.
Okay here goes – I have left out France based players:
Back 3: Wade,Ashton,Rokoduguni,Foden,Pennell
centres: Devoto,Tuilagi,Eastmond,Daley
fly half: Cips,Myler
scrum half: Simpson,Dickson,Robson
Back row: Kvesic,Clark,Waldrom,Ewers,Easter
Second row: Slater,Kitchener,Attwood,Itoje
Hooker: Hartley, ward, Batty
Props: Corbs, Sinckler, Mullan, Thomas, Auterac
I’d have Burrell instead of Devoto, but apart from that, it’s pretty spot on. Definitely more natural talent in this squad than the World Cup!
I’d swap Devoto for Burrell and I reckon that squad is spot on. Definitely more natural talent in this squad than the World Cup one!
I did consider that but decided I like Devoto football skills as a 10 in there to act as a 2nd playmaker, plus he is a pretty big guy that can carry/tackle too.