World Cup Training Squad

[Timbo]

Nowell was/is recovering from ankle surgery, so I think this is just part of his recovery and rehab. Described as ‘routine medical assessment following ankle surgery’.

[Oakboy]

Per BBC:

England flanker Brad Shields will be out for up to six weeks, meaning he may not play again before the squad depart for the World Cup in Japan.
The Wasps forward, 28, returned home early from a training camp in Italy last week after injuring a foot.
He now faces a race to prove his fitness before England's World Cup opener against Tonga on 22 September.
"Brad has got a tear in the lower foot," said assistant coach John Mitchell.

IMO, he's not good enough when fully integrated so now . . .

[fivepointer]

Tricky one for Jones. Does he take Shields who wont have featured at all in the warm ups? Its plain he rates him but is taking a player short of any game time a good idea?
It does mean that Ludlam and Dombrandt are likely to feature in the warm up games.

[Stom]

Damn, if Dombrandt goes to Japan...

[Puja]

Damn, if Dombrandt goes to Japan...

I'd've thought you'd be quite pleased with him being involved in Eddie's pre-RWC fitness beastings. If Dombrandt lost half a stone of student body, then he could be utterly formidable going forward.

Puja

[Stom]

Damn, if Dombrandt goes to Japan...

I'd've thought you'd be quite pleased with him being involved in Eddie's pre-RWC fitness beastings. If Dombrandt lost half a stone of student body, then he could be utterly formidable going forward.

Puja

Yeah, half my post got munched, seemingly.

That's a stunning rise and he has the potential to be 1st choice for England post-WC.

[Scrumhead]

Billy is still pretty young yet, but Dombrandt has massive potential.

I’ve said this before, but he is just a natural rugby player. Even with his limited professional experience he makes better decisions and runs better lines than players that are far more seasoned.

If he goes to Japan, I think he could be relied upon to step up again and I’d back him to do well.

[Puja]

"George [Kruis] is back in training this week which is fantastic. The medical team have done a great job on his progressive return and he is full of enthusiasm and looking great. Mako is progressing nicely, too. We should see him back at some point in August."

Great news. In the same interview, Mitchell praises Dombrandt, saying “Every day he’s getting a little bit better and learning a lot. He’s been quite outstanding.”

Puja

[Mikey Brown]

Billy is still pretty young yet, but Dombrandt has massive potential.

I’ve said this before, but he is just a natural rugby player. Even with his limited professional experience he makes better decisions and runs better lines than players that are far more seasoned.

If he goes to Japan, I think he could be relied upon to step up again and I’d back him to do well.

I’ve said this before but he has that same knack for being in the right place and doing the correct thing as Launchbury, despite looking equally unathletic.

Means fuck all though if he’s not as good as Brad at shouting “let’s go boys” all the time. Now that’s leadership. You can’t coach that shit.

[Mellsblue]

Brad Shields to both capt and solve the 10/12 conundrum, by playing both, at the RWC. Launch and Dombrandt to be dropped.

[Spiffy]

"George [Kruis] is back in training this week which is fantastic. The medical team have done a great job on his progressive return and he is full of enthusiasm and looking great. Mako is progressing nicely, too. We should see him back at some point in August."

Great news. In the same interview, Mitchell praises Dombrandt, saying “Every day he’s getting a little bit better and learning a lot. He’s been quite outstanding.”

Puja

Based on the past few months, Dombrandt already looks a better backrower than Shields. Shields is a fairly reliable journeyman who has the odd good game but is sometimes (often?) anonymous. Dombrandt is a natural, has the X factor and is a potential game changer. Concern about his fitness/weight is a bit of a red herring since he has been doing the job against his peers at club level, and there are still a few weeks to get him tweaked up for the RWC.

[fivepointer]

Every day Dombrandt is in camp helps his cause. Shields being absent and unable to maintain fitness hurts his.
Could be a very close call.

[Puja]

I'd be interested to see Dombrandt start 8 against Wales. If he's being taken as a potential BillyV sub, it'd be interesting to see if he can slot straight in, or if we'd have to shuffle Wilson to 8 with him at 6.

Puja

[loudnconfident]

Billy is still pretty young yet, but Dombrandt has massive potential.

I’ve said this before, but he is just a natural rugby player. Even with his limited professional experience he makes better decisions and runs better lines than players that are far more seasoned.

If he goes to Japan, I think he could be relied upon to step up again and I’d back him to do well.

I’ve said this before but he has that same knack for being in the right place and doing the correct thing as Launchbury, despite looking equally unathletic.

Shades of Deano? I hope so, and a nice change from the gym bunnies...

[Stom]

I'd be interested to see Dombrandt start 8 against Wales. If he's being taken as a potential BillyV sub, it'd be interesting to see if he can slot straight in, or if we'd have to shuffle Wilson to 8 with him at 6.

Puja

He'd be a menace against the Welsh. I think he'd be fine at 8, too. He might fumble one (or two) but he'll come right back.

[Oakboy]

I'd be interested to see Dombrandt start 8 against Wales. If he's being taken as a potential BillyV sub, it'd be interesting to see if he can slot straight in, or if we'd have to shuffle Wilson to 8 with him at 6.

Puja

If he can do a job at 8, he has to be more useful than Shields.

[Peej]

Billy is still pretty young yet, but Dombrandt has massive potential.

I’ve said this before, but he is just a natural rugby player. Even with his limited professional experience he makes better decisions and runs better lines than players that are far more seasoned.

If he goes to Japan, I think he could be relied upon to step up again and I’d back him to do well.

I think a lot of it is because he hasn't been over-coached in the way so many players have. Not being part of an academy side as a teenager hasn't hindered him at all - if anything it has helped allow his natural talent to continue to grow.

It was a similar case with Fofana, who when he burst onto the scene looked completely different to any other French player because he still had all that natural flair, and it hadn't been coached out of him.

[Scrumhead]

There’s probably something to that.

I think Gustard likes that about him too so I’m hoping that Quins will be looking to encourage those aspects of his game rather than coach them out of him.

[Mikey Brown]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... de-doesnt/

Its a shame when these guys don’t adhere to my blind assumptions about their personalities based on their slightly dodgy routes to selection.

Maybe Ben Te’o is well liked and simply doing the best he can in a relatively short career, but I’d bet you anything Brad Shields is making horrible, taunting, prank phone calls to Chris Robshaw every night about having stolen his England spot.

[Puja]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union ... de-doesnt/

Its a shame when these guys don’t adhere to my blind assumptions about their personalities based on their slightly dodgy routes to selection.

Maybe Ben Te’o is well liked and simply doing the best he can in a relatively short career, but I’d bet you anything Brad Shields is making horrible, taunting, prank phone calls to Chris Robshaw every night about having stolen his England spot.

See, now I'm just imagining Robshaw going all Tonya Harding, waiting in a dark alley for Shields to come out so he can break his knee with a pipe. Only Robshaw's slow to break away from the alley wall and can only manage a despairing dive as Shields goes past, clipping his foot instead of his knee.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

Let’s not forget Harding didn’t do it herself.

Maybe Robshaw’s lined up Callum Clark to do it.

[Timbo]

If Shields doesn’t get picked it may well be Dombrandt that goes to Japan, but I can’t say it makes much sense to me. I’d have serious concerns about whether he’s got the kind of graft in his game to compliment Billy at 8, and he doesn’t jump in the lineout. We’d be hugely reliant on Mark Wilson staying fit to balance out the backrow.

[Puja]

If Shields doesn’t get picked it may well be Dombrandt that goes to Japan, but I can’t say it makes much sense to me. I’d have serious concerns about whether he’s got the kind of graft in his game to compliment Billy at 8, and he doesn’t jump in the lineout. We’d be hugely reliant on Mark Wilson staying fit to balance out the backrow.

It wouldn't really change much. We're picking 5 back row, so three starters in Wilson/Curry/Vunipola and two back ups to cover three positions.

If Shield is fit, then Shields covers both Wilson and BillyV (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Curry. If Dombrandt goes, then he covers Vunipola (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Wilson and Curry. You're basically either asking Shield to cover two players or Underhill to.

Puja

[Scrumhead]

If Shields doesn’t get picked it may well be Dombrandt that goes to Japan, but I can’t say it makes much sense to me. I’d have serious concerns about whether he’s got the kind of graft in his game to compliment Billy at 8, and he doesn’t jump in the lineout. We’d be hugely reliant on Mark Wilson staying fit to balance out the backrow.

It wouldn't really change much. We're picking 5 back row, so three starters in Wilson/Curry/Vunipola and two back ups to cover three positions.

If Shield is fit, then Shields covers both Wilson and BillyV (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Curry. If Dombrandt goes, then he covers Vunipola (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Wilson and Curry. You're basically either asking Shield to cover two players or Underhill to.

Puja

TBH, I agree with both of you.

My only real reservation on Dombrandt is work rate. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he’s lazy and he’s shown he can play 80mins on several occasions for Quins (also did 80 vs. The Barbarians IIRC). However, Quins set up to get the best out of him with Robshaw and Clifford (or Chisholm) doing almost all of the donkey work to the extent that I’m not really sure if he’s any good at the breakdown because I’ve not seen him competing?

With all of that said, there is no way Eddie will pick a player who doesn’t work hard so perhaps it’s more of a perception I’be built by watching him play for Quins.

[Timbo]

If Shields doesn’t get picked it may well be Dombrandt that goes to Japan, but I can’t say it makes much sense to me. I’d have serious concerns about whether he’s got the kind of graft in his game to compliment Billy at 8, and he doesn’t jump in the lineout. We’d be hugely reliant on Mark Wilson staying fit to balance out the backrow.

It wouldn't really change much. We're picking 5 back row, so three starters in Wilson/Curry/Vunipola and two back ups to cover three positions.

If Shield is fit, then Shields covers both Wilson and BillyV (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Curry. If Dombrandt goes, then he covers Vunipola (with Wilson moving to 8) and Underhill covers Wilson and Curry. You're basically either asking Shield to cover two players or Underhill to.

Puja

If Wilson is injured and Underhill plays 6 we’ll not have even the pretence of a lineout option in the backrow.