England squad for start of 6N’s

[Timbo]

Loose head: MVunipola, Moon, Genge
Tight head: Sinckler, Williams, Cole
Hooker: George, LCD, Singleton
Locks: Itoje, Lawes, Kruis, Launchbury
Back row: BVunipola, Hughes, TCurry, Clifford, Wilson, Shields, Earl

Scrum half: Youngs, Robson
Fly half: Farrell, Ford
Centres: Tuilagi, Slade, Te’o, Devoto
Back 3: Brown, Daly, Nowell, Cokanasiga, Ashton, Thorley, May

[Mellsblue]

and May.

[Renniks]

Really happy with front 5 options

Back row has some great choices. Still don’t get Earl though and wouldn’t be picking shields at all

What’s the bet Robson gets injured this weekend

Pretty happy with backs!

I think he’s done a great job all in all

[Mikey Brown]

Jesus. I don't want to get carried away but you could actually pick something pretty threatening out of that I think?

[Oakboy]

Surprises for me are: Clifford, Singleton, Devoto and Thorley.

I suppose the whole squad is as good as it will get under Jones. It was unrealistic, unfortunately, to expect Cipriani's inclusion or Shields's exclusion.


Farrell as captain is an accident waiting to happen.

[Mellsblue]

Other than Shields I’m happy with that.

Only two 9’s mean Robson is guaranteed game time. Care or Wigster can be added into a The World Cup squad without any worry.

Serious pace and dynamism with the new additions. Thorley, Earl and Clifford. Well done, Edward.

Assuming on injuries, will this be the first squad with all four first choice locks.

Oh yeah. Fully expecting Robson and two locks to lose a limb each before the 2nd.

[Oakboy]

Jesus. I don't want to get carried away but you could actually pick something pretty threatening out of that I think?

Yes, some intriguing questions now. Has Devoto done enough to oust T'eo from the 12 shirt? Will Brown start at FB? Will Daly start at all? etc.

[fivepointer]

Front row - Spot on. Our 3 best LH's selected, Cole deservedly back to take up a spot and the hookers are right. Tough on Hepburn, Dunn, Thomas and Schonert but overall the right picks.
Locks - Hurrah! Our best 4 selected. Ewels and Isiekwe will come back but its right to focus on our best players now.
Back row - Kvesic for Earl would be my preference and I'm no admirer of Shields. Luckily for him Eddie is. Pleased for Clifford.
Half Back - Only 2 SH's but at least Robson is one of them. Its long overdue. Only 2 FH's as well but that was to be expected. Cips obviously not really in the running.
Centre - Devoto is a really good call. He's been in very good form. Lozowski now out of contention it seems.
Back 3 - A glut of wings, but 2 of them (Daly & Nowell) might be considered for FB. Recalling Brown is entirely pragmatic. Thorley is a good selection.
On the whole, this is a pretty good squad with few contentious selections.

[Tigersman]

Swap Shields for Dombrandt, Loz for Te'o and that would be perfect for me pretty much.

I like Earl he looks good, and I doubt Eddie will play him but gives him good experiances.

[Mikey Brown]

I'd love to see Devoto get a shot but I'm not holding my breath. He'll probably break his leg this weekend anyway. Ford - Devoto - Tuilagi though, I'd like to see that.

With Hartley out though Farrell is even more set in stone than a thing that's clearly set in stone. Just don't know where yet. I was assuming Jones has picked up on how little Te'o has offered and was hoping to put Farrell back at 12 with Tuilagi doing the grunt work.

I think with Farrell we just have to grin and bear it until he literally costs us a match and Jones has to reassess. Maybe he'll learn, but it feels like he's going backwards if anything.

Clifford is a surprise. I guess it's his way of picking a backup 7 without having to acknowledge that Ben Curry is also good.

Care has been great for Quins and it appears Youngs has been shite for Tigers but I'm not remotely surprised at that call. Actually quite surprised not to see W'Worth.

Is Cokanasiga fit then?

[Oakboy]

Copied this from the BBC feedback. A thought!

"Owen will be captain by himself and he will certainly have great support from a number of senior players."

That statement worries me.

It reads as though some senior players don't support him. I just hope that the team doesn't start as they did last year by giving away penalty after penalty and being generally short on discipline.

[Tigersman]

Think you are reading too much into it.

I think it means he will have a number of vice type captains around him.

[Stom]

That's a pretty good squad, to be fair.

I like the centre selection. 2 playmakers and 2 boshers. 1 each at 12 and 13.

We can actually have a bench full of impact, too, with players like LCD, Genge, Clifford, Robson and one of those wings to come on.

I like that.

But...let's not get ahead of ourselves. There is a clear best and worst case scenario...and it's like this:

Best:
Mako, George, Sinckler
Launch, Itoje
Wilson, Billy, Curry
Youngs, Ford
Daly, Farrell, Tuilagi, May
Brown

Worst:
Mako, George, Cole
Kruis, Itoje
Shields, Billy, Wilson
Youngs, Farrell
May, Te'o, Tuilagi, Ashton
Daly

I know we said before let's not focus on players, but the difference in quality despite only swapping 5 players is insanity.

[Stom]

Oh, and Farrell as captain... WTF! I mean, he's just shown over the past 6 months that he's not captaincy material at all. I don't get it.

Please, can someone explain it?

[Puja]

Copied this from the BBC feedback. A thought!

"Owen will be captain by himself and he will certainly have great support from a number of senior players."

That statement worries me.

It reads as though some senior players don't support him. I just hope that the team doesn't start as they did last year by giving away penalty after penalty and being generally short on discipline.

I agree with Tigersman that you're reading too much into that - he's just trying to divert media attention from the fact Owen's not a very good captain in a lot of ways by saying he'll have help. Frankly, unless they're going to let Launchbury talk to the ref, I can't see how it'll make a difference.

Generally pleased with that squad, although I wouldn't be distraught if Te'o were to trip over a brick on the way to the airport.

Puja

[Epaminondas Pules]

Loose head: MVunipola, Moon, Genge
Tight head: Sinckler, Williams, Cole
Hooker: George, LCD, Singleton
Locks: Itoje, Lawes, Kruis, Launchbury
Back row: BVunipola, Hughes, TCurry, Clifford, Wilson, Shields, Earl

Scrum half: Youngs, Robson
Fly half: Farrell, Ford
Centres: Tuilagi, Slade, Te’o, Devoto
Back 3: Brown, Daly, Nowell, Cokanasiga, Ashton, Thorley, May

Proper chuffed with that. One or two I’d change, but overall a really good selection.

[Renniks]

Who’s injured currently who might have made the squad?

Willis
Underhill
?

[Mikey Brown]

Do we see Earl, Singleton, Devoto, Thorley getting a look in at all before the squad is rejigged? I'm certain we won't want any green players v Ireland, but don't know how confident we'd have to be to use any of them in the France game. Then it's Wales away. So it seems like it might be a long old wait before we see any of them.

[Renniks]

Ah. Just remembered Joseph and Watson

And Hartley I guess (sigh)

[Digby]

Loose head: MVunipola, Moon, Genge
Tight head: Sinckler, Williams, Cole
Hooker: George, LCD, Singleton
Locks: Itoje, Lawes, Kruis, Launchbury
Back row: BVunipola, Hughes, TCurry, Clifford, Wilson, Shields, Earl

Scrum half: Youngs, Robson
Fly half: Farrell, Ford
Centres: Tuilagi, Slade, Te’o, Devoto
Back 3: Brown, Daly, Nowell, Cokanasiga, Ashton, Thorley, May

Proper chuffed with that. One or two I’d change, but overall a really good selection.

Sounds about right

[francoisfou]

Ford - Devoto - Tuilagi though, I'd like to see that.
?

Me too, but a pounds to a pinch of shyte it won’t see the light of day! Interesting to see Clifford in the squad, but the continued inclusion of Shields leaves many of us scratching our heads in disbelief. Will we get a winning 23 in Dublin? Highly unlikely but then again.....

[Oakboy]

Will Jones surprise us with anyone in the starting XV?

Most of us would choose a backrow of Curry, Wilson and BV, I suspect but it would surprise me if Jones did. I think he will start with Shields, Wilson, BV.

I wonder if Robson might start but Jones has always picked Youngs.

Farrell will be at 10 and I'd expect T'eo and Tuilagi at 12/13. I'd still pick Slade/Tuilagi but that would make most sense with Ford at 10 so it won't happen.

[Stom]

Will Jones surprise us with anyone in the starting XV?

Most of us would choose a backrow of Curry, Wilson and BV, I suspect but it would surprise me if Jones did. I think he will start with Shields, Wilson, BV.

I wonder if Robson might start but Jones has always picked Youngs.

Farrell will be at 10 and I'd expect T'eo and Tuilagi at 12/13. I'd still pick Slade/Tuilagi but that would make most sense with Ford at 10 so it won't happen.

I really do think he will pick Farrell, Te'o, Slade to start and sub off both centres for Ford and Tuilagi.

[fivepointer]

Mako, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Lawes, Shields, Curry, Billy, Youngs, Farrell, May, Te'o, Manu, Daly, Brown is what I expect for Dublin.
Bench might be interesting and it will contain Robson and likely LCD. I'd be very wary of making too many left field picks for our toughest game.
Will some of the new players get a chance later on? We'll have to wait and see. If injuries occur they might get a chance. Our final 2 games at home are our easiest so any changes might have to wait until then.

[Mellsblue]

Mako, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Lawes, Shields, Curry, Billy, Youngs, Farrell, May, Te'o, Manu, Daly, Brown is what I expect for Dublin.
Bench might be interesting and it will contain Robson and likely LCD. I'd be very wary of making too many left field picks for our toughest game.

This, just with the wingers t‘other way round and probs Slade for Tuilagi.