World Cup Squad Announcements

[trendylfj]

“We’re all really disappointed for him,” said Borthwick. “The contract in place with Anthony is in place. I think for any player, the stress and uncertainty of an injury makes it a challenging time but that’s all very clear to him from a contractual situation."

[DeadlyDunc]

Buried in a Guardian article is news that Joe Heyes has been training with England this week as a precaution & cover for Sinckler.

[Scott1]

Buried in a Guardian article is news that Joe Heyes has been training with England this week as a precaution & cover for Sinckler.

Can’t do any worse than Stuart!

[DeadlyDunc]

Buried in a Guardian article is news that Joe Heyes has been training with England this week as a precaution & cover for Sinckler.

Can’t do any worse than Stuart!

[CJ]

A bit different - happened to catch BBC World Service ‘In The Studio’ with an episode about the design and manufacture of the French World Cup kit. Very interesting. It’s on BBC sounds and worth a listen IMO.

[mol2]

Buried in a Guardian article is news that Joe Heyes has been training with England this week as a precaution & cover for Sinckler.

Can’t do any worse than Stuart!

To be honest, when Heyes was playing regularly last season he looked to be playing better than Cole.
Given the shambles that pretends to be an England team I would rather Heyes was with us.

[Hot_Charlie]

Can’t do any worse than Stuart!

To be honest, when Heyes was playing regularly last season he looked to be playing better than Cole.
Given the shambles that pretends to be an England team I would rather Heyes was with us.

Apart from the mare he had at Ospreys and the aftermath, he had a decent season.

I suspect he may still be hanging around with the squad until Sinkler is confirmed fit. He was with the squad on Saturday.

[Scott1]

Good piece on Georgia

https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/i-had-th ... -happened/

[mol2]

I think the Ospreys game was a turning point for him. He naively allowed a loose head he was capable of munching to make a monkey of him. Barely a word of protest.

[ABClub]

I'm a massive Heyes fan but honestly thought he was underwhelming last season. His form across '21/22 was terrific and I was expecting him to supplant Coley as starter in '22/23 after that. Whereas he didn't have quite the same impact.

He's on the tall side for a prop and like most taller props he 'scrummages long' with his feet a fair way behind him. Because he's freakishly strong he has been able to scrum powerfully like that. Whereas last season it felt a bit like LHs were picking up on it as he seemed to be ending up on his chest more when his side of the scrum went down. That's the issue with scrumming long. If it collapses the position you end up in paints a picture that you're to blame given you're flat on your face.

It's nothing other props haven't done before and nothing a player with Joe's talent can't work past. Marler used to do similar just from props in the England squad.

I do feel that Tigers could ideally do with a TH to push Heyes though. Hurd is talented but realistically Joe is locked in as second choice. Someone such as Biyi Alo who is a bit more experienced and offers different strengths could push Heyes well. Especially as Alo could be an excellent bench option due to his impact carrying. Which means Heyes wouldn't be locked into a bench spot even if Coley remains first choice. With Nephi departing meaning we don't really have a ball carrier in out props, plus both Cole and Heyes around England selection I really wanted Tigers to go after Alo. The lower cap might not have allowed it though.

[Tiglon]

The Telegraph's recent top 100 players in the world list, in ruck to avoid the pay wall. Only 5 England players made the list, and only 1 of those is in the top 50, which surely illustrates the difficulty for the England Head Coach.

https://www.ruck.co.uk/i-have-made-up-m ... world-cup/

[kpj tiger]

The Telegraph's recent top 100 players in the world list, in ruck to avoid the pay wall. Only 5 England players made the list, and only 1 of those is in the top 50, which surely illustrates the difficulty for the England Head Coach.

https://www.ruck.co.uk/i-have-made-up-m ... world-cup/

I feel like there's a chicken and egg problem though, you could argue its the coaches fault there aren't more in the top 50

[baz1664]

The Telegraph's recent top 100 players in the world list, in ruck to avoid the pay wall. Only 5 England players made the list, and only 1 of those is in the top 50, which surely illustrates the difficulty for the England Head Coach.

https://www.ruck.co.uk/i-have-made-up-m ... world-cup/

Pollard at 90 and Farrell at 63, give me a break!!

[Tiglon]

Definitely a chicken and egg scenario, to a point. I would argue few of the available England players have impressed in Europe over the last 2 years, so I'm not convinced many would be greatly improved on the international stage by a different head coach.

Didn't expect to start another exciting Owen Farrell debate

[LE18]

Definitely a chicken and egg scenario, to a point. I would argue few of the available England players have impressed in Europe over the last 2 years, so I'm not convinced many would be greatly improved on the international stage by a different head coach.

Didn't expect to start another exciting Owen Farrell debate

Oh no please.