England vs Wales - Ford dropped

[Pellsey]

I wouldn't mind being "stuck" with the best fly-half available...

[Will S]

George might have more skills but for this game, and with the centres we have picked, Faz is the right call. A 10 12 partnership of Ford and Sam would have holes. Burgess will be kept positionally correct by having Owen and Brad either side of him.

[JackFlashJonny]

I think you and Pellsey will hopefully be surprised

It would be nice! Just as an ex-fly half, I also do like watching a fly-half who makes the right decisions and can also distribute. Fazlet has, in these areas, lots to learn.

Distribute...can someone explain to Farrell, Burgess and Barritt what this is before Saturday please

Will I completely agree with your point..that and England plan to play 10 man rugby

[L Smith]

I couldn't care less about seeing "slamming Sam" vs Jamie Roberts. I want to see England v Wales and an England win. I believe Burgess won't come out of this with anything apart from the realisation that he still isn't good enough!

[SarahHabgood]

The Welsh may be a very divided rugby nation, see some of the examples below and the non-attendance at their surviving 4 pro clubs:

https://owenins.wordpress.com/

https://thevietgwent.wordpress.com/

but they will come at us on Saturday evening. Even without Rhys Webb, Leigh Halfpenny and Jonathan Davies.

Don't forget that Dan Biggar's kicking percentages are higher than Leigh Halfpenny, but slightly less range. I think Stuart Lancaster has panicked a little in our midfield, focussing too much on Jamie Roberts, but I still see England winning by 5-10 points.

[Pellsey]

According to Martin Crowson,the England management have a plan for this game. Having a plan would be a drastic improvement over previous games.

Hopefully the plan involves keeping it tight in the forwards (all 9 of them).

[JackFlashJonny]

According to Martin Crowson,the England management have a plan for this game. Having a plan would be a drastic improvement over previous games.

Hopefully the plan involves keeping it tight in the forwards (all 9 of them).

This comment just brought a picture to my mind of both Burgess and Barritt joining a rolling maul..I think we may well see that

[baz1664]

I think this selection just shows how one dimensional Lancaster is as a coach is, probably the biggest game in the last four years and he picks a centre/flanker with hardly any international experience and drops the best and number one fly half for not doing much wrong. Anyone can see Englands plan it is so obvious. All the Welsh need to do is keep the ball away from Watson and Brown and edge the set plays and they could be home and dry. Where is Englands plan B? Young Henry Slade? This is where the selection of Cips, 12trees and Burrell would have kept England with an attacking spark when losing a pivotal player like Joseph. Lancaster might prove everyone wrong but the Burgess selection still stinks of RFU politics!!

[ellis9]

What kind of Rugby fan doesn't want to see Roberts running down Burgess's channel and vice versa that is fireworks..

Why do you feel the need to state the obvious..

All games are about the forward battle. If they don't win the ball, the backs can't do anything with it.

Farrell will never be good enough but he is a world class kicker that we cannot dispute..and Wales world class kicker is injured so that could be the difference..I would much rather have Ford out there but I can see with no Joseph why they have done this..I think you and Pellsey will hopefully be surprised

Why do I need to state the obvious? You're the one that said this:

Hopefully he will prove you wrong and if not it is all about the forward battle anyway..

[loretta]

According to Martin Crowson,the England management have a plan for this game. Having a plan would be a drastic improvement over previous games.

Hopefully the plan involves keeping it tight in the forwards (all 9 of them).

I remember an interview where Tony Underwood had a plan as to how to deal with Lomu.

[LE18]

I think Faz will be kicking high up and unders for the welsh centres to drop, with Brown chasing them down, or cross kicking for our wingers and with Burgess and Barritt to tackle anything the welsh try to do down the middle.
Suspect we will be hoping for many penalties for Faz to knock over, certainly this is the best part of his limited game.

[L Smith]

What kind of Rugby fan doesn't want to see Roberts running down Burgess's channel and vice versa that is fireworks..

They're commonly referred to as "Rugby Union Fans". There are a few on this forum

[G.K]

According to Martin Crowson,the England management have a plan for this game. Having a plan would be a drastic improvement over previous games.

Hopefully the plan involves keeping it tight in the forwards (all 9 of them).

A plan? What plan is that - a bit of crash ball, then side to side - are they hoping the Welsh will eventually fall asleep and Brown then scores a breakaway try from 80 yards?

[Stu_F]

According to Martin Crowson,the England management have a plan for this game. Having a plan would be a drastic improvement over previous games.

Hopefully the plan involves keeping it tight in the forwards (all 9 of them).

A plan? What plan is that - a bit of crash ball, then side to side - are they hoping the Welsh will eventually fall asleep and Brown then scores a breakaway try from 80 yards?

England often have plans,the issue generally has been the absence of an alternative if it doesn't work!

[Sajerj]

Maybe its the plan they used to beat a full strength Wales at Twickenham last year 29 to 18, and outscoring them by two tries to zero ?

With Farell at 10 and Burrell at 13 that day.