England squad

[KiwiTig]

To be fair it’s also difficult to say Stuart is a man in form as he had only played 7 games (all defeats) for club and country this season the last in November when he sustained his horrific injury.

[TigerFeetSteve]

https://www.englandrugby.com/news/artic ... -for-wales

36 man squad for Wales announced.

Heyes not in the wider squad with Sinckler, Cole & Stuart the 3 TH's.

OHC supposedly


OHC injured not dropped for Murley. So don't think he'll be in the LI game.

Ford straight in too

[Leicestertinytiger]

If Martin keeps up his performances at lock he’s gotta be back in the England squad. He’s only 21 but has to be one of the best tacklers already in the premiership already. I’d have him ahead of Isiekwe if SB wants someone who can cover lock/blindside.

[KiwiTig]

Totally agree he was relentless yesterday and made 18 tackles at significant points of the game, only one other player made more ! Martin carries for fun too

[KiwiTig]

How is Ford straight in ? A great player without a doubt but hasn’t played since our Freddie ..I thought Borthwick said he was selecting on form ? I hope he stays true to this and doesn’t err toward EJ’s reputation selection

[No6_Flanker]

If Martin keeps up his performances at lock he’s gotta be back in the England squad. He’s only 21 but has to be one of the best tacklers already in the premiership already. I’d have him ahead of Isiekwe if SB wants someone who can cover lock/blindside.

Seconded. Hope he makes the RWC training squad, but it’ll be difficult to make the final squad. When Lawes retires he’s a readymade replacement. Speaking of, has anyone noticed what his maul defence is like?

[mol2]

Struggle with the Lawes selection. Out for a good while and not match fit. 6 wasn’t a problem against Italy. What makes him such an automatic pick?

Ford has made 2 appearances off the bench. Is it in hi interest to bring him in so soon in his return to play after several months out with a ruptured achilles? Or is Borthwick going to try and play him alongside Farrell? Defensively he is better than Smith but that still doesn’t make Farrell an international inside centre! Unless he does the unthinkable and bench Farrell.

[TigerFeetSteve]

Struggle with the Lawes selection. Out for a good while and not match fit. 6 wasn’t a problem against Italy. What makes him such an automatic pick?

Ford has made 2 appearances off the bench. Is it in hi interest to bring him in so soon in his return to play after several months out with a ruptured achilles? Or is Borthwick going to try and play him alongside Farrell? Defensively he is better than Smith but that still doesn’t make Farrell an international inside centre! Unless he does the unthinkable and bench Farrell.

The question is with both, are they going to be straight in the team or is it more that Borthwick wants them around his new England environment? Time will tell

Think it's Tuesday's we normally get it whittled to 29 so let's see?

[GB72]

I am guessing that, with the World Cup on the horizon and the number of games before ticking away, SB needs to get as many of his likely squad in and training as he can irrespective of whether they will play at the weekend.

[CJ]

Nice piece about the Chessum brothers on the BBC sport web page. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/64712547

[Hot_Charlie]

Struggle with the Lawes selection. Out for a good while and not match fit. 6 wasn’t a problem against Italy. What makes him such an automatic pick?

Ford has made 2 appearances off the bench. Is it in hi interest to bring him in so soon in his return to play after several months out with a ruptured achilles? Or is Borthwick going to try and play him alongside Farrell? Defensively he is better than Smith but that still doesn’t make Farrell an international inside centre! Unless he does the unthinkable and bench Farrell.

I think it might be more a case of now he's fit he wants Ford working alongside Smith and Faz. I think EJ cast Ford aside as he didn't want the potential claustrophobic atmosphere of two very vocal 10s in and around Smith, but that hasn't worked. Time for the three of them to work together IMHO.

[Scott1]

Ford is going to the RWC if fit so it makes perfect sense to get him back in the squad and integrated with the new coaching team as soon as. For me he's a better FH than OF but he's got no chance of starting ahead of the golden boy. It could be that Smith is out the team very soon who knows?

[Hot_Charlie]

Ford is going to the RWC if fit so it makes perfect sense to get him back in the squad and integrated with the new coaching team as soon as. For me he's a better FH than OF but he's got no chance of starting ahead of the golden boy. It could be that Smith is out the team very soon who knows?

100%. Smith/Faz or Ford/Faz is going to be an option they will have all the way through to the RWC. People might not like it, but it's there and effectively well established.

[GB72]

In all honesty, do we think that the match will go ahead on Saturday. I can understand the position of the players but removing ten million quid from WRU funds surely cannot be helpful to their cause (some talking about recouping it if the fixture is rearranged but I cannot see that happening in a packed schedule with no guarantee of player releases). Most of me cannot imagine it happening but the brinksmanship continues

[Scott1]

In all honesty, do we think that the match will go ahead on Saturday. I can understand the position of the players but removing ten million quid from WRU funds surely cannot be helpful to their cause (some talking about recouping it if the fixture is rearranged but I cannot see that happening in a packed schedule with no guarantee of player releases). Most of me cannot imagine it happening but the brinksmanship continues

I'm not sure whether it will go ahead,it's 50/50 for me. Wales were supposed to name their team today but they've cancelled it and there is a meeting of the players tomorrow to decide what they are going to do. One thing I'm almost certain is though that if it is cancelled it will be a 5-0 win for England. Wales can't dictate when the game is played surely