First EPS of 2014

[kpj tiger]

We are only a few days away from Stuart Lancaster's first EPS of the year and the squad for the 2014 6N, who do people want to see or expect to see included??
If I were in his shoes I would pick:
Props - Dan Cole, Mako Vunipola, Dave Wilson, Joe Marler
Hookers - Tom Youngs, Dylan Hartley
Locks - Courtney Lawes, Joe Launchbury, Ed Slater (George Kruis if injured), Graham Kitchener (Christian Day if injured)
Flankers - Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw, Luke Wallace/Jamie Gibson
Number 8 - Billy Vunipola, Dave Ewers, Ben Morgan
Scrum Half - Ben Youngs, Richard Wigglesworth, Danny Care
Fly Half - Owen Farrell, Danny Cipriani, George Ford
Center - Luther Burrell, Brad Barritt, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees
Wing - Miles Benjamin, Jack Nowell, Anthony Watson, Dave Strettle
Fullback - Mike Brown, Luke Arscott/Jonny May

[ellis9]

I think that the squad should be:

Forwards- Calum Clark, Alex Corbisiero, Christian Day, Sam Dickinson, Phil Dowson, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Steve Borthwick, Mouritz Botha, Will Fraser, Jamie George, Ernst Joubert, Matt Stevens, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola.

Backs- Luther Burrell, Lee Dickson, Ben Foden, Stephen Myler, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, Charlie Hodgson, Alex Goode, David Strettle, Joel Tomkins, Richard Wigglesworth

That should deplete both Saints and Sarries squads similar to what ours has been throughout the season. Lets see how well they do then

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

I will be happy if there are no Tigers selected and the squad is full of Saracens, Northampton and Bath players.

[Noddy555]

I've got a lot of Respect for Stuart Lancaster he has occasionally in the past distanced himself from the stuffed shirts who run the RFU, I hope he continues to show guile in his selections, but I will lose some respect for him if he doesn't include Graham Kitchener in his EPS squad. Kitch has been playing out of his skin this season and is equally comparable to the L force i.e. Lawes & Launchberry (bury?). If England are denied Parling through injury I can't think of a better replacement.

[longlivethecrumbie]

I think that the squad should be:

Forwards- Calum Clark, Alex Corbisiero, Christian Day, Sam Dickinson, Phil Dowson, Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, Steve Borthwick, Mouritz Botha, Will Fraser, Jamie George, Ernst Joubert, Matt Stevens, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola.

Backs- Luther Burrell, Lee Dickson, Ben Foden, Stephen Myler, Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Owen Farrell, Charlie Hodgson, Alex Goode, David Strettle, Joel Tomkins, Richard Wigglesworth

That should deplete both Saints and Sarries squads similar to what ours has been throughout the season. Lets see how well they do then

Sarries will still have at least 23 players from South Africa and further afield and if not then I'm sure there will be some 'wiggle room' within the salary cap for them to bring in new players

[tigergirl]

The EPS squad will surely include players who are currently injured but figure longer term in RWC plans, so that counts Tom Croft and Manu in(amongst many others) The 6Nations Squad will be different again.

[RagingBull]

Myley has played better than Ford but Ford is the future I guess.

[Guinness&Nuts]

I expect we will see Alex Goode picked to cover Brown at FB, It baffles me how Goode is still in Lancasters plans. Based on the evidense from the last three weeks Tait offers much more.

[Bristol Tiger]

Worth remembering that this EPS squad also covers the tour to New Zealand as well as the Six nations, so I would expect to see players likely to be back at the end of the season even if they don't play in the 6N. Lancaster can call in cover for any EPS player injured.

So I would expect Manu and Parling to be in, with covered called for the 6N (Kitchener?) but don't expect Croft to be included. Flood's inclusion now looks doubtful and he may decide to exclude himself anyway.

Like others, hope there are list of Sarries/Saints/Bath players included as we need all the help we can get to level the table!

[RagingBull]

I expect we will see Alex Goode picked to cover Brown at FB, It baffles me how Goode is still in Lancasters plans. Based on the evidense from the last three weeks Tait offers much more.

Goode is the best player in the country......



According to Greenwood

[fleabane]

FYI, the EPS announced on 1 August 2013 was as follows:

England Senior EPS (33)

Forwards
David Attwood (Bath Rugby)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
Alex Corbisiero (Northampton Saints)
Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers)
Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
Matt Kvesic (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Launchbury (London Wasps)
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
Joe Marler (Harlequins)
Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby)
Geoff Parling (Leicester Tigers)
Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
David Wilson (Bath Rugby)
Tom Wood (Northampton Saints)
Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)


Backs
Chris Ashton (Saracens)
Brad Barritt (Saracens)
Mike Brown (Harlequins)
Freddie Burns (Gloucester Rugby)
Danny Care (Harlequins)
Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints)
Owen Farrell (Saracens)
Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)
Ben Foden (Northampton Saints)
Alex Goode (Saracens)
Kyle Eastmond (Bath Rugby)
Manusamoa Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers)
Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby)
Christian Wade (London Wasps)
Marland Yarde (London Irish)
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers)


England Saxons EPS (32)

Forwards
Calum Clark (Northampton Saints)
Jordan Crane (Leicester Tigers)
Paul Doran Jones (Harlequins)
Will Fraser (Saracens)
James Haskell (London Wasps)
Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)
Graham Kitchener (Leicester Tigers)
George Kruis (Saracens)
Kearnan Myall (London Wasps)
David Paice (London Irish)
George Robson (Harlequins)
Ed Slater (Leicester Tigers)
Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks)
Thomas Waldrom (Leicester Tigers)
Luke Wallace (Harlequins)
Rob Webber (Bath Rugby)
Nick Wood (Gloucester Rugby)


Backs
Anthony Allen (Leicester Tigers)
Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints)
Elliot Daly (London Wasps)
George Ford (Bath Rugby)
Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby)
Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby)
Ugo Monye (Harlequins)
Stephen Myler (Northampton Saints)
Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
Charlie Sharples (Gloucester Rugby)
Joe Simpson (London Wasps)
David Strettle (Saracens)
Mathew Tait (Leicester Tigers)
Joel Tomkins (Saracens)
Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)

It will be interesting if some of these players have done enough, both on and off the field, to stay in the squads!

[Jimmy Skitz]

Delon Armitage made some good points (in today's Sun) as to why England should select French based players, pointing out that in his case, he has assurances he would always be released for any England duties and that both he and his brother have improved massively as a direct result of playing in France.

He also pointed out that Wales do select French based players and keep winning 6 nations titles

[kpj tiger]

Delon Armatige is about the only currently France based player i would consider picking, he is so talented BUT he is still needs to work on his temperament

[Jimmy Skitz]

Delon Armatige is about the only currently France based player i would consider picking, he is so talented BUT he is still needs to work on his temperament

what about his brother?

[kpj tiger]

His brother is a great player but his form has been a bit inconsistent in recent times, Delon on the other hand has been pretty constant form wise